Welcome to today's edition of Talkers, a daily roundup of our latest, newsiest and most interesting stories. You can receive this as a newsletter right to your e-mail inbox each afternoon by signing up here.
Top stories
- Surprise! Hot dogs, bacon are bad for you: Processed meats raise the risk of colon, stomach and other cancers, and red meat probably contributes to the disease, too, the World Health Organization said Monday, throwing its considerable authority behind what many doctors have been warning for years.
- Accused murderer released from jail: After being held for the past 14 months on charges of fatally stabbing a man in a Dallas area hotel more than 30 years ago, a Twin Cities man who lived an unassuming suburban dad's existence for decades is heading back home as Texas officials sort out complications analyzing DNA evidence in his case and others dating back many years.
- Remembering Flip Saunders: Once deemed too small to make it big in the sport he so loved, Flip Saunders became a Minnesota basketball icon: a four-year starter at the University of Minnesota, the winningest coach in Timberwolves history and, in his second stint with the team, one of the most powerful executives in professional basketball. Reusse remembers "our point guard." The Gophers honored their former player before last night's scrimmage. Kevin Garnett also shared a touching tribute to his longtime coach on Facebook.
- Fantasy sports legislation on the way: Rep. Joe Atkins, DFL-Inver Grove Heights, said in a statement he wants the Legislature to legalize and regulate big money fantasy sports, which has exploded across Minnesota and the nation in recent years, particularly on the sites FanDuel and DraftKings.
- Three finalists for UND nickname: Fighting Hawks, Roughriders and Nodaks are the final three choices in the vote to replace "Fighting Sioux" as the nickname for the University of North Dakota's athletic teams.
- The latest evidence that the Cold War is back: Russian submarines and spy ships are aggressively operating near the vital undersea cables that carry almost all global Internet communications, raising concerns among some U.S. military and intelligence officials that the Russians might be planning to attack those lines in times of conflict.
- Minneapolis gang leader convicted: A prominent member of a Minneapolis street gang has been convicted of two felonies in connection with a gun-buying operation that fueled deadly street violence for years over illicit-drug turf on the North Side.
- More shootings in Minneapolis: Four people were injured in several shootings that occurred in Minneapolis over the weekend, including an 11-year-old girl who was wounded by a stray bullet that crashed through a North Side home, police said.
Watch this
- Chewbacca arrested in Ukraine: Han Solo's furry sidekick was picked up for an electioneering violation when he allegedly campaigned on Election Day for a candidate named Darth Vader, which really doesn't make any sense at all. Apparently, the Wookiee did not go quietly. You can watch video of the arrest here.
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Trending
- Rybak writing a book: The forthcoming book about his tenure as Minneapolis mayor is sure to stoke speculation about Rybak's political ambitions. He ran unsuccessfully for governor in 2010, but has said he is interested in running for the office again.
- Target Field getting spruced up: The Minnesota Twins are enhancing roughly 3,700 square feet of underused space for seating and viewing behind center field in what will be the most extensive renovations to Target Field since it opened in 2010.
- Is Sunday night the new Monday morning? "Over the past five years, Sunday night has gone from our third most common night for writing e-mails to be sent later — behind Monday and Tuesday nights — to the most common," the Boston Globe reports.
Sports roundup
- Vikings apply lessons learned to rally past Lions: The Vikings (4-2) won on the road for the first time this season. It was also the team's first road victory over an NFC North opponent since beating the Lions in 2012 and the first of the Zimmer era.
- Adrian Peterson nearly sidelined by seafood: The Vikings star overcame a bad reaction to seafood to rush for 98 yards on Sunday. Mike Rand wonders if Peterson is hurting the team.
- Subscribe to our Access Vikings podcast! Rand and Matt Vensel break down all the Vikings news each week. It's free on iTunes.
- Gophers hope to hold on to Little Brown Jug: When Michigan visits Saturday, the Gophers will be trying to retain the 112-year-old traveling trophy over consecutive years for the first time since they beat the Wolverines every season from 1960 to '63.
- Wild not worried about Dubnyk's knee: The goalie had trouble getting off the ice a few times last night, spent the entirety of one TV timeout conferring with athletic therapist Don Fuller at the bench and spent many stoppages stretching. He amazingly made three pretty awesome saves in the middle of the obvious pain too.
Quote of the day
Worth a click
On duty, under fire: The Washington Post uses the case of a Wisconsin state trooper who was killed while stopping a bank robber to look at the most common type of officer-involved shooting: those that involve an individual who has "already fired shots, brandished a gun, or attacked a person with a weapon or their bare hands."
From the archives
Oct. 26, 1977: A full moon shines brightly as a young woman prepares to move her horse into a barn in Blaine. (Photo: Steve Schluter/Star Tribune)
