Minnesota
Willmar police officers credited for saving man’s life at the Minnesota State Fair
WILLMAR
— A man’s life could have ended at the Great Minnesota Get-Together were it not for the swift actions of law enforcement officers from Willmar.
On Saturday, Willmar Police Sgt. Samuel Schaefbauer and Officer Timothy Wallace were working with the Minnesota State Fair Police Department, when a person waved them down and said a man had collapsed in the Kidway, a location east of the Grandstand featuring rides and games for children.
According to a release from the State Fair Police Department, shared by Willmar Police Chief Jim Felt, Wallace and Schaefbauer were on the scene within seconds. Another person was performing CPR on a 71-year-old man from Minneapolis, who was at the fair by himself when he suffered a medical emergency.
The officers took over performing chest compressions, switching off until other officers arrived with an automatic external defibrillator, according to the news release. Officers continued CPR while the defibrillator was deployed to deliver an electric shock to re-establish the man’s heartbeat. St. Paul Fire medics arrived and provided advanced life support.
The unnamed Minneapolis man was then rushed to a nearby hospital where he was admitted and continues to receive medical care.
Doctors at the hospital credited the swift actions and combined efforts of the good Samaritan and police officers, according to the news release.
“These officers will probably say they were just doing their jobs, which is true,” said Ron Knafla, chief of police for the fair’s Police Department, in the release. “But on that particular day, at that particular moment, their job was to help save a person’s life and I could not be more proud or grateful for their work.”
Chief Knafla informed the Willmar Police Department that both Sgt. Schaefbauer and Officer Wallace were presented the Minnesota State Fair All-Star Award for their life-saving actions.
Minnesota
Goalie Nicole Hensley stars as league-leading Minnesota Frost top New York Sirens in shootout | CBC Sports
Nicole Hensley made back-to-back saves in the shootout and the Minnesota Frost earned their fourth straight victory with a 4-3 win over the New York Sirens on Sunday in Newark, N.J.
It was the fourth time in seven all-time meetings that a game between the teams was decided in OT and the second this season. New York won the season opener in St. Paul, Minn.
Kendall Coyne Schofield scored two first-period goals to stake the Frost to the early lead and Taylor Heise beat Kayle Osborne, who relieved starter Abigail Levy in the New York net to start the second period, two minutes in to make it a 3-0 lead.
WATCH l Heise scores shootout winner:
But Osborne did not allow another goal in regulation and wasn’t seriously challenged in overtime while the Sirens staged a comeback. Brooke Hobson and Elizabeth Giguere each scored in the second period and Alex Carpenter pounced on a loose puck and lifted a shot over Hensley’s shoulder from deep in the face-off circle to tie the game midway through the third period.
Hensley was brilliant in overtime, turning away four close-in, open shots by the Sirens (2-1-1-1), two of them on breakaway chances.
Minnesota (4-0-1-0) got goals from Denisa Křížová, Grace Zumwinkle and Heise in the shootout. Noora Tulus and Carpenter each converted in the shootout for New York, but Hensley came up with a save on Sarah Fillier before stopping the final two shooters for the Sirens.
Hensley finished with 33 saves on 36 shots to earn the win. Osborne made 18 saves on 19 shots over her 45 minutes in goal for New York. Carpenter’s two-goal effort lifted her past Coyne Schofield and into the league lead with four goals in her first five games and she now has a league-leading seven points.
WATCH l Sirens’ Fillier, Carpenter test their off-ice chemistry:
Minnesota
Unique northern Minnesota border airport closing after 70 years
A northern Minnesota airport with an unusual claim to fame is closing after 70 years of operation.
The Piney-Pinecreek Border Airport near Roseau is the only airport with a paved runway crossing the U.S.-Canada border.
The border airport opened in 1953 to expedite customs processing for air travelers and was regularly used by hunters and anglers flying to Canada.
Initially, the airport had a grass runway that ended at the border, but in 1978 a runway expansion added a paved runway that extended into Canada.
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Customs agents would meet travelers on either side of the border.
But declining usage and significant impending repair costs led to the decision to close the one of a kind operation, said Ryan Gaug, director of the Minnesota Department of Transportation aeronautics office.
“We know that the pavement condition has declined significantly over the years and will need a reconstruct most likely in the next one to three years,” said Gaug.
Short-term costs to bring the facility up to safety standards is estimated at $3.8 million.
Piney-Pinecreek is the only airport owned by MnDOT, and it is operated in collaboration with the Rural Municipality of Piney, Manitoba.
A Canadian official said the local government could not raise the money to pay its share of the planned improvement costs and Piney officials ended the joint operations agreement.
Gaug said an estimated 200 airplanes a year use the facility, far lower than traffic at similar sized facilities.
There are six airports on the U.S.-Canada border, but Piney-Pinecreek is the only one with a paved runway.
“It’s always been the No. 1 fun fact that I’ve shared with friends, family, coworkers, colleagues here at MnDOT,” said Gaug.
“It’s a tough decision to close an airport ever, but the evidence was all there that now was the time,” he said.
There are no local airplanes based at the airport.
“It’s very sad for the community to lose its airport,” said Marlin Elton, a local resident who served on the airport commission and helped maintain the facility for 30 years.
Elton said the closure hasn’t raised concerns in the community because “if you don’t fly, it won’t affect you. The ones who will be affected are the pilots who use it.”
Gaug said MnDOT reached out to pilots and aviation groups to gauge support for keeping the airport open but found “there just isn’t a strong user base for this airport and that also led to not a strong local support fighting to keep this airport.”
The final day of operations for the Piney-Pinecreek airport is Dec. 26.
Minnesota
NEXT Weather: 10 p.m. report for Minnesota from Dec. 21, 2024
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