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Olympian Suni Lee welcomed home in MN

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A crowd gathered at MSP Airport to welcome Suni Lee home after the celebrated gymnast won three Olympic medals in Paris.

MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota — Cailey Lee, 8, anxiously awaited Suni Lee’s return home. While holding a sign that read “Welcome Home Suni!” Cailey said, “I really like Suni Lee and I want to be her one day.” 

A crowd gathered at Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport to welcome Lee home after the celebrated gymnast won three Olympic medals in Paris. 

Her gold and two bronze medals from Paris, combined with her three from Tokyo, has her tied in third place with Aly Raisman for the most medals by an American gymnast at the Olympics, just behind Simone Biles (11) and Shannon Miller (7). 

“When she stuck her last floor routine, both me and my mom cried,” said Ayden Her, who trained with Lee for 10 years. 

Ayden’s mother, Rep. Kaohly Vang Her helped organize Lee’s welcome home on Sunday afternoon. Rep. Her is closed friends with Lee’s family.

“She overcame so much in order to be in this place to do this so it was really emotional for us. Especially just the tie of knowing her since she was this little 6-year-old girl and knowing that this dream was coming true again with all the adversity she’s experienced,” Rep. Her said. 

In 2023, Lee was diagnosed with two rare kidney diseases. Doctors once told her she would never be able to do gymnastics again. 

“It was so inspiring to know that she had that and she still pushed through it,” said Sophia Buechler, who trains at Lee’s home gym at Midwest Gymnastics. 

Jade Graba agreed, saying, “It inspires me to do my best every day at the gym.” 

Around 5:45 p.m. on Sunday, Lee stepped off the plane and was welcomed by a crowd in the departure area of MSP Airport’s Terminal 1. 

Lee signed autographs and hugged familiar faces as she thanked people for the support. 

Some of the other politicians who greeted Lee included St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter, State Sen. Foung Hawj, Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan and U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar. 

Lee left without giving any media interviews. 

Lee’s coach, Jess Graba, said, “I think that’s probably the best part about my job is that it’s not so much about the medals and all that other stuff… it’s more about the little kids and the kids that look up to her. She’s such a great role model and what she overcame can hopefully inspire other kids to do more and more.” 

Members of the Hmong community also came out to support Lee. 

“We get to where we are because we have the love and support of community… The Hmong community is a very big community and it was a community that helped raise her,” Rep. Her said. “She is a product of our community love and really of all of our ancestors’ dreams when they fought for this country to come here. She is literally the manifestation of every possible dream that they could’ve had when we came to this country.” 



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Preview: ‘The Stories From My Grandmother’s Hands’

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MINNEAPOLIS — How much do you know about your grandma’s upbringing? 

“The Stories From My Grandmother’s Hands” is a book that aims to show young Black children how their grandmas lived through beautiful illustrations and descriptions. 

KARE 11 News at Noon shared more on Thursday about the impact that this book will have. 



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Pumpkin display hopes to raise money for food shelf

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Gary Peterson and his friends are collecting donations to help people in their community.

ST. LOUIS PARK, Minn. — A St. Louis Park pumpkin display is raising money for their local food shelf.

Gary Peterson started carving and painting three pumpkins over a decade ago. It’s now grown to over 100.

“I’ve heard people say they’ve come from Hutchinson,” he said.

Peterson along with two of his neighbors have spent the last 14 years growing their display, turning it into a neighborhood event.

“It’s been incredible, I just can’t believe how much this has expanded,” he said. “We did it just because we like to and then people were asking to give us money to cover the cost.”

The trio refused to take people’s money, but then one of them had an idea.

“My neighbor, Steve Leensvaart, just mentioned how about we just do it for the STEP program and the STEP program is our local food shelf in St. Louis Park,” he said.

So, they started to collect donations to help families in need. They’ve raised hundreds of dollars and donated hundreds of pounds of food over the last few years, carving for a cause.

“It is more gratifying every year,” Peterson said.

He estimated they have over 100 unique pumpkins in their yard. They’ve created the displays and come up with new family-friendly concepts for people to enjoy. Peterson said about 30 of their neighbors carved their own pumpkins to be put on display, and it’s been a big hit.

“It’s great. In the last couple of years, it’s turned into more of a neighborhood event,” said Sarah Durch.

“We love this Halloween display, we come every year to see it. We love that the whole community gets involved to craft and carve the pumpkins,” said Jami Gordon-Smith.

“The shading and the details are unbelievable,” said Elizabeth Hanson.

Hanson hopes to take her 2-year-old son trick or treating for the first time but is worried the cold temperatures might keep them indoors.

“We’re going trick or treating hopefully,” she said. “He’s going to be a firefighter, but we’re probably going to have sweatshirts maybe like two pairs of sweatpants underneath. We’re going to be bundled up.”

Gordon-Smith said her family will be out Halloween night no matter the weather.

“Halloween only comes once a year, so you really have to take advantage and enjoy the evening no matter what the weather brings,” she said. “Guess it’s not totally unheard of in Minnesota to have a cold Halloween, but we are going to try and modify and do a lot of layers underneath our costumes and then we might add some hats and maybe some warmer socks.”

Durch also isn’t surprised they’re in for another chilly night.

“Well, what would Halloween be without Minnesota cold? I feel like every time you plan a costume you have to plan for how you can make this work if it’s snowing,” she said.

Peterson said they will have a bonfire and some hot chocolate and cider on Halloween to keep trick-or-treaters warm while they look at their pumpkins.

Click here to learn where you can see the pumpkins and how you can donate.



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Search continues for Bemidji missing person

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Jeremy Jourdain was 17 when he was last seen on Halloween 2016.

BEMIDJI, Minn. — The search for Jeremy Jourdain, who was last seen on Halloween in 2016, continues now eight years later. 

Jourdain was last seen at a family member’s house in Bemidji, according to the U.S. Department of the Interior Indian Affairs. He left the residence near the 500 block of Wood Avenue after midnight and while people followed him, no one was able to find him. 

Jourdain was 17 at the time.

Officials said he was wearing a blue and grey sweatshirt, and blue jeans when last seen. He is Native American and is described as 6 foot 5 and 175 pounds. 

If you have any information on his whereabouts, you can contact the Bemidji Police Department at (218) 333-9111. Tips can also be sent to 1-833-560-2065, or you can email ojs_mmu@bia.gov.



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