Mpls.St.Paul Magazine

“You have returned to the scene of the crimes!” I cry, spying St. Paul writer William Kent Krueger, best-selling author of the 22 (and counting) Cork O’Connor mysteries, as well as a trio of award-winning books set in southern Minnesota, This Tender Land, Ordinary Grace, and The River We Remember, which critics often compare, in their emotion and urgency of moral questioning, to To Kill a Mockingbird.

1. U of M President Rebecca Cunningham's Defining Year As she enters her junior year leading the University of Minnesota, Cunningham has focus and ambition, and she makes no apologies. Read More 2. 2026 Entrepreneur of the Year Winners EY Heartland Awards were presented to leaders from six Minnesota businesses. Read More 3. What’s Driving the Financial Crisis on Minnesota Farms? American farmers are struggling because they’re paying high input costs and getting low prices for their crops. Read More 4.

The Science Museum of Minnesota is making a big bang at this year’s State Fair. The Ultimate Dinosaurs exhibition, housed in the North End Event Center, is inviting dinosaurs from around the globe and some of the state’s oldest locals—notably, the Giant Beaver—to the Great Minnesota Get-Together.

At the intersection of Cosgrove Street and Dan Patch Ave., there is a time-honored mid-afternoon ritual that awaits in the Minnesota State Fair Creative Activities Building. An air-conditioned maze rewards those who have braved a morning spent in the animal barns and scarfed down their chosen fried-food-roulette-of-a-lunch. What lies within the depths of this crocheted, knitted, and sculpted treasure trove of arts and crafts?

Walking up to a sunny grass practice field at a park in the suburbs, you’d never expect to find an elite professional sports team holding their practice. But the Minnesota Wind Chill were doing exactly that, stretching out and warming up to play one of the fastest growing sports in the state: ultimate frisbee. Unfamiliar with the sport? Ultimate is played with seven-a-side on a narrow football field.

We don't need to tell you what you already know—the 2026 State Fair new foods are here, in sugar-dusted, high-sausage, ube ube ube style. This year, Steve Marsh, our deputy editor of arts and culture, was my co-writer for our big Day One shebang, and turns out he is also deputy editor of Pop Rocks and bao buns and the only kind of chicken salad in the world (we think!) you can have served to you in a waffle cone.

“Moose, Moose—you’re on Underwood.

While the rest of us sleep away the last of our lazy summer days, there are some among us preparing for “the dream of perhaps every food vendor in Minnesota,” according to food entrepreneur Roon Johnson—the Minnesota State Fair. He is setting out to do something he never could have possibly imagined when he worked at Adele's Frozen Custard as a teenager: Roll 30,000 waffle cones. It’s a difficult feat for the average person to conceptualize. How many waffle irons does it even take to pull that off?

The Anchor Coffee House: Try the cold brew lavender shandy for a surprising blend of coffee and lavender lemonade, or stick to trusty standard cold brew coffee and iced lattes with vanilla, caramel, mini-donut, and mocha-flavored flair. Beans and Beignets: New at the fair last year, these honey-forward coffee offerings attract a buzz.

At the risk of sounding like an old lady barking at the moon, I will tell you that I have been doing this long enough to remember writing a story about the crazy idea that a chicken dish could ever cost $30 at a local restaurant. Suddenly that seems akin to that moment when you look back at the menu of midcentury Minneapolis dining icon Charlie’s Cafe Exceptionale and see that the Half Pheasant, Supreme in 1962 would set you back $3.75. In so many words, both those economies have flown the coop.