Meet Minnesota's master spellers 🐝

Plus: 'No child sleeps outside' in Hennepin County [Plus: 'No child sleeps outside' in Hennepin County] View this email as a [web page]( [Star Tribune]( [Essential Minnesota logo] ESSENTIAL MINNESOTA [Essential Minnesota logo] ESSENTIAL MINNESOTA Good morning, Minnesota! I came in third during a footrace at a 4-year-old's birthday party recently. Praying the Mavs are similarly humbled tonight 🏀 On to the news 📢 [Eder Campuzano] By Eder Campuzano TODAY’S TOP STORIES - [Eyed for decades as a possible murderer, Minnesota man finds himself back in the spotlight]( - [Forest Lake home on rare "sugar sand" beach lists for $749,000]( - [PWHL finds a champion in tennis legend Billie Jean King]( - [A St. Paul program helped at-risk kids experience college. Now it’s leaving campus.]( - [Minneapolis' $18 million safety-beyond-policing effort questioned after contracts go unpaid]( Hennepin County guarantees housing for families with children, a rarity in the U.S. Jerry Holt/Star Tribune Hennepin County expects to spend $200 million on housing services this year. And officials have focused a substantial amount of the county's federal pandemic aid on funding those services, but anticipate that cash to run out in 2026 — a $13 million funding cliff. That kind of investment in such services fuels a guarantee that's rare throughout the U.S.: That no family with children is left out on the streets. Hennepin County funds shelters and employs social workers who help clients navigate the myriad barriers that keep them from finding stable housing. Something as simple as a missing ID can shut someone out of the rental market if they don't know how to advocate for themselves. Such social workers helped Imani Swinney and her two daughters find permanent housing when they found themselves "couch hopping" in North Carolina. "You've got them by a landslide," Swinney said of the help available in Minnesota compared with some other states. Ramsey County reporter Chris Magan has the story [here](.     GOING OUT - [From free to Foo: Minnesota's top outdoor concerts this summer]( - [‘Nooma,’ an opera for babies, returns to Ordway Center in St. Paul]( - [Critics' picks: The 14 best things to do and see in the Twin Cities this week]( - [Yet another Target Center concert has been canceled: The Black Keys]( N-I-N-E Minnesota kids are competing in the Scripps National Spelling Bee The Scripps National Spelling Bee begins today. This year, nine students from across Minnesota will participate in the contest. (Best I ever did was third place in the city geography bee back in elementary school.) Ion TV will carry the competition. The preliminaries began at 8 a.m. today and the quarterfinals and semifinals air tomorrow. The finals air Thursday. Features reporter Erica Pearson has the full story, including all of the Minnesota contestants, [here](. Nathan Howard/Associated Press more from the star tribune - [At least six wounded in two separate St. Paul shootings]( - [What did Timberwolves fans wear to the Western Conference finals?]( - [Souhan: How Wolves should approach an improbable comeback]( minnesota has its first yemeni café Joy Summers/Star Tribune Little Canada is now home to Minnesota's first Yemeni café. That's where Qamaria (pronounced kah-mah-REE-yah) recently set up shop. Yemeni coffee is typically a lighter roast made with greener beans of their husks. Qamaria also sells fruity refreshers, mango smoothies and, of course, several different pastries. Food writer Joy Summers recommends trying the honeycomb bread, or khalyet nahel. Qamaria is open daily from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. at 3 Little Canada Road E. IN OTHER NEWS - [Brittney Mikkel paves the way for the first Black woman-owned brewery in the Twin Cities]( - MinnPost - [Laugh it out: Can humor ease tension in polarizing times?]( - MPR - [New MN law limits districts' ability to hire special education teachers without training]( - Sahan Journal     the minnesota goodbye Billie Jean King, by her own admission, didn't watch much hockey until this year. But she played a pivotal role in getting the PWHL up and running. And on Sunday, she also visited one of the few bars in the U.S. dedicated to women's sports. The owners of A Bar of Their Own posted a few frames from King's visit on their social feeds soon after — including a short video of the tennis legend [signing the wall](. You can bet the place will be buzzing tomorrow night during the final game of the PWHL championship series. 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. Suite 1300 | Minneapolis, MN 55488 US This email was sent to {EMAIL}. To continue receiving our emails, add us to your address book.