RAPIDAN, Minn. — County officials bought and demolished a southern Minnesota family store that was precariously perched beside a cliff near a flood-damaged dam, officials said Friday.

Blue Earth County bought the Rapidan Dam Store and then removed the structure to lessen the downstream impact if it tumbled into the Blue Earth River, the county said in a statement.

For decades, the Hruska family had operated the store and lived in a nearby house, but recent heavy rain caused the river to rise dramatically upstream and cut a channel between the Rapidan Dam and the riverbank. The house collapsed into the river Tuesday and the river continued to erode the land near the store, which was famous for its homemade pie.

“The Dam Store was an integral part of the community and remains embedded in the memories of many residents,” the statement said. “Our thoughts are with the Hruska family and everyone close to them.”

No one was reported injured by the dam’s partial failure.

Officials said the aging concrete dam, located a few miles southwest of Mankato, remains stable as does a county highway bridge just upriver. However, officials are warily watching both structures, noting that the still-surging river has drastically changed the area.

The county didn’t disclose what it paid for the store. On Thursday, county employees and the Hruska family worked to remove a bar, booths, kitchen appliances and other items from the shelves.

Flooding in the last week has caused millions of dollars in damage to bridges, homes and roads across Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska and South Dakota. High water was blamed for at least three deaths in the Upper Midwest.

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Olympic Trials: The unbreakable spirit of St. Paul gymnast Suni Lee

Since chronic kidney disease derailed her career last year, Sunisa Lee has battled back into the elite of women’s gymnastics, winning silver on the balance beam and placing fourth in the all-around at the U.S. Championships in late May.

It was quite a feat considering she was in a hospital bed less than a year ago after being diagnosed at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester.

But Lee is aiming for more in this weekend’s U.S. Olympic trials in Minneapolis. The all-around gold medalist on the 2020 Olympic team that won a team silver in Tokyo wants another shot at greatness, and appears to be on her way.

Simone Biles, the sport’s superstar since she won four gold medals at the 2016 Games, finished first among the 15 competitors at Target Center on Friday with 58.900 total points, capping her night with the best score on any event, a 15.975 on the vault.

Lee, 21, had the night’s best score on the balance beam (14.400) and was third in the uneven bars (14.400) to finish third with 56.025. Jordan Chiles, another 2020 Olympic teammate, edged past Lee in her last event, scoring 14.325 for a total score of 56.400.

Lee nearly fell during her beam routine but kept her balance, on one leg, and finished the routine by sticking the dismount and recorded the best beam score of the night.

Biles was displeased with her beam routine — her discontent clear to lip-readers after her dismount — but still finished with the fourth-best score, 13.650. She rebounded in the second half with the best scores on vault and floor exercise (14.850).

The all-around winner in the two-day event will automatically qualify for the Paris Games, which are set to begin July 26. The other four members will be chosen by a selection committee after Sunday’s competition. Four alternates will be chosen, as well, two of whom will travel to Paris.

Skye Blakely was expected to be in that mix after placing second in the all-around at the U.S. Championship in Fort Worth, Texas, but she suffered an Achilles’ injury during practice on Wednesday and had to withdraw from the trials.

Lee won bronze in the uneven bars as the U.S. took the team silver medal despite missing Biles — who pulled out after winning bronze on the beam because of stress — for most of the competition.

Since then, Biles has been nearly unbeatable, claiming the all-around championship in the 2023 World and U.S. championships and the 2024 U.S. Championship. Barring injury, she will be on the Olympic team.

Lee competed in four 2024 U.S. events before the trials, placing three times in the beam (two firsts and a second). At the U.S. Championship in Fort Worth, Texas, in May, Lee won silver in the beam and placed fourth in the all-around.

Briefly

Kayla DiCello, who finished third in the all-around at the U.S. Championship, was injured on her vault dismount — the first pass on an event Friday — and missed the rest of the competition. … Shelise Jones competed in only one event after being injured in warmups.

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A 17-year-old St. Paul boy who investigators arrested in connection with a fatal shooting Monday night was charged Friday with possession of a pistol, authorities said.

