Good afternoon. It has been nearly a year since the shooting at Annunciation Catholic School that killed two children, injured dozens and shook the Twin Cities. Our colleague Talya Minsberg has the story of how trauma therapists helped the community recover. It’s about hope amid profound grief.
We also have some lighter material, including a special Minnesota-themed Midi crossword. See how many Gopher State connections you can spot. First, here are a few of the top local stories we’re following.
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The federal government’s purchase of a former prison in the small city of Appleton might seem like an economic boon. Madison McVan of Minnesota Reformer explains how it could turn out to be the opposite.
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Keith Ellison, Minnesota’s attorney general, and Ron Schutz, the Republican trying to unseat him, are leaning on entirely different issues. The Minnesota Star Tribune shows the campaign split-screen.
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In a goof gone horrifically wrong, a man working to clear branches in Apple Valley was killed on Thursday when a grapple apparently closed on his head, FOX 9reports.
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The helpers, always available on Channel 2
After the shooting that killed 8-year-old Fletcher Merkel and 10-year-old Harper Moyski during a back-to-school Mass, the Annunciation community faced a process that has become all too common. Unthinkable grief, a barrage of media attention, trauma and recovery services, and eventually, an impossibly difficult question: How do you go back to school?
At Annunciation, the answer came in the shape of a butterfly, with the help of walkie-talkies.
A group of clinicians from the Washburn Center for Children, a mental health organization, embedded with the school to provide counseling and support when the students returned to the classroom. The organization, which has served Minnesota since 1883, began with triage services and expanded into a network of warm, trusted helpers who are on call via walkie-talkie.
They are always available on Channel 2. Their logo, a butterfly, has become a symbol of support. When a student needed a break, the child could make a peace sign or ask a teacher, “Can I have a Washburn friend?”
The trauma therapists at the school, called butterflies by some or simply the Helpers, will be back when classes start up again next week.
Dr. David Schonfeld, the director of the National Center for School Crisis and Bereavement, said this kind of continuing local partnership was highly atypical.
The children have found a sense of comfort in the Helpers’ continuing presence, said Jenny Britton, the chief clinical officer at Washburn.
“They could look at each other and say, ‘You know, we’ve all been through this together,’” she said. “‘If I cry, or I’m having a hard day, or I need to take a break, I’m not judged here for that.’”
More on Annunciation:
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Watch: The Star Tribune had four families keep video diaries over the past year. What they captured is beautiful, gut-wrenching and, at times, deeply hopeful. Six months in, Sara Slack, a first-grade teacher, said, “The main thing that comes to mind for me is wanting our story to remain relevant.”
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Read: I’ll never forget watching Matt DeBoer, the principal of Annunciation, speak hours after the shooting. Later, he said, “It’s not what I signed up for, but it’s what I’m called to do.” Learn more about DeBoer in this breathtaking profile from The Strib.
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Listen: Harper’s mother, Jackie Flavin, and best friend, Orla McGarvey, remembered her during a conversation for StoryCorps. “We can talk to each other whenever we’re sad and stuff,” Orla said.
Minnesota Midi
Our colleague Ian Livengood on the Games team has created a special Minnesota-themed puzzle to celebrate our state as The Local kicks off. The Midi is a daily midsize crossword puzzle, bigger than the Mini but a quicker solve than the full Crossword.
You’ll find Minnesota-themed clues and answers throughout today’s Midi. The puzzle is titled “Things Are Looking Up,” and we couldn’t agree more.
Your Times
Top Times stories, selected for Minnesota readers. We have made these links free for readers of The Local.
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CBD for dogs: Even before Minnesota legalized marijuana, CBD products were popular. Now they’re being marketed for dogs, but are they actually good for them?
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Canada tariffs: President Trump threatened even higher tariffs today on Minnesota’s largest international trading partner after talks broke down this weekend.
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E. coli and salmonella: A Minnesota company’s alfalfa sprouts have been linked to dozens of cases of E. coli and salmonella in 15 states.
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A.I.: In Minnesota and across the country, data centers have become the “epicenter of the midterm elections.”
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Cheaper drugs: Illicit drugs have gotten stronger and less expensive since the 1980s. Minnesota recently tightened rules on kratom, an opioid-like drug that is still legal here.
Sports
We’re 38 days away from the start of the Minnesota Wild season, but that doesn’t mean it’s too soon to make predictions.
More than 4,600 readers responded to The Athletic’s annual Wild survey with sighs and cautious optimism. Overall, fans still believe wholeheartedly in Bill Guerin, the general manager of the team. That’s despite how last season ended — what The Athletic called “the most shocking loss in Minnesota Wild playoff history.”
Michael Russo, who covers the N.H.L. for The Athletic, attributes some of the optimism to Quinn Hughes, the defenseman who was traded to the team in 2025.
“Trading for Hughes was the kind of franchise-altering move fans love and reinforced the idea Guerin will swing for the fences,” he wrote, “and Hughes validated the confidence in his play in Minnesota and at the Olympics.”
Read how Wild fans feel about New Jersey Devils fans, what the value of a Hughes extension is and who should play with Kirill Kaprizov.
— Talya Minsberg
Weather
Today’s uneventful forecast may be the quiet before. Tuesday is expected to bring thunderstorms, strong winds and hail that could stretch into Wednesday morning.
One more thing
Every year, thousands of Minnesota artists learn that their work won’t be among those selected for display at the State Fair’s Juried Fine Art Show. But all is not lost.
For the third year running, the Douglas Flanders & Associates gallery in Minneapolis will host a “Reject Show.”
It opens on Saturday. Syril McNally, the gallery’s director, said the idea of a reject show — or salon des refusés — originated in France in the late 1800s when Impressionist painters were turned away from museums and top galleries.
It has become so popular that some artists even want the fair to reject them so they’re eligible to show their work here, writes The Star Tribune’s art critic and reporter Alicia Eler.
— Shadi
Thanks for taking a break with us this afternoon!
Correction: An item about international travel in Friday’s newsletter misstated the country where Dubai is located. It is in the United Arab Emirates.
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Hosts: Shadi Bushra and Jay Gabler Editor: Hanna Ingber Staff Editor: Talya Minsberg Illustrations: Peter Steineck Photo Editor: Clinton Cargill Strategy: Katherine Chang Editorial Director, Newsletters: Jodi Rudoren
The post The Local: Walkie-talkies for grief appeared first on New York Times.
