Charges filed in fatal Park Tavern crash

Plus: How a 'childless cat lady' transformed her home for her pets 🐱 [Plus: How a 'childless cat lady' transformed her home for her pets 🐱] View this email as a [web page]( [The Minnesota Star Tribune](   [Essential Minnesota logo] ESSENTIAL MINNESOTA [Essential Minnesota logo] ESSENTIAL MINNESOTA Good morning, Minnesota! For Halloween a few years ago, I looked just like Buddy Holly. (And La Jefa was Mary Tyler Moore) 🎸 On to the news 📢 [Eder Campuzano] By Eder Campuzano TODAY’S TOP STORIES - [Walz flies to Pennsylvania on his first solo excursion for Harris ticket]( - [The new Longfellow restaurant Lynette is built on deep-rooted success]( - [Future of discarded wind turbine blades in Minnesota town gets cloudier after company disappears]( - [2024 Minnesota State Fair attendance tops post-COVID years, but falls short of record]( - [New Vikings QB Sam Darnold is hoping this is his redemption story](   This Minnesota woman's house is going to the cats Anthony Soufflé/The Minnesota Star Tribune The feline furniture business is booming in Minnesota. And a childless cat lady is leading the charge in designing living spaces dedicated to the demure and sometimes reclusive pets. That's the upshot of today's main story, a wonderful deep dive into what it looks like to design your home with your pets in mind, from real estate reporter Alex Chhith. Mary Tan, a former WCCO reporter who now leads a public relations firm, owns three cats and fosters kittens at her home in Buffalo, Minn. The house is outfitted with shelves the cats can perch on and several cubbies and holes in the furniture they can squeeze through. "Cats are my jam," Tan said. Chhith also spoke with Darryl Michaelson of Purrniture Cat Furniture in St. Paul, who says he's seen a steady stream of business since he opened 34 years ago. He makes the furniture himself and says the key is to place it where the rest of the family will hang out. “For a cat to actually want to use it and be on it, [it] has to be in an area where people are — not in a back bedroom where people aren’t there,” he said. “A piece of cat furniture doesn’t have to be by a window. They’re happy where they can watch their family watch TV and eat dinner.” Chhith has [the full story here](. Now if you'll excuse me, there's a cat lying on the carpet in the home office who needs my attention.     GOING OUT - [Tickets go on sale this week for Blenders, Tech N9ne and Kiss Road]( - [The Big Gigs: 10 best concerts to see in Twin Cities area this week]( - [The Cabooze music club will have a grand reopening next week under new ownership]( - [Mediterr-Asian steakhouse from Crave owners opening in St. Louis Park](   [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.   Charges filed in fatal Park Tavern crash The driver accused of ramming a car into the patio at the Park Tavern in St. Louis Park had a blood alcohol of 0.325%, more than four times the legal limit, according to charging documents filed yesterday. The crash killed Kristina Marie Folkerts, 30, who worked at the pub, and Gabriel Quinn Harvey, also 30, a health unit coordinator at nearby Methodist Hospital. Paul Walsh has the [latest details from the charging documents here](. Jeff Wheeler/The Minnesota Star Tribune MORE FROM THE MINNESOTA STAR TRIBUNE - [Ramstad: In an election focused on the economy, Trump and Harris miss the main point]( - [Three teens shot near fairgrounds in apparently random attack]( - [Fraught plastic film recycling plant in Rogers reopening with new ownership]( WE'RE NO. 1! WE'RE NO. 1! (AT LEAST WE WERE) Photo illustration by Michael Carroll/The Minnesota Star Tribune Back in 2004, research firm Morgan Quitno deemed New Hampshire the No. 1 state to live in, having bestowed that honor upon Minnesota the year before. That didn't sit well with Minnesota Star Tribune reporter Bill Dawson, who proceeded to look up all the ways in which the North Star State beat out its 49 peers. We also can't get enough of this photo illustration that Michael Carroll whipped up for the feature. Truly stunning. New Hampshire may have been more livable 20 years ago, but these are the myriad superlatives Dawson reported about the Land of 10,000 Lakes: • Most lakes in the nation (duh) • Highest percentage of boat ownership (also duh) • First in producing organic corn and soybeans, dark red kidney beans, Spam and turkeys • First in sugar beet and cereal product employment • First in ethanol plants and iron ore and spring oat production • Leads the nation in female hockey players • Shortest funk-rock music legend: Prince! New Hampshire may still have the best state motto in the nation — "live free or die" — but Minnesota lake culture remains unrivaled. What do you love about the North Star State? You know how to reach us: essential@startribune.com.     IN OTHER NEWS - [Some Minnesota autism centers got money through fraud-riddled federal child nutrition program]( - Minnesota Reformer - [Changes in Twin Cities commute patterns foster changes in Metro Transit’s bus network]( - MinnPost - [‘Why couldn’t they just leave us alone?’: Pain of displacement from St. Paul’s West Side Flats lingers decades later]( - Sahan Journal THE MINNESOTA GOODBYE @BestPixMN via X From the falls of Minnehaha, to the tree-lined avenues, what does Minneapolis mean to you? The Best of Minnesota account on X, @BestPixMN, dug up this treasure of a promotional video for the City of Lakes that dates back to 1968. The grainy footage of Minnehaha Falls, Foshay Tower and Metropolitan Stadium is a sight to behold. And the old-timey jingle pairs perfectly with the shots of people and waterfowl enjoying an afternoon on the lakes. Click or tap on the screenshot above to watch the full video. Don Draper couldn't have done it better himself. Thanks for reading Eder Campuzano, reporter David Taintor, editor     [Premium digital access] GET IMMEDIATE ACCESS TO EVERY STORY [Premium digital access] GET IMMEDIATE ACCESS TO EVERY STORY [Subscribe]( SHARE THIS NEWSLETTER [Email]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Manage email preferences]( • [Subscribe to Star Tribune]( • [Privacy Policy]( [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.