The teen was charged with one felony count of possession a firearm, according to the Ramsey County Attorney’s Office.

About 10:30 p.m. Monday, 911 dispatchers received numerous calls about shots fired, a vehicle crash, and a person shot, said Sgt. Mike Ernster, a St. Paul police spokesman. Police found a Chevrolet Tahoe crashed into a tree on a boulevard in the area of Van Dyke Street and York Avenue. A man in the driver’s seat had an apparent gunshot injury to his upper body, Ernster said.

On Friday, the St. Paul police department identified the man, who was pronounced dead at the scene, as Royce D. McKinney, 22, of St. Paul.

The homicide investigation, including surveillance video showing someone matching the teen’s description running from the shooting scene, led authorities to arrest the teen the next morning during a traffic stop, court documents show.

The teen is “known to officers” who have investigated or arrested him in connection with robberies, court documents show. The most recent report was the day before the shooting when someone told police the teen was planning on robbing someone with a butcher knife as his weapon.

During his arrest, officers found a 9mm Glock handgun with extended magazine in a backpack.

The homicide investigation is ongoing, the Ramsey County Attorney’s Office said on Friday.

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SEATTLE — In the minutes after the game ended on Thursday, not long after he had been hit by a pitch on the right arm by Diamondbacks reliever Bryce Jarvis and walked off the field in pain, Carlos Correa was already talking about playing the next day.

It seemed improbable, at least from the outside looking in.

After he was hit, he immediately raised his right arm, holding it up with his left arm and walking straight to the dugout rather than taking his base. His hand, at that point, was numb and his reaction suggested he might have suffered some kind of fracture.

But the Twins avoided the worst, getting an X-ray done before the end of the game, which was negative for a fracture.

“We got lucky and it was a legitimately scary time for us but reasonably quickly, he knew that he was OK,” manager Rocco Baldelli said. “The player normally does know before anyone else if he’s really OK or if there’s a question mark about an injury like that.”

And to his word, Correa was in the Twins’ starting lineup on Friday, hitting second against the Seattle Mariners.

“It was a little scary situation, but I’m glad that I woke up feeling great and we’re back in the lineup,” Correa said. “That’s where I want to be.”

Feeling great? Really?

“It’s going to be sore,” he finally admitted. “But it’s fine. It’s fine.”

And that’s a good thing for the Twins, because their star shortstop has been a key piece in making the offense go, especially of late.

Correa’s June saw him win an American League Player of the Week honor and entering Friday’s game, he was hitting .309 with a .380 on-base percentage and .873 OPS.

His 148 OPS+ is a mark that is both 48 percent better than the league average hitter and well above his own career mark of 126.

“He’s been exceptional. He’s hammering balls on a regular basis,” Baldelli said. “When you see him going the way he’s going, the team goes well. We score runs. When he starts going, too, other guys start feeding off of some of it.”

Willi Castro makes all-star case

Last week, Correa was touting Willi Castro as the team’s Most Valuable Player.

This week, Baldelli was talking up the utilityman’s all-star credentials.

Castro, who has played in every Twins’ game this season, moves around the field adeptly and he’s having perhaps his most productive season offensively, entering Friday’s contest hitting .277 with an .820 OPS. His 2.9 fWAR (Wins Above Replacement per FanGraphs) leads the team.

“I think he’s firmly in that conversation,” Baldelli said. “I don’t know how much more clear it can be that he’s having an all-star season. He’s done a fantastic job.”

No Twins player advanced to the second round of All-Star Game fan voting, which is used to determine the starting position players. The reserves and pitchers will be selected by a combination of the Commissioner’s Office and player ballot, and will be revealed on July 7.

Nobody from the Commissioner’s Office consults Baldelli, he said, but he’s hoping to see multiple players rewarded for their efforts.

“We have several players having fantastic years and I think it would be, I would say, at this point, it would be a travesty to only have one guy on the all-star team,” Baldelli said.

Briefly

Pablo López will take the mound on Saturday opposed by Bryce Miller. López is coming off his most dominant start of the season, an eight-inning effort in which he gave up just two hits and struck out 14.

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