The Spoonful: Caucuses, 'This Is Us,' rescued dogs and more

Prior Lake American

Welcome to the Spoonful: tasty bites of the news you need to know by the people who write it.

Avid residents venture into the cold for precinct caucus

The first of many steps in the democratic process took place on Feb. 6 and residents turned out across the southwest metro and the state of Minnesota to caucus for their parties.

Statewide, the GOP showed strong support for gubernatorial candidate Jeff Johnson, while the Democratic Farmer Labor Party supported U.S. Representative Tim Walz for the same position.

Conventions for the two parties will be March 10, with the GOP group meeting at the Shakopee High School and the DFLers at Twin Oaks Middle School in Prior Lake.

Minnesota State Fire Marshal weighs in on tragic "This Is Us" Crock-Pot fire

If you don't want any spoilers, the short moral of this story is "make sure there are working batteries in the fire alarm."

A new episode of the popular television show "This Is Us" aired after the Super Bowl and showed a major character die from smoke inhalation after a Crock-Pot catches their house on fire.

The show was so influential that even the Minnesota State Fire Marshal weighed in on the tragedy.

"We know this is TV," they tweeted. "But what happened to (important character) happens in real life every day. Working smoke alarms save lives. You must have them in your home, test them monthly & change the batters 2x a yr."

So check those batteries.

Former Shakopee principal arrested for stalking

Former Shakopee West Junior High principal Christopher Endicott was charged with gross misdemeanor stalking, as reported by WCCO.

Endicott was most recently principal of Lakeville Middle School.

He was allegedly stalking a police investigator and Dakota County court documents said he followed the victims, entered their homes and vehicles and stole personal information.

His bail was set at $6,000.

Elko New Market community comes together to rescue lost dog

For your feel good story of the week, about 20 or 30 Elko New Market residents worked together and got together the resources to rescue a lost dog that had been running around the community.

The dog was given the name "Flash" by community members after she evaded capture. A nonprofit group that specializes in rescuing lost dogs, "The Retrievers" was called in and they managed to catch Flash.

Flash was checked out by a vet and though skinny, seemed to be doing fine.

Given a second change, Chanhassen native Sidney Morin competes in the Olympics

Several Minnesota athletes are in Pyeongchang, South Korea for the 2018 Winter Olympics.

Sidney Morin from Minnetonka is a hockey player for the University of Minnesota Duluth Women's Hockey Team. This is Morin's first time in the Olympics.

Tabitha Peterson from Eagan is a curler who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2015.

Lindsey Vonn is originally from Burnsville, though she moved to Colorado when she was a teenager. Vonn is an alpine skier and a four-time Olympian.

Avoid the ramp at I-94 and I-35W next Tuesday morning

Just a traffic tip — the ramp will be closed from midnight to 5 a.m. as part of the I-35W corridor renovation. There is no official detour.