🥇 How many Minnesotans will bring home the gold?

Plus: We're getting Star Wars in Ojibwe [Plus: We're getting Star Wars in Ojibwe] View this email as a [web page]( [Star Tribune]( [Essential Minnesota logo] ESSENTIAL MINNESOTA [Essential Minnesota logo] ESSENTIAL MINNESOTA Good morning, Minnesota! I'm off Monday, so send me your favorite bakeries in the Twin Cities 👨🏽 🍳 On to the news 📢 [Eder Campuzano] By Eder Campuzano TODAY’S TOP STORIES - [Everything you need to know to cast your ballot in Minnesota’s August primary election]( - [The State Fair’s all-you-can-drink milk will be more expensive this year]( - [‘Seriously, this sucks’: How a small Minnesota town was left with a giant pile of wind turbine blades]( - [Fact check: Walz’s National Guard records show that Vance’s claim of ‘stolen valor’ is false]( - [After abrupt closure, Game Informer staffers reflect on the video game magazine’s impact](   Minnesotans are making moves at the Olympics Michael Conroy/Associated Press Well, that was scary. After dominating on the court through group play and knockout rounds, the U.S. men's Olympic basketball team struggled to make it past Serbia yesterday. A trip to the gold medal game was on the line and Team USA, led by the Golden State Warriors' Steph Curry with the Timberwolves' Anthony Edwards in tow, bested Nikola Jokic and the Serbian team 94-91. Phew. That means the U.S. men's team will face off against France tomorrow at 2 p.m. CDT. It also means an NBA player from Minnesota is guaranteed to come home with a gold medal. (Rudy Gobert plays for the French.) We're also keeping an eye on today's women's basketball matchup between the U.S. and Australia. Mark J. Terrill/Associated Press That game will feature the Lynx's Napheesa Collier playing against another Minnesotan: teammate Alanna Smith. Whoever wins that round advances to the gold medal game Sunday against either France or Belgium. That's also the day this year's Games end. Here's the full tally of medals that Minnesotans have won for Team USA so far. The only question is: If the U.S. women's basketball team is victorious, do we add two to the count — one each for Collier and for Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve? Guess we'll cross that bridge when we (hopefully) come to it. 🥇 3: Suni Lee won gold in the women's gymnastics team competition. Regan Smith claimed two golds — one as a member of the mixed medley relay and another as a member of the women's medley relay. 🥈 4: Sarah Bacon won silver in the 3-meter springboard. Smith won silver in the 100-meter backstroke, 200-meter butterfly and the 200-meter backstroke. 🥉 2: Lee won bronze in the gymnastics all-around and the uneven bars.     GOING OUT - [The 5 best things our food writers ate in the Twin Cities area this week]( - [6 upcoming food-related events for your calendar]( - [Shh. Tickets to musical version of Prince’s ‘Purple Rain’ have gone on presale to some lucky fans]( “Gi-ga-miinigoz Mamaandaawiziwin” That's how you say "May the Force be with you" in Ojibwe. Disney has recently mounted an effort to translate the first entry in the "Star Wars" series into the Native language. And a pair of Minnesotans took part in the project. One of them, Dustin Morrow, is even voicing one of the most iconic characters in the entire saga: Obi-wan Kenobi. Rachel Hutton has the story about the Ojibwe translation of the [space opera here](. 20th Century Fox [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. MORE FROM THE STAR TRIBUNE - [Internet celebrity colors one state House primary in Minneapolis]( - [Minnesota’s longest-running art and book festival? It’s happening Saturday in Hackensack]( - [‘Horrid, busy and loud’: Road construction snarls traffic at the U, and the worst is yet to come]( CURIOUS MINNESOTA Alex Kormann/Star Tribune Just where the heck is Lake Wobegon? That's the question for this week's edition of the Star Tribune's reader-powered reporting project, Curious Minnesota. Yes, we know the town is fictional, but it must've been inspired by at least one of Minnesota's rustic locales. It's kind of like trying to figure out where Homer Simpson's Springfield is — the Portland-inspired family names for several of his neighbors have me convinced it's in Oregon. So we asked Garrison Keillor who ... didn't return our call. Jenny Berg went out in search of the Minnesota town most like Lake Wobegon for this week's Curious. [You can check out what she found here.]( IN OTHER NEWS - [Researchers zero in on Twin Cities neighborhoods hit hardest by heat island effect]( - Sahan Journal - [‘We’ve got it covered,’ local Secret Service office says as VP candidate Walz gets more security]( - Pioneer Press - [Rainbow Health was as much life care as it was health care for LGBTQ+ community]( - MinnPost     THE MINNESOTA GOODBYE Chris Vondracek via X They say you're supposed to shower your beloved with gifts of paper on your first wedding anniversary. But what do you give to your colleagues when they roll through your neighborhood en route to Farmfest? Corn, naturally. At least that's what Jp Lawrence, our southwest Minnesota correspondent, recently presented to agriculture reporter Chris Vondracek on that exact occasion. Vondracek, we should note, is also a musician, so we'd be remiss if we didn't suggest this as his next album cover. 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.