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Local strawberry fields feeling the heat from ongoing drought

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 16:00:29 GMT

Bad news for berry fans.The pick-your-own strawberry patch at Pine Tree Orchard in Grant is closed for the rest of this summer.“We’ve been doing this for 41 years, but this is the first time we’ve had to close,” said CEO Barb Jacobson. “Strawberries are very susceptible to weather fluctuations. We had those extremely warm temperatures in May and then didn’t get any rain really until last Friday and Saturday, and by then it was too late. The years of drought have taken a toll.”Evan Reyes, of Mahtomedi, picks a strawberry at Pine Tree Apple Orchard in White Bear Lake on June 19, 2015. Strawberry season typically lasts three or four weeks, but this season berry patches are closing early because of hot, dry conditions. (Holly Peterson / Pioneer Press)Jacobson said they irrigate their berry patch, but without the help of some rainfall, “it was just too much for the plants to take.”The pick-your-own patch was open for part of the day on June 21, she said, but the “pickin...

Gophers’ new women’s basketball coach watching Mara Braun grow from afar

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 16:00:29 GMT

Mara Braun is missing some of the first practices of Dawn Plitzuweit’s first summer as the Minnesota women’s basketball coach.It’s an important time to learn team concepts and build chemistry for a roster that includes nine newcomers and a couple of players who were out with injuries last season.But Braun’s absence is fine with Plitzuweit. Minnesota’s returning leading scorer was in Minneapolis for the first of three weeks of June practice before traveling to Handan, China, where she is playing a big role for USA Basketball’s U21 3×3 team.“The advantage for her right now is she is learning something completely different,” Plitzuweit told reporters Wednesday. “She is learning how to compete in different circumstances, and that will transfer over when she comes back to helping her learn here, too.”Minnesota women’s basketball coach Dawn Plitzuweit speaks to reporters at the Athletes Village women’s basketball facility in Minneapolis on Wednesday, June 28, 2023. (John ...

Stillwater school board calls for $175 million bond referendum to address security upgrades, growth

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 16:00:29 GMT

The Stillwater Area Public School board voted unanimously Tuesday to move forward with a $175 million bond referendum to fund construction projects to address growth in the southern and central parts of the district and improve safety at schools throughout the district.The bond referendum, which will go to the voters in November, would help the district add capacity in the communities served by Andersen Elementary in Bayport and Lake Elmo Elementary, the two oldest schools in the district, and construct additional classroom space and a new gymnasium at Oak-Land Middle School in Lake Elmo.It also would be used for safety and security improvements at all district schools, including a secured front entrance addition and remodel at Stillwater Area High School in Oak Park Heights.The $175 million request would cost taxpayers with a median-priced home of $500,000 approximately $200 a year for 20 years.“This has been a long time coming,” said board member Bev Petrie. “Ten years ago, so muc...

Man’s body discovered inside chest freezer at unoccupied Iron Range home

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 16:00:29 GMT

Police are investigating the circumstances of a man’s death after his body was found inside a chest freezer at an unoccupied home in an Iron Range community.The Gilbert Police Department said the man, identified as Brandon Lee Buschman, 35, of Babbitt, was found dead in a residence on the 300 block of Fourth Avenue North in Biwabik at approximately 3:30 p.m. Monday after a 911 call was placed. The city of Biwabik contracts with Gilbert for police services.Police Chief Ty Techar said the body was transported to the Midwest Medical Examiner’s Office for formal identification and to identify a cause of death. A report from the office determined that there was no evidence of trauma or injury found during the autopsy, and final reports of toxicology will not be available for several weeks.Buschman’s body was discovered in a chest freezer in the basement of the house, which has been unoccupied since last February. The older-style chest freezer, which was not running at t...

Judge allows lawsuit alleging Fleet Farm sold guns to straw buyers to proceed

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 16:00:29 GMT

A federal judge has denied Fleet Farm’s motion to dismiss Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison’s lawsuit that accuses the retailer of selling guns to straw purchasers, including a man who bought one that was used in the deadly mass shooting at the Seventh Street Truck Park in St. Paul in 2021.U.S. District Judge John Tunheim rejected Fleet Farm’s argument that the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act shields the Wisconsin-based retailer from responsibility.The state “has plausibly alleged that Fleet Farm knew or should have known that it was selling firearms to straw purchasers,” Tunheim wrote Tuesday in his 37-page ruling.Tunheim wrote that the state’s allegations against Fleet Farm in last year’s lawsuit were “clear examples of how illegally obtained firearms endanger the public in a way that legal firearms typically do not.”Tunheim also found that it was appropriate for the lawsuit to proceed in federal court.In a statement this week, Ellison said Tunheim’s decisio...

