NORTH MANKATO – Forest Lake sophomore catcher Karianne Drury hadn’t hit a home run all season.

But with her team trailing 6-3 in the fifth inning of the Class 4A state semifinals, Drury knew her team needed a hit. She got her bat on a pitch down the middle and up in the zone, sent the ball up into the wind and sent it sailing over the fence to bring Forest Lake within one.

“I just knew I had to get it going,” Drury said. “I just had a lot of adrenaline pumping, and I got my team hyped that inning.”

Those are the types of moments that have powered the Rangers to three consecutive state tournament finals. But there weren’t quite enough of them Thursday to make it four straight, as Forest Lake fell 7-5 to third-seeded Rogers at Caswell Park.

Rogers will meet New Prague in the Class 4A title game at 10 a.m. Friday in North Mankato after the Royals tallied four runs on the strength of five hits in the first inning, and tacked on two more runs in the third. Rogers finished with 13 hits.

Rogers senior shortstop Lauren Freeberg led the charge with three hits and two runs scored.

“Just doing it for our team,” she said of Rogers’ success. “We’re all super, super good friends. All of my best friends are on this team, so just wanting to do it for each other, for my last season – I want to do it for the team.”

It certainly was a collective effort for Rogers (21-3), as each of the top eight batters in the order collected at least one hit as the Royals managed to produce against second-seeded Forest Lake’s top-two arms – Hannah Tong and Avery Muellner.

Forest Lake (19-5) battled back with offense of its own. Muellner and Tong each had two hits. After falling down 4-0, Ava Stenglein belted a three-run shot in the second to make it 4-3.

“We never give up. We’re all competitive and we want to win,” Drury said. “We knew what this meant for our seniors, and we just had to keep it going.”

But every time Forest Lake mounted a charge, Rogers had a response ready.

The Rangers will meet Rosemount in the third-place game at 9 a.m. Friday.

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The Mississippi River continued to rise Thursday at St. Paul. In response, the city has closed down some low-lying roads, barricaded local trails, and shut off certain water and sewage systems.

City House — a riverside bar and restaurant — is one of those businesses that had to turn off their water. But they’re still open for customers.

Instead of serving drinks in glasses, they’re served in plastic cups. Bathrooms with running water aren’t open, but three portable toilets are available. Soda guns can’t be used, so bottled soda is used instead. However, according to staff, there hasn’t been a real drop off in customers. With the weekend approaching, the staff expects it to be busy — and they’re prepared. A full-staff is expected to work and cups and bottles are fully stocked.

The city has a very “robust action plan” when it comes to monitoring rising water levels on the Mississippi River, according to Lisa Hiebert, public information officer for St. Paul Public Works.

All year round, water levels are monitored and necessary actions are taken when levels start to rise. To protect the underground and pump infrastructure, sanitary and storm sewer systems are shut off when water levels get to high, and local businesses and residents are informed, according to Hiebert.

Hiebert is unsure of when water will be turned back on.

The Mississippi River at St. Paul measured at 11.47 feet on Thursday. The river is expected to crest at 13.1 feet this weekend. Minor flood stage is reached at 14 feet.

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The Alamo Drafthouse Cinema in Woodbury, known for its arthouse films, expansive dinner menu and craft beer, closed Thursday after a Texas-based franchise operator filed for federal Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection, according to Minnesota Public Radio and other published reports.

Employees of franchise operator Two is One and One is None said they were taken aback as they shared news of the closings on social media on Thursday. Five of the six newly-shuttered locations are in North Texas.

“In 2023 our company lost over $1 million,” reads the social media post signed by Bill DiGaetano, chief executive officer of the 13-year-old company, who blamed its demise on the pandemic and the public’s changing theater habits. “This shutdown is expected to be permanent and all employees will be terminated.”

“It is breaking my heart that … this is where we are left,” added DiGaetano, who had led reporters on a tour of the location at the west edge of the Woodbury Lakes Mall when it opened in 2018.

Efforts to reach managers at the Woodbury location for comment were unsuccessful on Thursday.

A spokesperson for Alamo Drafthouse Cinema said in a statement to MPR News that the operators of the national cinema chain were “disappointed to learn today” of the business decision: “However, we are working as quickly as possible to get Alamo Drafthouse Cinema back up and running in these cities. All other Alamo Drafthouse locations are operating as normal, with continued expansion plans across the country.”

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“Survivor 44” contestant Carolyn Wiger will return to the airwaves as a cast member of the third season of the popular Peacock show “The Traitors.”

A North St. Paul native, Wiger placed third on “Survivor 44” and became a fan favorite thanks to her anything-goes personality and often chaotic behavior as well as her tight alliance with engineering student Carson Garrett and the season’s winner Yamil “Yam Yam” Arocho. The daughter of former state Sen. Chuck Wiger, the 36-year-old Wiger lives in Hugo, where she works in substance recovery.

Hosted by actor Alan Cumming and set in a remote castle in the Scottish Highlands, “The Traitors” features “21 larger-than-life personalities who come together to compete in a series of missions with the objective of earning a cash prize of up to $250,000. The catch? Hidden amongst the Faithful contestants are the Traitors, whose goal is to eliminate the Faithful and claim the prize for themselves. Under the cover of darkness, the Traitors ‘murder’ contestants one by one, but if the Faithful can banish all the Traitors before the end of the game, they’ll split the incredible prize,” according to a Peacock press release.

Based on a show from the Netherlands, versions of “The Traitors” have been developed in 22 countries, including England, which shares the same location, props and missions. Both the U.S. and U.K. versions are produced by Studio Lambert for the BBC and Peacock.

The rest of the cast includes fellow “Survivor” vets (“Boston” Rob Mariano, Tony Vlachos, Jeremy Collins), “Real Housewives” stars (Dorinda Medley, Chanel Ayan, Dolores Catania, Robyn Dixon), Bravolebrities (Tom Sandoval, Ciara Miller, Chrishell Stause) and various other random semi-famous folks (Zac Efron’s brother Dylan, Britney Spears’ ex Sam Asghari, gay British royal Lord Ivar Mountbatten).

The second season of “The Traitors” became the No. 1 unscripted series in the U.S. across all streaming platforms when it launched in January, according to Nielsen. The show’s first season won an Emmy Award for outstanding casting for a reality program.

In a May 2023 interview with the Pioneer Press, Wiger described her approach to playing “Survivor”: “Honestly, watching I always felt like, oh my gosh, there’s no way I could do this. I’m too weird. As I got more confident with myself, (I thought) I can do this. I had this mission to go out there and be myself, because I didn’t see enough people like me. You can play this game. There is no one way of playing.”

Peacock has yet to announce a release date for the third season of “The Traitors.”

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