Jackie Renzetti

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Bring Me The News •

After being shot, he closed his restaurant for months. Now he's selling out of food.

It's just after 2 p.m., and Kevan Tran is zooming between greeting customers at the front counter and preparing food in the kitchen of his restaurant, Penn Lake Roast Beef in Bloomington. The lunch rush may finally be slowing, but he’s hardly done filling orders for the day. Since reopening last week after a three-month closure to recover from being shot during an attempted robbery, a steady flow of customers have visited the restaurant, sometimes queuing down the sidewalk.
Bring Me The News •

Bloomington turkey becomes local celebrity, despite authorities' pleas

When Nancy Webb arrives to work each morning at Hallmark Dry Cleaners in Bloomington, she often finds a visitor waiting for her. Lately, Penny the turkey has been snoozing on the doormat until she wakes him up at 7 a.m. He lingers in the doorway — sometimes strutting into the store — until she lures him away with a cracker. “I open the front doors and he walks right in, like he owns the place," Webb says.
RiverTowns •

New Three Rivers owner raises tenant concerns

When Lee Hawkins arrived home in early July, he found a new lease taped to the door of his mobile home in Hastings’ Three Rivers community. Out of all the new rules and fees outlined in the document by the property’s new ownership, one stood out to him the most: his 10-year-old dog, Spirit, would have to go. “I was ready to sell,” the 18-year resident said he was thinking as he waited over two weeks for clarification from the Utah-based Havenpark Capital Partners.
RiverTowns •

As teachers rally for new contract, South Washington County Schools discourages union from 'work-to-rule'

The most recent meeting with the state’s Bureau of Mediation Services on Feb. 11 ended without a tentative agreement. Union members were told that because decision-makers were absent, nothing could be established that day, UTSWC President Marty Fridgen said. Since then, she said, she has not heard back from the district about setting a date for a new meeting. “There’s just been no movement, no urgency to settle the contract," she said. "It’s very frustrating. If they want to get this done, I do

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Star Tribune •

Hack your car? Minnesota-based entrepreneurs have a tool for you

Hunched over a laptop, Earl and Josh Sharpe watch codes flow in from a 2016 Volkswagen GTI. Amid the roar of machinery at the Modern Automotive Performance warehouse in Cottage Grove, the Minnesota cousins play around with different car functions, like unlocking its doors or turning its engine off. Once they identify which operation each code is responsible for, they can move on to their next task: hacking the car. “The first step is snooping,” Josh Sharpe explains.
Star Tribune •

Former U doctoral student takes sexual harassment case to trial this week

The moment Stephanie Jenkins heard the camera shutter click from behind as she bent down, she knew she wasn’t being treated as a scientist. Rather, she felt the sole companion on her research trip — who oversaw the project — viewed her as a sex object. This was the opening statement her lawyer, Joe Larson, made in a federal sexual harassment case Monday in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis.
mndaily.com - The Minnesota Daily •

U uses tuition, state funds to pay legal fees associated with faculty union push

The University of Minnesota has spent more than $500,000 of state taxpayer and tuition money in legal fees as it battles faculty unionization advocates in court. Records obtained by the Minnesota Public Interest Research Group through a public records request show the money — nearly $515,000 from a University fund of tuition and state money — was used to hire the law firm Fredrikson & Byron as the school clashed with faculty union supporters to determine what faculty positions could be included
mndaily.com - The Minnesota Daily •

Athletics department complaints pile up

Two top University of Minnesota athletics directors have stepped down from their roles within a month, following various complaints against them that include alleged sexual harassment. Former athletics director Norwood Teague’s resignation and executive associate athletics director Mike Ellis’ leave of absence are the latest signs — along with ongoing federal investigations — of a tumultuous culture within the department. The two female University employees who reported Teague’s unwanted advan
The Register-Guard •

Local lessons: Eugene Ballet’s ‘The Nutcracker’ offers a rare opportunity for participating children

From a party child to this year’s ­titular role, Reed Souther has performed nearly every part in the Eugene Ballet Company’s “The ­Nutcracker.” Now a company member for eight years, Souther traces the start of his career to dancing with the Eugene Ballet as a student dancer at its touring stop in his hometown of Corvallis — one of the few opportunities he had to work with professionals.
Growler Magazine •

Birds and The B-Sides: After 25 years of Music in the Zoo, Sue McLean’s legacy lives on

With relentless rain, the BoDeans figured all hope was gone the night of their sold-out, outdoor show at the Minnesota Zoo. But when clouds subsided with time left for just a few songs, the Wisconsin-based rock-and-rollers were pleasantly surprised. “It turned out, everyone stuck around,” lead singer Kurt Neumann says. “Everybody had brought garbage bags and ponchos and stuff like that, and had stuck around for like 90 minutes.” Poncho-ready, loyal music fans have sold out the majority of Musi
Local Current Blog | The Current from Minnesota Public Radio •

On this Day in 1983, Prince played “Purple Rain” for the first time

Before the 1984 blockbuster Purple Rain catapulted Prince on to the national stage, there was an Aug. 3, 1983 benefit concert for the Minnesota Dance Theatre at the recently re-branded First Avenue. It was there that the budding pop star debuted much of the Purple Rain album tracks, and recorded the versions of “Purple Rain,” “I Would Die 4 U” and “Baby I’m A Star” heard in the film and soundtrack. “Those versions were almost exactly what he did live,” said longtime Prince producer David Rivkin
mndaily.com - The Minnesota Daily •

Following Gophers suspensions, hundreds rally around survivors of sexual assault

Around 250 demonstrators rallied in support of sexual assault victim-survivors outside TCF Bank Stadium Saturday, an effort to show solidarity after 10 University of Minnesota football players were suspended in connection with a sexual assault investigation. “This is happening far too often,” University alumna and sexual assault victim-survivor Sarah Super, who organized the event, said to the crowd. “[We are] proactively telling survivors in our lives, ‘We stand with you, we support you and we
mndaily.com - The Minnesota Daily •

Shooting suspects charged

Four men were charged on Monday for last week’s shooting of five protesters near the Minneapolis Police Department’s 4th Precinct. Protesters have occupied the precinct in the days following the Nov. 15 fatal police shooting of Jamar Clark. On Nov. 23, a shooting near the precinct wounded five African-American men. The four defendants, Allen Scarsella, 23, Joseph Backman, 27, Nathan Gustavsson, 21, and Daniel Macey, 26, have been charged with second-degree riot with a dangerous weapon, accordi