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Cheers to Troy Young, a resident of north Minneapolis who was relaxing with his dogs Monday when a boy ran past his home saying his 11-year-old brother had been shot. Rather than retreat from danger himself, the 29-year-old Young jumped in his truck and headed north on Morgan Avenue toward the scene where he found a boy, later identified as Amir Atkins, who was fatally shot while in Folwell Park. Young lifted the boy into his truck and drove for help, but Atkins didn’t survive. As for his decision to rush to the scene to help a shooting victim, Young shared that he viewed that as a duty. “I feel like that’s something that everybody should do if they’re able to,” Young said. Good Samaritans walk among us.
Jeers to road construction and the season of not being able to get there from here. We love pothole-free, well-maintained roads, but holy moly this season has been something else. Bridge work on Interstate 94 between Minneapolis and St. Paul has been testing our patience for three months now and is slated to continue through the fall. Attempts at forging an alternative route on an ancillary roadway will be met with more congestion. Buckle up and settle in or stay home because the grid’s going to be tighter this weekend when an eastbound stretch of 94 linking St. Paul and Minneapolis will be fully closed. It’s not much better in other sections of the Twin Cities metro as interstates 494 and 35W through Richfield and Bloomington will be fully closed as well and there’s more to come. Plan ahead when possible. Be grateful for the Minnesota Department of Transportation’s traffic 511.
Cheers to those who knew the late Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and have publicly shared stories, amid personal grief. Of note last week was former House Majority Leader Ryan Winkler on TPT’s “Almanac.” Winkler said that Hortman was incredibly tough but behind closed doors, “She was also insecure and unsure of herself. She would question whether she had done the right thing, she would be constantly looking for input.” Winkler, a close friend of both Hortman and her husband, Mark, made clear he valued those traits. “This is somebody that lived with her vulnerabilities enough that she overcame them,” he said. The depth of that candor and insight are welcome as we flesh out the legacy of a transformative leader. For anyone else seeking a sense of who Hortman was and who she leaves behind, watch this video from 2019 from the moment she became speaker and thanked each of her family members.
Jeers to the summer heat stress-testing our HVAC systems, depleting our sunscreen supplies and overheating our outdoor pools. Thought you’d have more time to replace that air conditioner in your home or car? Nah. In normal times we’d coast through June with mild temperatures to ease us into the transition before the heat. Not this year. The heat is so intense that even the biggest outdoor pools have reached bathwater temperatures, meaning there’s been little relief to be had.
Cheers to all the love for Gilbert, the Hortmans’ golden retriever whose convivial nature caused him to flunk out as a service dog, allowing him to live his days as a beloved companion to the Hortman family. He’s lying in state Friday at the Capitol along with the Hortmans. Anyone who’s owned a dog knows the bond the Hortmans must have shared with Gilbert. Cheers, as well, to Gilbert’s great uncle Bala who visited the Senate office to provide canine therapy, according to Majority Leader Erin Murphy, DFL-St. Paul. Hard to imagine ever seeing a golden retriever again and not being reminded of the sucker punch of the loss of the Hortmans and their good boy.
Long overdue Cheers to Top the Tater for finally getting its due with a hometown festival that got swinging Thursday and runs through Sunday in Farmington, where every tub of the Kemps sour cream dip is produced. The new sponsorship means the festival formally known as Dew Days is at long last Top the Tater Days, overdue synergy with the potential for cheeky product tie-ins and contests. At year one, there’s a competition for scooping the most dip onto an unbroken chip with the winner receiving a year’s supply of dip. Next year maybe a Top the Tater plunge pool? That would be a cool dip.
