Minneapolis, MN
Maintenance crews encounter unique challenges in keeping Webber Natural Swimming Pool open
The Webber Natural Swimming Pool in north Minneapolis is back open after it was closed for nearly two weeks because someone threw an unknown substance into the water.
Over the years, the pool has had issues with staying open — usually because of high levels of bacteria in the water — and that’s something the staff at the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board has been hard at work trying to solve.
Staff say they face new challenges because of just how unique this pool is, the only natural public swimming pool in the United States.
“It’s hard to say what’s coming next because we’ve had a lot of unusual challenges,” said Rachael Crabb, water resources expert with the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board.
Crabb says because the pool is treated using a natural process instead of chlorine, they get plenty of unwanted visitors like waterfowl.
“They’re a big source of bacteria for us,” Crabb said.
But if you take a look around you can see several steps they’ve taken to keep them out like black netting on the fence outside the pool. They’ve also removed nests in the spring. But this summer, it’s the turtles causing problems.
“These turtles were born in old Webber pond and when they are old enough to reproduce they try to come back to where they were born and nest,” Crabb said.
Flooding along Webber Parkway used to be an issue, but they’ve since built a floodwall.
“If that water gets in the pool and the [regeneration area], we would definitely be closed because stormwater is very dirty,” Crabb said.
So why not just convert it to a chlorine pool? Crabb stresses it’s not that simple.
“There would need to be some significant redesign, and it would be a significant cost to do that,” Crabb said.
Crabb agrees it’s no fun closing for high levels of bacteria, but she fully believes the work they put in greatly reduces the days they are forced to close.
“Every year is different and when we find problems we figure out ways to solve them,” Crabb said.
Webber Natural Swimming Pool will shift to modified hours on Aug. 19 and close for the season after Labor Day.
Minneapolis, MN
Sheriff: Driver of stolen vehicle flees traffic stop in St. Paul, hits State Patrol car in Minneapolis
The driver of a stolen car fled a traffic stop Friday night in St. Paul before crashing into a Minnesota State Patrol car in Minneapolis, according to the Ramsey County sheriff’s office.
A Ramsey County sheriff’s deputy attempted to stop the stolen Hyundai sedan at about 10:30 p.m. in the Highland Park neighborhood of St. Paul. The driver fled and crossed the Ford Parkway Bridge into Minneapolis before the deputy lost sight of the vehicle and ended the pursuit, according to the sheriff’s office.
The suspect was then observed driving recklessly and ran a stop sign at West 46th Street and Aldrich Avenue South at 80 mph. The vehicle collided with a State Patrol squad car, causing significant injuries to the trooper and passengers in the stolen vehicle, the sheriff’s office said.
The 19-year-old suspect was quickly arrested after attempting to flee on foot. The driver has two prior arrests for fleeing police and is being held at the Ramsey County jail, according to the sheriff’s office.
Police say the same vehicle was involved in a pursuit Thursday night in the west metro, during which it reportedly swerved at emergency vehicles but did not hit them.
Police in Minneapolis are investigating after city officials said four people were injured in a shooting at Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Park on Friday night.
According to the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board, officers responded to a report from an individual of a suspicious person around 8:38 p.m. The caller said there was a large gathering of young adults in the parking lot of the park, which is located at 4055 Nicollet Ave.
According to city officials, multiple gunshots were fired before the officers arrived at the park.
A 19-year-old woman was taken to the hospital by ambulance with serious injuries, city officials said. Three other people, whose ages have yet to be disclosed, self-transported to the hospital with gunshot-related injuries
No suspects in the shooting have been arrested, officials said.
Park police are working with the Minneapolis Police Department to investigate the incident.
This is a developing story.
Minneapolis, MN
Man stabbed brother in north Minneapolis home after arguing about messy kitchen, charges say
Prosecutors on Friday accused a 23-year-old Chicago man of fatally stabbing his brother in a north Minneapolis home early Wednesday after the two got into an argument about cleaning the kitchen.
Police were called to the home on the 3000 block of Girard Avenue North shortly after 3 a.m. after hearing about the stabbing. They found a man in his 20s lying on the floor and his girlfriend holding a cloth to his wound. The man was pronounced dead roughly 30 minutes later.
According to the criminal complaint, the girlfriend told officers that she had been making food with her boyfriend when her boyfriend’s brother came upstairs. The brother was upset at her boyfriend for not cleaning up the kitchen, she told officers.
The brother then went downstairs but returned later and pushed her boyfriend around, she said. Charging documents say the brothers got into a fight.
The girlfriend told police that the brother had a bloody knife in his hands, and her boyfriend said “he just stabbed me,” the complaint states.
Police arrested the 23-year-old at the house. In a post-Miranda statement, he initially told officers he blacked out around the time of the stabbing. He later admitted to stabbing his brother, at first saying that he was trying to “fake” stab him but ended up stabbing him. He also said that his brother charged at him and ran into the knife, the complaint says.
Charging documents say the man admitted that his brother did not have a weapon on him.
He faces two counts of second-degree murder.
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