Minnesota
This Valentine’s Day, name a bug at the Minnesota Zoo after someone who bugs you
Need a last-minute Valentine’s Day gift for a friend or a foe? The Minnesota Zoo Foundation has you covered. You can make a $15 donation to the zoo and in return get to name a bug that will be fed to an animal.
It is the first time in about a decade the zoo has done a campaign of this sort. Naming bugs, feces or other parts of everyday zoo life after someone you love or hate is a popular fundraising tool used across the country. The Fort Worth Zoo has let people name a pound of animal poop, while the San Antonio Zoo and Brookfield Zoo Chicago offered naming rights for cockroaches.
Sarah Lennander, the senior marketing communications manager with the Minnesota Zoo Foundation, said on Tuesday donations were already triple the amount of the last campaign, with donations coming from 49 states, Washington, D.C., and 15 countries.
“We wanted a playful approach. That’s why we used the word bugs,” Lennander said. “Name a bug after someone who bugs you — we wanted to offer people the opportunity to kind of poke fun at one another, but keep it lighthearted and fun.”
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While Lennander said you are encouraged to name the bug after anyone in your life, she said the vast majority of this year’s donations have been for loved ones, like parents naming bugs after their kids who “bug them” or women buying their friends a bug and naming it after their friend’s ex-partner.
With each donation, the zoo will send an e-card with your personalized message to the recipient.
Rest assured: Lennander said if you choose to name the bug after an ex-partner, they won’t ever know — unless you want them to, of course. If that is the case, the zoo is not responsible for any messiness that arises.
“You can name the bug after your friend’s ex, but then you can send that notification email to your friend so that they won’t ever see it, but your friend will hopefully get a giggle out of it,” Lennander explained.
She is sure they will do the fundraiser again next year, and even explore ways to upgrade the gifts. This year, for example, a husband called asking if he could name a piece of meat that would be fed to a komodo dragon, his wife’s favorite animal.
“It has been more popular than we ever imagined,” Lennander said. “It’s been a very fun couple of weeks.”
The bugs, which include mostly crickets and mealworms, will feed are variety of animals at the zoo including a tamandua (a type of anteater), golden lion tamarins, panther chameleons, poison-dart frogs, turtles, opossums and hedgehogs.
Donations must be made before the end of Friday, Feb. 14.
Minnesota
East Range Police Department officer passes away
A police officer in northern Minnesota unexpectedly passed away earlier this week.
The East Range Police Department said that Sgt. Cody Siebert passed away on Friday, less than 24 hours after being diagnosed with a brain infection.
The department said that Siebert was known for his happy-go-lucky personality and that “if you couldn’t get along with Cody, it was your fault.”
Siebert started at the K9 program in Babbitt with K9 Taconite (Tac) before going to the East Range Police Department.
“The hole left by Sgt. Siebert’s passing will be impossible to fill,” East Range police said. “We at ERPD love you and will miss you always. We have it from here.”
Mesabi East Schools also stated that the district was “truly blessed to have him walking our halls, greeting students, encouraging staff, and building relationships that went far beyond the badge.”
Click here for a GoFundMe to support Siebert’s family.
Minnesota
How ICE’s presence is affecting child care in Minnesota
Minnesota
Utah Mammoth take down Minnesota 5-2 to end the Wild’s winning streak at 6
The Wild were taken down by the Utah Mammoth 5-2 on Friday night to end Minnesota’s winning streak at six games.
Lawson Crouse scored twice and U.S. Olympian Clayton Keller had a goal and two assists for Utah.
Logan Cooley and Barrett Hayton also scored and Karel Vejmelka made 21 saves to help the Mammoth rebound from a 4-2 home loss to NHL-leading Colorado on Wednesday night in their return from the Olympic break. Utah began the night in the first wild-card spot in the Western Conference.
U.S. Olympian Matt Boldy scored and assisted on Kirill Kaprizov’s goal for Minnesota. Second behind Central Division-rival Colorado in the West, the Wild are 9-2-1 in their last 12. They beat the Avalanche 5-2 on Thursday night in Denver.
Cooley opened the scoring with a short-handed goal with 6:37 left in the first period. The former University of Minnesota star got the puck on the right side off a deflection and put a shot between Wallstedt’s legs for his 15th goal.
Keller scored his 18th at 4:26 of the second. Nick Schmaltz forced a turnover on a forecheck and fed Keller on the right side.
Crouse made it 3-0 at 7:49 of the second. He came down the middle, took a pass from Keller and beat Wallstedt with a backhander.
Kaprizov countered for Minnesota on a power play with 5:57 left in the second. He has 33 goals this season.
Hayton made it 4-1 on a power play at 1:19 of the third, and Crouse added his 16th of the season on a tip with 7:12 to go.
Boldy got his 35th of the season with 5:57 remaining.
Up next
Wild: Host St. Louis on Sunday.
Mammoth: Host Chicago on Sunday.
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