Audrey set out on a journey to the state fair's opening day with a detailed map and a dream: Try at least 10 of the 30 new fair foods.

• She succeeded, and her body hates her for it.

Here's her review of some of the best, worst and weirdest.

Best concept: Nordic Waffles' "Chicken and Macaroni" and "I-Scream" wraps.

• The former is a spicy drumstick on a bed of mac and cheese, wrapped in a nordic waffle. The latter: An ice cream sandwich on top of a waffle, drizzled with chocolate and topped with kettle corn. It's outrageous and delicious, but very hard to eat.

Biggest surprise: Vegan ChoriPops from Midtown Global Market's Andy's Garage.

• It was an impulse decision, but the balls of chorizo (sourced from Minneapolis' Herbivorous Butcher) are dipped in corndog batter and deep-fried on a stick. Plus, avocado salsa drizzled on top. So good, and you would never guess it's vegan.

Most disappointing: The cucumber jalapeño limeade from Farmers Union Coffee Shop.

• If you want to drink cucumber pulp with a hint of lime and a lot of spice, maybe it's for you.

Favorite sweet(s): A tie between Auntie M's gluten-free apple crisp funnel cake and Spinning Wylde's "Purple Rain," a sour grape cotton candy made with organic cane sugar and topped with sprinkles.

• Audrey isn't gluten free, but she wanted to try Auntie M's to see if it's as good as the real thing. (It was!)

Audrey's favorite: The Greek stuffed ravioli from Dino's Greek.

• Crispy on the outside, stuffed with cream cheese, tzatziki, mozzarella, gyro meat and seasoning on the inside. Audrey was eight foods in when she ordered it, but still ate the entire thing. (Granted, it's only four ravioli.)

Also: She tried the Mike's Harder Lemonade slushie (9/10), blue raspberry vodka hand pie from Sara's Tipsy Pies (7/10) and sashimi tuna tacos from Scenic 61 (3/10).

Thought bubble: Audrey is thankful for her fellow taste-tester Natalie, who helped her avoid throwing out a lot of food. But she doesn't think she can eat anything but vegetables for a week.

👀 One last observation to go: Audrey was there from 9:30am-2pm, and the fair seemed half-full. Also, no lines anywhere, even at Sweet Martha's.

• Check out our Instagram @axiostwincities for more coverage.

Target has pledged to give more money to Black businesses and donated millions of dollars to social justice issues and supported police reform in the wake of George Floyd's murder, but a new Bloomberg report says the Minneapolis-based retailer has a long and questionable past with police.

• "For decades, Target fostered partnerships with law enforcement unlike those of any other U.S. corporation," Bloomberg wrote.

Details: Target has given grants to police departments around the country to pay for security cameras and surveillance networks.

• It also helped create a SafeZone program in downtown Minneapolis in the mid-2000s that morphed into the Downtown 100 program. It geo-restricted repeat offenders from downtown — 74% of which were Black and 10% were American Indian.
• One social worker told Bloomberg that the relentless surveillance and police pressure pushed young people of color, many already suffering from severe childhood trauma, toward a life of crime, Bloomberg reports.

🇦🇫 Gov. Tim Walz says Minnesota has already welcomed 35 refugees from Afghanistan. That figure is expected to double "very shortly." (WCCO Radio)

🗳️ Walz also came out against the ballot question on the proposed new police charter, saying the issue has been "distilled down" in a way that confuses voters. (Fox9)

🙏 WCCO Radio host Jordana Green is taking a leave of absence to focus on her recovery from leukemia. (Twitter)

🏥 Seven people were injured in a late-night shooting outside a Lyn-Lake bar early Thursday. (Star Tribune)

🏗️ St. Paul approved a $210 million financing plan to help development around Allianz Field in Midway. (Pioneer Press)

Twitter has decided that Alan Page is not notable enough to be verified with a blue check mark.

Reality check: Page won the NFL's MVP award (as a defensive tackle!) in 1971 and is in the NFL Hall of Fame. Oh, and he was a Minnesota Supreme Court justice for 22 years.

• A school in Minneapolis is named after him and another in Maplewood will be in 2022.

Notable enough for you, Twitter?

Minnesota is reopening two free COVID-19 testing sites in the Twin Cities metro as the Delta variant drives demand.

Details: The sites in Bloomington and at St. Paul's Roy Wilkins Auditorium will open next week.

Between the lines: The state closed several free sites this summer, when cases were down.

• But a rise in infections and concerns about increased spread as we head indoors and kids go back to school prompted the increased capacity.

More information is available here.

Torey keeps bumping into butterflies on her daily walks lately and it turns out many of you have, too.

So what's happening? The orange-winged insects are starting their annual 2,000-mile flight to Mexico for the winter.

• "The monarchs in Minnesota are on the move right now," Emilie Snell-Rood, an associate professor at the University of Minnesota's College of Biological Sciences, told Torey by email. "This week is the peak week for the front of the migration push through our region."

🦋 Of note: The Minnesota Monarch Festival is Saturday, Sept. 11 by Lake Nokomis. Full details here.