Suni Lee wants her own signature move 🤸‍♀️

Plus: Meet the reporters covering Minnesota floods [Plus: Meet the reporters covering Minnesota floods] View this email as a [web page]( [Star Tribune]( [Essential Minnesota logo] ESSENTIAL MINNESOTA [Essential Minnesota logo] ESSENTIAL MINNESOTA Good morning, Minnesota! A happy National Pineapple Day to all who celebrate. Today I learned it takes 1.5 years to grow one 🍍 On to the news 📢 [Eder Campuzano] By Eder Campuzano TODAY’S TOP STORIES - [At Wells Fargo site destroyed in 2020 riots, construction finally underway on affordable housing complex]( - [Simone Biles, Suni Lee lead deep group of gymnasts at U.S. Olympic trials in Minneapolis]( - [New charges: Feeding Our Future juror was followed for days, given list of instructions with $120k in cash to acquit]( - KARE anchor Jason Hackett wanted to come out on air. Minnesota felt like the right place to do it]( - [Pride event draws 2,000 in Grand Rapids — and complaints to City Council](   'There was just so much rain': Meet our reporters stationed in northern and southern Minnesota Aaron Lavinksy/Star Tribune Jana Hollingsworth remembers what it was like covering Duluth's devastating 2012 storms and the flooding that followed. She was driving home from St. Paul at the time and the rain came down in sheets. She felt lucky to make it back. She felt a sense of déjà vu when last week's storms rolled in. "There was just so much rain, and it was coming down so hard. I was trying to play a board game with my daughter around 8 p.m., and I couldn’t focus," Jana said. "The storm seemed like it could be mimicking 2012, so I just started gathering reports and sources that night and monitoring my neighborhood." While much of the Star Tribune staff lives and works in the seven-county metro area, a handful of our colleagues live across the state in communities from Duluth to Rochester. So when major news happens — like the devastating floods that have hit the state's northern reaches and southern outposts — they're feeling the same impacts as our readers and the sources in their stories. [image] Anthony Souffle/Star Tribune Jp Lawrence, who recently joined the Star Tribune after a stint reporting for Stars and Stripes in Afghanistan, has kept tabs on the quickly evolving erosion of the west bank of the Blue Earth River near Rapidan Dam. He's based in Redwood Falls. Jp knew the weather would be the week's big news when he started knocking on doors on Friday in Windom during what we call a shoe-leather reporting trip. Residents pointed him to Perkins Creek, which had flowed past its banks and begun invading their yards. "One home was already flooded, but people seemed optimistic," Jp said. "I returned the next day and the creek had filled people's basements. Even those who had been confident that they would be dry had been affected. It had become obvious then that this was no ordinary flooding." Both of these reporters have been spared the worst effects of the weather. Jana's Duluth home is on a hill, and she invested in a water diversion system some years ago. Jp's most harrowing experiences with the storms have been driving through the heavy rain. They're still following leads as they chronicle the ongoing effects of the storms in their communities. Jp has his eye on Windom and Jackson, where the water continues to rise. And Jana is watching the Island Lake Reservoir and the St. Louis River — more rain in those watersheds could mean evacuations down the line, she said. Of course, not everything our reporters jot down in their notebooks will make it into their stories. One of Jana's so-far unused interviews was with Steve Kajala, a resident of Cook who owns an insurance business downtown that was inundated by flood waters. "He told me that last week’s rain event was worse than a 1970 flood of the Little Fork River that is considered by locals as the benchmark for the past 50-plus years," she said. "And although the last notable flood of the river was in 2018, the city still wasn’t prepared this time around with sandbags, a warning system or other support, resident Theresa Drift told me." We'll have more from Jana and Jp as the week goes on. Check StarTribune.com for their coverage. Is there a Star Tribune reporter or coverage area you'd like us to go in-depth with? Send suggestions to essential@startribune.com. And follow our behind-the-scenes account on Instagram: [@btstartribune](. Related coverage - [Video: Watch a house collapse into the river near Rapidan Dam]( - [After house swept away by fast flowing river, concern turns to nearby bridge in Blue Earth County]( - [Floodwaters overwhelm sewage systems in nearly 100 Minnesota communities]( - [Sullivan Lake is no more after a century-old dam failed in northeastern Minnesota]( - [Minnesota state parks take major hits from weather, flooding](     GOING OUT - [Blueberry mojitos are the best kind of fruit cocktail]( - [TV review: ‘The Bear’ dishes out more love to restaurants in Season Three]( - [‘How Long Gone’ podcast is bringing bicoastal elite energy to the Turf Club]( [Share this newsletter with friends]( Do you enjoy Essential Minnesota? Encourage your friends and family to [sign up](. You also can share it using the links below. What's that move called? The Suni? Ice skater Scott Hamilton has the backflip. Tony Hawk is renowned for his 720-degree spin on a skateboard. But neither of them has a move named after them. That's the prize on Sunisa "Suni" Lee's mind. She's competing for a spot on the U.S. national gymnastics team this week. And her unique, full-twisting layout Jaeger on the uneven bars may vault her to Paris. If she lands the move, it might also be named after the St. Paul-raised Lee. Senior Audience Editor Nancy Yang has the [full story about Lee's gamble here.]( Carlos Gonzalez/Star Tribune MORE FROM THE STAR TRIBUNE - [Stagnant Payne-Phalen corridor building momentum through local businesses again]( - [Ramsey County commissioners vote to give themselves a raise]( - [Mayo Clinic to use drones to deliver prescription drugs to patients' homes]( - [Becker County judge denies request to release footage of Sen. Mitchell's arrest]( LET'S TALK ABOUT BIRDS Jeff Wheeler/Star Tribune In addition to that little factoid about pineapples up top, today I also learned that Baltimore orioles can make pretty decent nests out of horse hair. That fun fact comes courtesy of Jim Williams, a lifelong birder who wrote a short guide to birds' nests for us this week. Among the other tidbits Williams imparts in his column is that pigeons are properly known as rock doves — they naturally make their nests among cliffs — and that Minnesota boasts 231 identified species of nesting birds. IN OTHER NEWS - [‘Somebody Has to Do It’: Meet the Man Archiving Retro Twin Cities TV]( - Racket - [Six things you need to know about the Blue Line Extension’s expected environmental impacts]( - MinnPost - [Four-year collaboration pays off as nonprofits break ground on Minneapolis shelter and apartment complex - Sahan Journal](     THE MINNESOTA GOODBYE A friend of mine recently remarked that I seem more and more dad-like every time she sees me. It made me realize that I regularly groan roughly when I get up from a chair or couch, and fall asleep watching nature documentaries or the PBS News Hour on Saturday afternoons. And now I'm trying not to do those things because I have no children — just two lazy and spoiled cats. Maybe that's why this Rapidan Dam meme from Reddit user MemeEndevour hit me so hard. For much of Tuesday, we and other media outlets reported that officials were warning us all of the structure's "imminent failure condition." The dam is still standing, even if the water is now threatening other infrastructure in the area. And I am also doing my darndest to tamp down my dad-like tendencies. Now, who wants to go out for ice cream? Thanks for reading Eder Campuzano, reporter David Taintor, editor [Email]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Manage email preferences]( • [Subscribe to Star Tribune]( • [Privacy Policy]([Unsubscribe from this newsletter]( [Unsubscribe from this newsletter]( [Manage]( your preferences | [Opt Out]( using TrueRemove™ Got this as a forward? [Sign up]( to receive our future emails. View this email [online](. 650 3rd Ave. S. 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