>>2024 MN State Fair Underway, Fairgoer Stories
(Falcon Heights, MN) – The gates are open for day one of the 2024 Minnesota State Fair. Lucy from Plymouth and her mom, Jean, say they basically live on the fairgrounds, trying “pretty much every day” with 12 tickets in hand so far. Lucy and Jean worked at the State Fair for 50 years and stayed in the 4H Building. They watch the Amateur Talent Contest semifinals every day at the Leinie Lodge Bandshell, then go to the grand finale on Sunday night to watch the big winners. She adds her niece was the big winner the first year they gave the $10,000 prize.
Julie from St. Paul was one of the first people through the gates this morning and says today’s special, as “it’s my 60th birthday and I was almost born at the Fair 60 years ago today.” She says her mom was in labor, but came to the State Fair anyway, and “when the fireworks went off and her water broke, they drove to the hospital and I was born seven minutes later.” Julie says her parents always brought her to the State Fair for her birthday party.
>>Gov. Walz Accepts VP Nomination at DNC, Delegate Reactions, What’s Next
(Chicago, IL) – Minnesota Democratic delegate Ken McInnis from Ham Lake says he’s proud that Governor Tim Walz addressed the DNC last night in Chicago. He believes that the rest of the country can now decide what Walz can bring to the ticket, adding, “Minnesota is the Northstar State. We put into place important things for workers, important things for retirees, important things for people in rural Minnesota — to help them survive with respect and dignity.”
Vice President Kamala Harris follows Walz tonight to cap the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Carleton College analyst Steven Schier indicates there’s no consistent reading in the polls on how undecided voters will react to Harris — which he says gives her an opportunity tonight to “balance necessary specifics with an uplifting theme.” Schier notes that so far, Harris’s campaign has not dealt with a lot of policy specifics.
>>Owatonna Teen Dead After Single-Vehicle Crash
(Owatonna, MN) — An Owatonna teen is dead after a single-vehicle crash Wednesday. Police say 19-year-old Yusuf Ali hit a tree and that speeding, and impairment were factors in the crash.
>>MN CRU Seeks to Exonerate Man of 2009 South Minneapolis Murder
(Minneapolis, MN) — The Minnesota Conviction Review Unit (CRU), a division of the Attorney General’s Office, seeks to overturn a 2009 murder conviction due to exculpatory evidence never shown to the jury. Edgar Barrientos is serving a life prison sentence for the first-degree murder of 18-year-old Jesse Mickelson on October 11th, 2008, in south Minneapolis. In an 182-page report, AG Keith Ellison’s Office states surveillance video, Barrientos’s phone records backing up his alibi, and “no physical evidence” connecting him to the crime, proves all charges should be dismissed. The case now heads to the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office for review.
>>Alleged Serial Arsonist in Custody After Damaging Minneapolis Businesses
(Minneapolis, MN) — A man is in custody after being accused of starting multiple fires in Minneapolis. Surveillance video shows the suspect, believed to be 62-year-old Bennett Thomas, lighting a recycling dumpster on fire on the morning of July 22nd, 2020, near FACE Facial Bar and Lounge. The Lounge and several nearby businesses were severely damaged. Thomas is accused of setting fires in five different areas.
>>Fargo Man Arrested for Multiple Vehicle Thefts
(Fargo, ND) — A Fargo man is in custody for multiple vehicle thefts in Cass and Ransom counties. 32-year-old Craig Vinton is in Cass County jail. Deputies responded to a vehicle fire around 8 a.m. Tuesday, learning the car was stolen from Fargo and a second vehicle was stolen from a nearby farm. Later that day, the second stolen car was recovered in Ransom County, where a third vehicle was reported stolen. Deputies responded to a report of a vehicle in a ditch in Davenport around 7:30 that night to find the third vehicle.
>>Cloquet Police Investigating Nazi and Racist Vandalism
(Cloquet, MN) — Authorities in Cloquet are investigating Nazi and racist graffiti on a bridge near a city park. Officers want to know who spray-painted the bridge with S.S. and white supremacist symbols. It happened on the bridge near Spafford Park and a walking path along the St. Louis River. Investigators believe the vandalism was done between Sunday night and Tuesday morning. Park crews have since removed the graffiti.
>>Hutchinson Teen Named 71st Princess Kay of the Milky Way
(Falcon Heights, MN) — A 19-year-old from Hutchinson was crowned the 71st Princess Kay of the Milky Way last night ahead of the Minnesota State Fair. Rachel Visser is a student at the University of Minnesota, double majoring in agricultural food and business management and ag communications and marketing, and hoping to work in dairy statistical analysis. Visser will spend the day in the Dairy Building having Gerry Kulzer make her butter sculpture.
