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Good morning, Minnesota! Imagine being stuck inside of Mobile with the Memphis blues so many times you had no choice but to write an absolute banger about it 😎 On to the news 📢

Aaron Lavinsky/The Minnesota Star Tribune

By day, he's just an ordinary high schooler who plays video games with his friends and hits the gridiron alongside his teammates on the St. Anthony Village High School football team. By later in the day, and on weekends, Jalue Dorjee is an ascendant spiritual leader, the reincarnation of a Buddhist lama who calls Minnesota home.

Dorjee is the first U.S.-born reincarnated spiritual figure recognized by the Dalai Lama.

And sports columnist Chip Scoggins spent the 2024 football season following the teenager, who drives a 2012 Toyota Camry, as he bounced between the two distinct but complementary aspects of his life.

“He’s just a really funny and nice guy,” St. Anthony senior football captain Lincoln Urdahl said. “If no one told me that he was a religious figure, I don’t think I would have known.”

Dorjee wakes up at 6 a.m. to pray with his father, and speaks both English and Tibetan fluently. He loves the Atlanta Falcons for reasons he can't quite explain. And he spent hours studying Tibetan history, grammar, math, science and literature every weekend.

Upon graduation, he's bound for a monastery in India for more Buddhist education. Read the full story from Scoggins here.

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Jim Gehrz/The Minnesota Star Tribune

Did anyone who was part of the ill-fated and highly corrupt Twin Cities-area Metro Gang Force ever get punished?

That's the question at the heart of this week's edition of the Minnesota Star Tribune's reader-powered reporting project. For the uninitiated, the Metro Gang Force was a coalition of law enforcement agencies throughout the Twin Cities, including the Hennepin and Ramsey County sheriff's offices.

A 2008 audit of the force's operations found tons of money missing, a routine mishandling of evidence, and seized vehicles that had been improperly forfeited to the unit. One high-ranking member admitted that "you almost have to tell 'em, 'Quit taking stuff.'"

An official investigation found further misconduct. So, who got busted? Reporter Randy Furst has all of the details in today's edition of Curious Minnesota at the link here.

Aaron Lavinsky/The Minnesota Star Tribune

After 26 years and more than 56,910 photos, photojournalist Glen Stubbe filed his last assignment for the Minnesota Star Tribune on Dec. 3.

Stubbe's time with the paper included four presidents, five governors, nine turkey pardons and more than 600 assignments at the State Capitol.

From his first photo at the Star Tribune — taken the day before he officially started — featuring former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura holding a doll of himself on a campaign stop, to his work at the RNC and DNC this year, Stubbe's passion for covering politics has been unmatched.

His ability to work with everyone across the political spectrum is a hallmark of his professionalism and dedication to providing exceptional journalism to Minnesotans.

In honor of his retirement, Glen chose some of his favorite images from throughout the years. Tap or click on the image above to scroll through the gallery.

– Katie Rausch, photo editor

Eder Campuzano, reporter

David Taintor, editor