St. Peter's Health Partners restricting eligibility for travel nurses

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 16:00:29 GMT

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- St. Peter's Health Partners is shifting the way it's addressing staffing shortages. The company said it has stopped hiring travel nurses who live within 50 miles of Albany. Get the latest, news, weather, sports and community events delivered right to your inbox! Travel nurses helped hospitals fill in gaps during the pandemic. Even as healthcare worker shortages persist, St. Peter's said it's turning to new ways to recruit and retain nurses, including referral and sign on bonuses and outreach efforts.

Mix of heat, haze raise safety concerns for St. Louisans

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 16:00:29 GMT

ST LOUIS – From a packed Ballpark Village, to venturing through parks like Creve Coeur, to hitting the St. Louis Zoo, the summer heat and haze caused by Canadian wildfires didn’t stop locals from spending time outside. The dangerous combination has officials stressing the importance of being safe and responsible.For longtime resident Don Woodruff, it was his boat ride on Tuesday that looked much different than usual."I thought that there was just some big fire somewhere,” he said. “We were surrounded by haze."As Canadian wildfires continue to burn, that smoke continues to trickle south, now affecting the St. Louis region."The last couple of days, we've seen an increase in the effects, and certainly the visibility of it in the area," said Sarah Russell, commissioner of St. Louis Emergency Management Agency.It isn’t just concerns about visibility. 2nd Missouri man sentenced in death of woman who was caged, dismembered "It can have an effect on anybody to a certain degree," Russell s...

How drought conditions are affecting Missouri grape, livestock farmers

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 16:00:29 GMT

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- As drought conditions continue to worsen across the state, not only are livestock producers being affected but so is the future of Missouri wine. During a Joint Committee Hearing on agriculture Tuesday, stakeholders said farmers in the Show-Me State are having to make tough decisions because of this early dry spell, and it could cost them a pretty penny. From an early frost last fall, to below freezing temperatures at Christmas, a late frost this spring and now a drought, the state is expecting a major reduction in Missouri's grape crop. "April, May and June parts of our state were probably the driest it's been since 1988," deputy director for the Missouri Department of Agriculture Chris Klenklen said. Nearly all of Missouri is currently experiencing a drought. According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, central and northeast Missouri are experiencing an extreme drought while other parts of the state are seeing a severe or moderate drought. Gov. Mike Parson de...

17-year-old killed during party at Kansas City short-term rental

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 16:00:29 GMT

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - A Kansas City family is grieving after their loved one was gunned down Sunday morning.Ricky Monroe was shot to death at a home near 36th and Manchester. Chillicothe cancels 4th of July fireworks over drought Monroe’s sister said he was partying at a short-term rental."I can't sleep,” Rodteshia Johnson, Monroe’s mom, said. “My son was partying. He was having fun and nobody knows nothing."Pain is now woven into this family's daily routine."It took a toll on me, it really did,” Feleacia Johnson, Monroe’s grandmother, said. “It has and it always will."Pictures, videos, and memories are all they have of Monroe.“I know my son was calling for me,” Johnson said. “My son was in a moment, and I couldn't be there for him. That was the worst call ever." Kansas City, Kansas man sentenced to life for child sex crime KCPD said they're confident multiple people saw the shooting, but right now there are no suspects."You hear about it and I see it, but I couldn't understand it,...

Military confirms 4th Marine killed in 5 Freeway crash

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 16:00:29 GMT

Military officials confirmed Wednesday that the fourth, previously unidentified victim killed in a fiery high-speed crash on the 5 Freeway in Downey Saturday was also a United States Marine.  According to a release from the California Highway Patrol, the single-vehicle crash involving a 2018 Dodge Charger happened around 2:30 a.m. on the southbound span of the 5 Freeway south of Lakewood Boulevard.   CHP confirmed that the vehicle was on fire when they arrived and that all four occupants of the vehicle were pronounced dead at the scene.   “Preliminary information indicates that the driver lost control of the vehicle at a high rate of speed causing the vehicle to collide with a guardrail and the bridge abutment of the Lemoran Avenue pedestrian overcrossing,” CHP said in a statement. “The force of the impact caused the vehicle to split in two, subsequently ejecting the two rear passengers onto the right shoulder.” Video shows the wreckage of a s...