MINNESOTA, USA — During the final week of 2021, chances are you're doing a little reflecting on the past year. What made you happy, maybe what made you sad, and here at KARE 11, we're looking back at some of the stories our viewers loved the most.
From a 22-mile ice road built over a frozen lake to a Minnetonka woman's now famous "she-shed," we compiled some of the most popular stories from kare11.com.
Editor's Note: The stories below are not shared in any specific order.
Minnesota is set to become home to the very first Taco Bell Defy restaurant, a new way to enjoy your Crunchwrap Supremes and Beefy Melt Burritos. The two-story Taco Bell is slated to open in Brooklyn Park next April with a reinvented drive-thru system. With designated lanes for regular traffic and app orders, hungry Minnesotans won't have their food handed to them through a window. At Taco Bell Defy, your order comes from above, thanks to a propriety vertical lift.
After being stuck indoors for months because of the pandemic, it's no wonder people started going a little stir crazy. Eagan mom Lisa Erickson kept herself moving by placing a treadmill under her work-from-home desk and ended up logging millions of steps. Now known as the Walking Worker, Lisa has thousands of TikTok followers.
As the world watched Suni Lee win gold at the Tokyo Olympics this summer, lots of eagle-eyed fans couldn't help but admire her medal worthy manicure. The salon that got Suni ready for Tokyo was Little Luxuries Nail Lounge in Uptown, owned by Amy Vang. Employees at the salon had been following Suni's career for years and invited her to the salon before the Olympics for a fresh set of acrylic nails.
When Canada closed its borders in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, resorts on Minnesota's Northwest Angle lost access to Canadian highways - effectively cutting them off from the rest of the United States. To bring in customers to the northernmost tip of the lower 48 states, residents had to get creative. Enter, a 22-mile ice road highway build across the frozen Lake of the Woods.
Fifteen-year-old Sydney Raley was working at a McDonald's in Eden Prairie when a customer pulled up to her drive-thru and was visibly choking. Sydney jumped into action - literally - and climbed through the window to start the Heimlich maneuver. Another bystander helped Sydney before police arrived. The woman ended up being OK, and police rewarded Sydney, who has Autism, with $100. "I always tell her she has a gift, because she's autistic," said her dad Tom. "She can remember anything – do anything. It's crazy."
It would be special enough to have four siblings all play on the same high school basketball team. But for Earl Rich, having his daughters play for Mike Dreier at New London-Spicer High School was personal. Mike stepped in as a father-figure for Earl and became his foster parent while he was in high school. Fast forward to 2021, Mike planned to retire years ago, but with a plea from Earl, stayed on so he could coach all four Rich daughters. At a March varsity basketball game, Mike and Earl sat across the court from each other, while between them, all four girls took the court for a couple minutes of playing time together.
Next time you get tired of taking care of an unwanted goldfish, think twice before you release it into a nearby lake or pond. In July, the City of Burnsville shared photos of massive, overgrown goldfish that were found in Keller Lake. Literally, gigantic goldfish. Despite their comical size and traffic-cone orange color, the fish aren't welcome in Minnesota waterways. The thing is, that seemingly-harmless goldfish is a bottom feeder that uproots aquatic plants and can drive algae blooms.
Move over, man cave. Joan Ueland's "she-shed" is here to show you up. Ueland's elaborate oasis has become the perfect place to spend time with her seven grandkids and entertain friends from around the neighborhood. Her husband was the architect behind the two-story structure, her son was the carpenter, and Ueland the creative visionary. From wine and cheese parties to book clubs, Ueland's she-shed is an entertainer's tiny paradise.
Spring forward, fall back. If there's one thing that can bring a split legislature together, it may just be the dislike of changing our clocks two times a year. State Representative Mike Freiberg has introduced a bill that would essentially, "lock the clock" and permanently switch Minnesota to Daylight Saving Time. Congress has to give us the OK first, which isn't likely to happen any time soon. But in the spirit of bipartisanship, House File 72 and its companion bill, Senate File 149, both passed.