Minneapolis really wants you to come downtown at night 🎉

Plus: State trooper had record of reckless driving [Plus: State trooper had record of reckless driving] View this email as a [web page]( [Star Tribune]( [Essential Minnesota logo] ESSENTIAL MINNESOTA [Essential Minnesota logo] ESSENTIAL MINNESOTA Good morning, Minnesota! A merry free Slurpee day to all who celebrate🥤 On to the news 📢 [Eder Campuzano] By Eder Campuzano TODAY’S TOP STORIES - [Ship emergency on Lake Superior is latest safety mishap for Great Lakes freighter operator]( - [Mike Lindell's MyPillow facing another eviction notice in Shakopee]( - [You've seen Luis Fitch's art on stamps, at Target and on the street. Now, see it in a gallery]( - [The Pequot Lakes bobber water tower was sinking in disrepair. Residents rallied to keep it afloat]( - [Review: Chilango is chef Jorge Guzmán's Mex-Tex playground](   Warehouse District Live has drawn paltry crowds, but Minneapolis leaders say it's helped keep crime down Ayrton Breckenridge/Star Tribune Minneapolis city leaders really want to liven up the downtown core. And one of their efforts includes a pedestrian mall on First Avenue on weekend evenings. The Warehouse District Live program is scheduled to run Friday and Saturday nights until 3 a.m. through Halloween. It currently begins at 7 p.m. but will soon move back to 9 p.m. in order to accommodate pedestrian patterns. The program is meant to curb crime in downtown Minneapolis and reframe the narrative about the city. (We've all seen the social media posts ballyhooing outdated crime stats and heard concerns from out-of-state relatives about whether it's safe to walk around at night.) City leaders say Warehouse District Live is succeeding in its goals even if the event itself is sparsely attended. "We are trying to always fine-tune the activities, the games, the fun aspects of what's happening to make it more marketable," said Adam Duininck, president and CEO of the Downtown Council. "But the purpose of the program itself isn't to draw people. It's actually just to be another place along 1st Avenue for people to move through and, frankly, have some resources they can't get elsewhere." Reporter and occasional Essential Minnesota author Zoë Jackson [has the details about Warehouse District Live here](.     GOING OUT - [6 Minnesota breweries, including Spilled Grain and Lupulin, win U.S. Open Beer awards]( - [Fred Newman, Garrison Keillor's sound-effects wiz, reflects on 'Prairie Home' ahead of St. Paul shows]( - [10 beers to sip at your summer bonfire]( - [Why Cobb salad is the best salad]( [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. Trooper charged in fatal Rochester crash had history of reckless driving In the eight years before he was involved in the crash that killed Owatonna High School student Olivia Flores, state trooper Shane Roper was reprimanded four times for reckless driving while on duty. About a year before the fatal incident, Roper was in another wreck about a half-mile away. He was cited for using excessive speed without emergency signals while pursuing a driver suspected of a petty traffic violation. Sean Baker, one of our newest reporters, has the [details on Roper's history of reckless driving here](. With permission from GoFundMe MORE FROM THE STAR TRIBUNE - [Love of outdoors, flexible work, good Wi-Fi a winning combo for camp hosts]( - [Scoggins: Brooks Lee 'having a blast' with early success for Twins]( - [Most patients quit GLP-1 drugs in two years, jeopardizing their weight loss]( HEY, DON'T BE A JERK ON VACATION Brian Peterson/Star Tribune Sometimes visitors can really wear out their welcome. Remember that Wall Street Journal columnist who refused to take off her shoes in other peoples' homes? But there's one thing that's worse than an irritating houseguest. And that's a rotating cast of rowdy revelers that descend on nearby vacation rentals in the rural hideaways that dot the Land of 10,000 Lakes. Good thing columnist Karen Tolkkinen has a few nifty tips to avoid being the house everyone else on the lake absolutely loathes: 1. Introduce yourself to the neighbors. Tell them where you're from. Offer them your phone number, tell them about your dog. 2. If you're on a watercraft, know the regulations. Know about how far away from shore you need to be before you rev the engine. If you're fishing, throw unused bait in the trash, not in the water. 3. Don't cram extra people or animals into the house you're renting. If you're renting for eight, keep it at eight. Some hosts are OK with daytime parties or celebrations, and some aren't. Check with them. 4. And finally, remember that many rural vacation rentals rely on a septic system rather than a municipal sewer service. That means you shouldn't flush anything that isn't naturally occurring. Toilet paper is the exception. IN OTHER NEWS - [Rubén Rosario, New York crime reporter, Pioneer Press columnist and journalism mentor, dies at 70]( - Pioneer Press - [Meet Anita Velveeta, the ‘Big Sister’ of the Twin Cities Trans Music Scene]( - Racket - [Minnesota lottery a regressive tax on the working class, state data show]( - Minnesota Reformer     THE MINNESOTA GOODBYE RhoemDK via Reddit What's the best concert you've ever been to? Reddit user RhoemDK recently ruminated on the Matt and Kim show in downtown Minneapolis in 2019, which the band played amid temperatures in the minus-20s. As they explain it, the band shed layers as the concert wore on, before a crowd of winter gear-laden fans. By the end of the show, the performers were playing in their skivvies. My favorite concert here is a toss-up between seeing Lorde at the Armory or getting caught in a torrential downpour at the Somerset Amphitheater in Wisconsin during a Fall Out Boy show. The latter included tornado sirens, a one-hour huddle in La Jefa's Toyota Camry and the band powering through their set in order to meet curfew. Got a fun concert story? We want to hear it! Email us at essential@startribune.com. 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.