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Jason DeRusha
Jason DeRusha filed his first report for WCCO-TV on April Fool’s Day in 2003. Since then, he’s earned five Emmy Awards, the Jaycees named him one of the Ten Outstanding Young Minnesotans, and the city of Minneapolis proclaimed Sept. 21 “Jason DeRusha Day.” No fooling.
Today, Jason co-anchors “WCCO This Morning” weekdays from 4:30 a.m. until 7:00 a.m. and “WCCO News At Noon” with Jamie Yuccas. He is also the station’s food reporter, producing “DeRusha Eats” for WCCO Saturday Morning.
While at WCCO, he was among the first television reporters on the scene and on-the-air at the Interstate 35W bridge collapse. He’s covered flash flooding, tornadoes and school shootings. He answered “Good Question” for 5½ years. In 2013, he was named one of the “40 under 40,” the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal’s list of young community leaders.
Minnesota Monthly named him to the “Power 75″ list, writing, “If anyone understands where mass media is going … it’s DeRusha.”
Marquette University named him the Young Alumnus of the Year in 2012.
Before coming to WCCO-TV, Jason spent three years as a reporter at WISN-TV in Milwaukee. Prior to that, he anchored the weekend news at KWQC-TV in Davenport, Iowa, reported for WREX-TV in Rockford, Ill. and interned at “ABC World News Tonight” in New York.
Jason’s been nominated for 15 Regional Emmy Awards, and he’s won Regional Emmys for Anchoring coverage of the 2010 blizzard, Online Personality (twice), Health Reporting, and On-Going Feature Series.
In the Twin Cities, Jason serves as President of the Board of Governors of the Upper Midwest Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. He’s a frequent speaker and host for charity fundraisers.
He joined Minnesota Monthly as a food/wine columnist in 2009, and now writes for Minneapolis/St. Paul Magazine as a contributing editor. Jason’s a glass art collector, and he’s been a judge for the Uptown Art Fair. He’s also tried to blow a couple glass art pieces, with limited success.
Jason graduated from the Honors program at Marquette University with political science and broadcast communication degrees, magna cum laude. Jason lives in Maple Grove with his wife Alyssa (a Wayzata High graduate), and their sons Seth and Sam.
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DeRusha Eats: Date Night Edition
This week, it’s all about DeRusha Eats: Date Night Edition. With the State Fair going, that’s traditionally one of the slowest times of the year for non-fair restaurants, and it’s a great time to try out a place you’ve been waiting to get into.
DeRusha Eats: Sandcastle
Don’t worry about the sound of the airplane noise, it’s the view of Lake Nokomis that makes Sandcastle such a great place to spend time and have some delicious food.
DeRusha Eats: Masu At MOA
There are a lot of restaurants at the Mall of America, but when Masu sushi and robata opened up, some wondered if mall-goers would be into it. Already a hit in northeast Minneapolis, the mall was a bit of a risk.
DeRusha Eats: The Sample Room & Its Re-Boot
Long before small plates became a hot trend at restaurants around the country, a small restaurant in northeast Minneapolis was serving up delicious sharable bites. The Sample Room’s been re-booting with a new chef.
DeRusha Eats: From Plato Farm To Mpls Table
Farm to table, you’ve heard the concept, now take a trip to Tangletown Farm in Plato, Minn. It’s where the cows are happy and the fields are lush, green, and there’s 120 different organic crops. The Scottish Highland cattle on the farm are a lean cut of meat and the quality is off the charts.
DeRusha Eats: Kramarczuk’s Cookbook Shares Some Delicious Family Secrets
Kramarczuk’s was recently honored with one of the top prizes in the national food world, and now you can make their famous recipes at home. Jason DeRusha eats at the Nordeast sausage institution.
Local Company Creates Wood Pellet Grills
This week is the biggest grilling week in the country: just about everyone fires up a grill for the Fourth of July. We found a local company that’s really come up with a cool product, and they’re making Grills right here in Minnesota.
DeRusha Drinks: 45th Parallel Distillery’s Spirits
A couple of Twin Cities guys are making their own vodka, gin, and whiskey — and it’s winning international awards. In a nondescript warehouse in a small Wisconsin town 45 minutes east of the Twin Cities, a revolution is underway at 45th Parallel Distillery.
The Pros & Cons Of Cell Phone Insurance
One way cell phones have definitely changed our lives is the way we walk. We have phones out and eyes down, which can cause all kinds of problems says Minneapolis Police Inspector Bryan D. Schafer. “When you have that phone out in the open, you become a target,” Schafer said.
DeRusha Eats: Heartland Restaurant & Cocktail Dinners
For years, restaurants have had special dinners with wine producers, and beer brewers. But over the past couple years the idea of cocktail dinners has really been taking off.
6 MN CEOs Named Entrepreneurs Of The Year
Six Minnesota CEO’s have been honored as Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2013 Award winners in the Upper Midwest. The award recognizes outstanding high-growth entrepreneurs who demonstrate excellence and extraordinary success.
DeBlog: Locally-Made Father’s Day Gift Ideas
Buying a gift for dad on Father’s Day is always the hardest of any holidays for me. There’s something about dads that can be challenging: my dad always says that he has everything, and he never has any good ideas of things he wants.
DeRusha Eats Goes Behind The Scenes With Food Trucks
The food trucks are back on the streets of Minneapolis and St. Paul. Even though they usually open their windows at 11 a.m., the work starts early in the morning. You have to get up early to begin the day with with Christina Nguyen and Birk Grudem from Hola Arepa, and Natalie Coleman and her team from Dandelion Kitchen.
DeRusha Eats: Jamaican Cuisine With Help Of Pimento Wood
Think about Jamaican food, and you probably think about jerk chicken. It’s unique spicy flavor that comes from a rub or marinade, and from a special kind of wood that’s only being imported by one Twin Cities man.
Good Question: Jason DeRusha Looks Back Over Your Best Questions
For more than five years now, Jason DeRusha has helped us better understand everything from politics to Pinterest, the war on terrorism to Twitter. Jason was with the 10 p.m. news crew one last time Tuesday night to answer a final Good Question: What are your best Good Questions?
