Star Tribune
After millions in renovations and years of planning, Northstar Center to reopen in downtown Minneapolis
Dining is now concentrated in the first-floor atrium connecting the east and west buildings. The former Northstar Market is now a more charming general store that will offer UPS and dry cleaning services as well as sundries and takeaway meals.
The beloved Walkin’ Dog hot dog stand will resume its decades-long tenure in the food court, where now-retired owner Dave Magnuson will license his brand and serve as a consultant.
A vintage Coca-Cola refrigerator is the centerpiece of the Northstar Center’s new market. (Aaron Lavinsky/The Minnesota Star Tribune)
Good Eating Company, the white-tablecloth arm of the global food services provider Sodexo, will run the building’s food services, including the food court’s Northstar Cafeteria. Alexandre Oliver, the company’s district manager, said his team aims to bring the fine-dining experience to quick-service concepts, with a number of self-pay kiosks and grab-and-go options.
“We’re leaning into that retro theme, so bringing out very classic stuff,” said Nathalie Cassidy, general manager of hospitality services for the building. “Think: beef bourguignon, coq au vin, chicken pot pie, homemade sandwiches.”
On the street level, the Krona Cafe (an ode to the old Krona Bar) will sell house-made doughnuts and St. Paul’s SK Coffee.
Global security firm Prosegur will provide services and house its regional headquarters on site, hopefully mitigating safety concerns potential tenants might have about downtown, Legge said.
Star Tribune
Guilty of gun, drug counts against Derrick Thompson, still charged with killing 5 in crash
A federal jury Friday returned guilty verdicts on gun and drug charges against Derrick John Thompson in connection with the Minneapolis crash that killed five women in June 2023 after he sped off Interstate 35W in and slammed into the car they were riding in.
The verdicts on the fourth day of the trial in U.S. District Court in St. Paul were guilty for all counts: possession with intent to distribute 40 grams or more of fentanyl, being a felon in possession of a firearm and carrying a firearm “during and in relation to a drug trafficking crime.”
While Thompson, 28, of Brooklyn Park and the son of former DFL state Rep. John Thompson, now awaits sentencing in this case, he also has third-degree murder and criminal vehicular homicide charges pending in Hennepin County in connection with the crash. In the meantime, he remains in federal custody in the Sherburne County jail.
The crash victims were Sabiriin Ali, 17, of Bloomington; Sahra Gesaade, 20, of Brooklyn Center; Salma Abdikadir, 20, of St. Louis Park; Sagal Hersi, 19, of Minneapolis, and Siham Adam, 19, of Minneapolis. On the night they were killed, the women were heading home after running errands before a friend’s wedding the next day. Their funeral was attended by thousands, and an online fundraiser to support the victims’ families raised more than $450,000.
A still image from body cam footage shows a bleeding Derrick Thompson near the scene of the crash that killed five women in June 2023 in Minneapolis. (U.S. District Court)
During this week’s federal trial, Thompson’s defense attorneys argued that the drugs and a loaded Glock pistol with an extended magazine discovered in the Escalade actually belong to his brother Damarco John Thompson — whom both the prosecution and defense said was a passenger in the SUV and fled the scene along with Derrick Thompson.
Damarco Thompson has not been arrested or charged with any crimes connected to the crash.
Police found three phones in the car, one for each brother and another they shared. They found video, text and voice messages on Derrick Thompson’s phone documenting narcotics being weighed for sale and negotiations over drug purchases.
A black leather bag carrying the gun and drugs was found beneath a distinctive blue cap Damarco Thompson was captured wearing earlier that night as he dropped Derrick off to rent the Escalade at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. The bag held a loaded Glock handgun with an extended magazine and more than 2,000 blue pills containing fentanyl, 14 grams of powdered fentanyl and 35 grams of cocaine.
DULUTH – The memorial service for an unassuming northern Minnesota park ranger who died while attempting to rescue a Wisconsin family amid wind and wicked waves on Namakan Lake is set for Sunday in the gymnasium at Falls High School in International Falls.
Grossheim, 55, died Sunday trying to bring to safety a man and his two sons, who were stranded on an island. Five-to-eight foot waves were reportedly rolling on the lake in Voyageurs National Park. Grossheim’s park service boat capsized. The family was able to swim to safety, but the longtime park ranger known for his commitment to safety did not resurface. His body was found hours later. Grossheim was wearing a life preserver, according to law enforcement officials.
Betsey Warrington of Kabotegama, Minn., described Grossheim as a private, unassuming person who everyone loved. He likely did thousands of good things that no one ever heard about, she said.
“If he saw something that needed to be done, he just did it,” she said Friday.
Grossheim, of Kabotegama, married Jill Chytil in 1996 and together they lived a quiet life.
Various organizations have banded together to support Grossheim’s family in the aftermath.
The MN 100 Club, which provides financial contributions for lost wages and funeral expenses when a First Responder is killed or critically injured in the line of duty, said this week that it will give $50,000 to Grossheim’s family.
“It will still be pretty low, and it’ll set before the sky gets completely dark,” she said. “That’s the trade-off here. This weekend is when it’s going to be its brightest, but it’s also not in the sky when it’s dark,” Brummel said.
If you look to the west, you can probably see Venus, the really bright planet. Then scan to the right of Venus. If you have a pair of binoculars, just point them on Venus, and then slowly scan toward the right to see the comet, she said.
This comet is getting a lot of notice because it’s a rare comet that’s bright enough to see even through the light pollution of cities. A spot with a clear view of the western horizon, without trees or buildings in the way is good.
But the farther away from the city you get, with less light pollution, the better it will look.
