Minnesota sports teams are rocking it (well, most of them) 🏀🏈

Plus: New polls just dropped [Plus: New polls just dropped] View this email as a [web page]( [The Minnesota Star Tribune](   [Essential Minnesota logo] ESSENTIAL MINNESOTA [Essential Minnesota logo] ESSENTIAL MINNESOTA Good morning, Minnesota! Say a prayer for my paddle board, which only saw two outings during our tempestuous summer and will live in storage for the next nine months. 🌧️ On to the news. 📢 [Eder Campuzano] By Eder Campuzano TODAY’S TOP STORIES - [Speeding motorists turn Minneapolis avenues into urban speedway]( - [Voter registration spikes in Minnesota following Taylor Swift’s endorsement]( - [Are political rallies on overpasses legal?]( - [Minnesota regulators: Xcel must refund customers for Prairie Island outage caused by severed cables]( - [Moving up? An executive coach might be worth the cost](   We're winning and we don't care who knows it Matt Krohn/Associated Press Could the Minnesota Lynx end the North Star State's professional championship drought? Napheesa Collier's 38 points helped the Lynx squeak out their first playoff win of the season against the Phoenix Mercury yesterday. A win Wednesday advances the team to round 2. The Vikings are also off to a hot start this season with a 3-0 record after absolutely demolishing the Houston Texans 34-7. It sure feels like Minnesota sports are having a moment right now. It's been seven years since the Lynx won a WNBA championship — the team was the last Minnesota pro sports franchise to claim a title. The Vikings haven't been to the Super Bowl since 1977. But between the Timberwolves' bombastic playoff run earlier this year and the current spate of Minnesota wins, you'd forgive us all for feeling just a little hopeful. The Minnesota Star Tribune Sports desk breaks it all down at the links below. - [Vikings rout the Texans 34-7, making a deafening statement about their potential this season]( - [Souhan: Are the Vikings the best team in the NFL? They sure look like it.]( - [Lynx survive WNBA playoff opener with 102-95 victory over Phoenix]( - [Neal: Napheesa Collier’s phenomenal effort on both ends drives Lynx to Game 1 victory]( [Read More](     GOING OUT - [Justin: Baseball flick ‘Little Big League’ deserves more Minnesota love]( - [In Ananya Dance’s ‘Antaranga,’ women pave a path for a better world]( - [Her family fled Laos carrying seeds and plants. A new Hmong garden features the same healing herbs](   [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.   Klobuchar, Harris lead in new Minnesota polls We have 43 days to go until the November election. And we've got a new set of polls that show Sen. Amy Klobuchar has a double-digit lead over her Republican challenger, Royce White, while Vice President Kamala Harris has a narrower advantage over former President Donald Trump. Read up on the final Minneapolis Star Tribune/MPR News/KARE 11 polls at the links below. - [Minnesota Poll: Harris leads Trump in close presidential race]( - [Minnesota Poll: Klobuchar with sizable lead over White in U.S. Senate race]( - [About the Minnesota Poll]( Associated Press photos MORE FROM THE MINNESOTA STAR TRIBUNE - [Faribault County ballot misprint switched parties of legislative candidates]( - [Here’s where the Twins stand in the American League playoff race]( - [Tolkkinen: Let’s stop canceling each other for voicing our opinions]( ON THIS DAY IN 1994 John Hasselman/The Minnesota Star Tribune Exactly 30 years ago, the front page of the Star Tribune featured this standalone photo and a brief account of an out-of-control city bus that underwent a brake failure and hit four cars, three parking meters, a fire hydrant, a light pole and a traffic light. No one was seriously injured. It sort of reminds me of this movie that came out the same year about a bus that had to speed around the city, keeping its speed over 50 mph. And if its speed dropped, it would blow up. I think it was called "[The Bus That Couldn't Slow Down](." IN OTHER NEWS - [30 Savory Baked Goods to Eat in the Twin Cities Before You Die]( - Racket - [Wanted across Minnesota: One hundred women – and then some]( - MinnPost - [How fraudsters have gamed Minnesota’s Medicaid program for millions]( - Minnesota Reformer     THE MINNESOTA GOODBYE @BestPixMN via Twitter My Minnesota Star Tribune colleagues will tell you that I'm obsessed with my home state — almost obnoxiously so. (Definitely obnoxiously so.) I miss the mountains in Oregon. I miss the ocean. I especially miss the dedicated bikeways that criss-cross Oregon's largest city and serve a purpose beyond recreation. But, I've gotta say: Portland's skyline is nothing compared to the skyscrapers that comprise Minneapolis'. I was home last week and while KOIN Tower and the Wells Fargo Center made me feel all sorts of nostalgic, they're about the only distinctive edifices the City of Roses can claim. Downtown Minneapolis has so much more character than downtown Portland. Feels good to be back! 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.