MINNESOTA — Crash deaths in Minnesota fall in 2023 amid a nationwide decline of about 3.6 percent, according to new estimates from federal traffic safety regulators.

Minnesota saw 418 crash deaths last year, according to early estimates of motor vehicle traffic
deaths published this week by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

That’s 5.9 percent lower than in 2022, when Minnesota recorded 444 traffic deaths. Minnesota’s traffic death rate decreased from 0.77 in 2022 to 0.71 in 2023, the data showed.

The estimates are statistical projections of traffic deaths, federal regulators said in the report. The data shows an estimated 40,990 people died across the nation in crashes last year, representing a decrease of about 3.6 percent as compared to 42,514 deaths reported in 2022.

The fourth quarter of last year represented the seventh straight quarterly decline in crash deaths, the reports said.

The fatality rate for 2023 also decreased to 1.26 fatalities per 100 million miles traveled. That’s down from a rate of 1.33 in 2022.

The report also highlighted regional differences, with 8 of 10 regions estimated to have seen fewer deaths last year. The two regions that saw increases: the Northwest and a swath of states in the South: Maryland, Virginia, Washington, D.C., Delaware, Kentucky, West Virginia, and North Carolina.

Nine of the 10 regions also saw estimated decreases in traffic death rates compared to 2022.

On a state level, 35 states are expected to see fewer crash deaths, while 15 States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico are expected to have more deaths.

States that saw increases in traffic deaths: Arizona, Idaho, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Washington, West Virginia, and Wyoming. Washington, D.C. also reported more deaths.

Snapshot Of US Traffic Deaths

U.S. Total

• 2023 Deaths: 40,990
• 2022 Deaths: 42,514
• YOY Percent Change: -3.6%
• 2022 Death Rate: 1.33
• 2023 Death Rate: 1.26

The report noted “marked increases” in crash deaths and rates in the United States in 2020, and said that trend continued into 2021 and the first quarter of 2022. Since then, crash deaths have gradually fallen.

In 2015, Lauren Castle of Sussex, Wis., was traveling on vacation to Eagle River, Wis., with her boyfriend, Brent Riemer, who is now her husband. The couple spotted an abandoned 1952 Minneapolis-Moline U tractor. That trip sparked an interest and a goal to find another one.

“His family has tractors, mainly Farmalls and Allis-Chalmers, but I wanted something different,” Castle says. “Some friends had a similar machine and were willing to part with it, so I purchased the U for $500. It had been previously used as a hobby tractor for handling tillage chores and was sitting outside under a tarp. Some of the parts from the tractor were in boxes because the previous owners were planning to restore it.”

The history of this tractor line began in 1929 when the Moline Implement Co., Moline Plow Co., and Minneapolis Steel and Manufacturing Co. merged to form the Minneapolis-Moline Co. The U was a standard-tread tractor, and only 2,404 units came off the assembly line at the manufacturing plant in Hopkins, Minn., between 1952 and 1956. In all, there were 11 different models, ranging from the UTU row crop tricycle to the UTIL military row wide or single format.

Features included manual steering, open operator station, five-speed gear transmission and one reverse, hand clutch, starter button, and 81-inch wheelbase. It had a 40-hp rating on the drawbar; 4-by-2 two-wheel-drive chassis; and a Minneapolis-Moline 4.6-liter, four-cylinder, liquid-cooled diesel engine.

When Castle bought the U, it had not been started for eight years and needed major repairs. There were layers of beehives in the motor, which was frozen. Someone had tried to pull the tractor but broke the cam and oil pump shaft. All tires had deteriorated.

Up and running

Riemer and his uncle Kevin were confident they could get the tractor back together and running again. The U needed a hood, muffler, tires, rims, seat assembly, seals and spark plugs. Items were purchased online and at local salvage yards, and by removing pieces from other machines. After spending $700 to $800 on parts and a month to finish all the repairs, the U was operational.

Castle has entered tractor pulling contests and does some plowing with the U, plus it powers the buzz saw.

She takes it to the Dodge County Tractor Show, Richfield Historical Society Plow Day and Sussex Antique Power Association parade. It has also been used at Basse’s Taste of Country Market in Colgate, Wis., as a people mover during the annual pumpkin harvest.

“Today, the U operates about 30 hours per year. I need to find some extra time and hopefully it will get repainted,” Castle adds. “This is truly my only and favorite tractor, named Marvin the Minneapolis-Moline, because it’s a cute little machine, unique for this area, and I enjoy going on rides in the country with my husband.”

Persinger writes from Milwaukee. To have your favorite tractor featured, email or send in a photo of yourself with your tractor, along with a 300-word write-up about the tractor, to: [email protected] or Wisconsin Agriculturist, P.O. Box 236, Brandon, WI 53919.

MINNEAPOLIS — When the Dundry House Apartments caught fire in early April, it seemed the building would be on the fast track to demolition.

After all, the building had been vacant for months, leading to squatters, an abundance of 911 calls, and nearly a dozen overdoses on the property. When the building caught fire, an estimated 20 people were inside. When the fire was put out, the roof had collapsed.

Nearly a month later, however, the building stands. People routinely break into the boarded windows. More 911 calls routinely come in. This, all as its owner desperately tries to get it torn down.

Help for the homeless

Built more than 100 years ago, the Dundry House apartments sit tucked between the Interstate 35W and Interstate 94 interchange. Since 2002, local non-profit Hope Community Inc. has owned the 25-unit building, using it to help people transitioning out of homelessness.

Hope Community Interim Co-Executive Director Will Delaney says for years, it was an overall positive for the community, helping people who had previously experienced homelessness find secure, long-term housing.

After the pandemic, however, Delaney says things began to change. A detailed timeline presented to WCCO News portrays an increase in crime beginning in 2022. Then, an encampment began forming in a vacant lot adjacent to the building.

In May of 2022, Hope Community began paying for around-the-clock security at the building. Delaney estimates in total, the non-profit spent close to $500,000 on security throughout the time they paid for it.

Despite the additional security, people began breaking into the building. On June 9, 2023, someone stole the building’s gas and water lines. There was nothing the non-profit could do, Delaney said. They had to close the building, work to find homes for other residents, and board the windows and doors.

“It was one of the most difficult decisions, certainly of my professional career,” Delaney said.

Squatters broke through the boards and into the building the same day, 911 records show.

An emergency call

Records provided to WCCO News from the Minneapolis Office of Community Safety show 147 individual 911 calls to the Dundry House property over the past 18 months.

When the boards went up and squatters broke in this past June, police continued to receive calls for “prowlers”, “unwanted persons” and other trespassers. Around Thanksgiving, there was a fire. There was another on Christmas Eve. Then, on April 4th, came the biggest fire to date. The entire top floor of the building was in flames.

“It is like the bottom dropping out kind of moment,” Delaney said. “Immediately I knew, oh no – we’ve got a major problem.”

Prior to the fire, Delaney said Hope had been working with another non-profit, interested in purchasing the property and continuing to use it as transitional housing. When the fire happened in April, any hope the building could be salvaged fell flat.

Minneapolis Fire Department reported 15-20 people inside the building when the fire broke out. Luckily, there were no reported injuries.

The building was reboarded once more.

The first call for a trespasser inside came five days later.

A problem property 

Delaney says he knew there would be no other option but to tear the building down. He says the day of the fire, he contacted the city – asking if they could assist in an immediate demolition.

Delaney was concerned should the building sit vacant, even after a fire, it would provide more chances for people to break in and set more fires.

The response from Minneapolis Regulatory Services Director Enrique Velazquez, obtained by WCCO News, shocked Delaney.

“They said because this was not an emergency, it didn’t meet their emergency definition from the city (to demolish),” Delaney said.  “That it was up to the property owner to demolish it.”

Delaney says his non-profit has been quoted that the job to demolish could cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.

“We don’t have the resources,” he said. “I think every day this building stays standing, we’re risking another fire, another major incident.”

“I don’t know what the fix should be, but the building should go,” said Alex Johnson, who lives across the street. “It’s a lot going on here. It’s a lot. The police are always here. The fire department is always here… I don’t even know if there’s anything extra that the police can even do.”

Delaney says Hope plans to find a company to do the job. Still, it could take weeks.

“This is not a case of negligent landlords who are not paying attention, don’t care what happens – we care very much. We’re trying our best. We just need help from the city and other partners to do what’s right here,” he said.