Star Tribune
How the DNR lures the crowds to its well-stocked fish pond at the Minnesota State Fair
The Minnesota State Fair is back this week to remind us what we like about our state and about each other.
Minnesotans, it turns out, really, really like looking at fish.
Every year, crowds gather in the cool oasis behind the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources building. A concrete pond filled with clear water from the fairgrounds well swirls with schools of fish, from silvery minnows to a scaly sturgeon so huge that children mistake it for a shark.
Some of the newest stars and gars of the 2023 fair are swimming in a tank at the state fish hatchery in St. Paul, getting ready for their debut.
“I’m biased, but I think the fish are the best thing at the fair,” hatchery supervisor Genevieve Furtner said. Judging by the huge crowds that circle the fish pond throughout the 12-day run of the fair, other Minnesotans agree.
She lifted the lid of a tank and studied some of the fish the staff pulled from the Mississippi and Minnesota rivers last week, looking for a good mix of sizes and species for the exhibit. Carp, smallmouth bass, a sinewy gar.
Some of the fish in the DNR pond have made more trips to the fair than your average Minnesotan. Returning the fish to the rivers after the fair would risk spreading disease, so the fair fish spend the bulk of the year relaxing in a secret DNR pond.
“They like living life without any of our interference,” Furtner said. “So that’s what we give them.”
Yes, somewhere in the Twin Cities, there’s a pond stocked 11 months out of the year with walleye, pike, trout, bass, catfish, paddlefish, muskie and at least one 50-inch sturgeon. No, the DNR will not say where.
Those are Minnesota’s fish. And some of them have names.
Smokey, Glutton, Sheriff and Mochi arrived at the DNR hatchery last week, sloshing stylishly inside a red Yeti cooler. It’s not just baby birds and fuzzy animals that state wildlife officials rescue.
The fish – bullhead, bluegills and a yellow perch — had been kept in a home aquarium for years by a young angler who was leaving for college. He couldn’t bear to eat or euthanize his pets and was responsible enough to know that dumping a fish out of an aquarium into a lake isn’t good for the fish or the lake. (That’s how Burnsville ended up with an invasion of goldfish the size of footballs in Keller Lake.)
Perch are not pets, generally. But Minnesota fishing regulations have a kid-sized loophole. Children aged 16 and younger are allowed to bring smaller game fish — under 10 inches — home to display in an aquarium. These fish were large and colorful and had been well-tended for the past six or seven years.
“These are going to look great in our central Minnesota tank,” Furtner said, admiring the magnificent stripes and coloring on Sheriff the bluegill.
T.J. DeBates, the east metro area fisheries supervisor, had made the trip to retrieve the fish and had used his own cooler to keep them comfortable on the trip back to the hatchery.
The two fish experts crowded close, watching the new arrivals. Looking at fish is fun even when you do it for a living.
“Underwater, it’s a completely different realm,” Furtner said. “When you go into it, you feel like you’re stepping onto another planet. The fish are like aliens and it’s just so fun to be able to interact with them and watch them.”
The State Fair fishpond brings that alien world to Falcon Heights. You could go your whole life without making eye contact with a sturgeon or watching a paddlefish chase a minnow.
If you can’t make it to the fairgrounds, you can tune into the DNR’s fishcam: dnr.state.mn.us/statefair/webcam/fish.html
Furtner, DeBates and other DNR staff members will be on hand to answer questions, share fun fish facts and listen to your fish stories about the One That Got Away. The DNR Building is on Carnes Avenue, near the Grandstand, across the street from the Star Tribune booth.
The fair opens on Thursday, Aug. 24. Grab a tube of this year’s crop art-themed Star Tribune lip balm and tell Mochi the perch we said hi.
The medical center is owned by a local nonprofit, but operated by Duluth-based Essentia under an affiliation agreement that dates back to 2009.
With the ruling announced Wednesday, Essentia Health says it will continue to operate the hospital, clinic, assisted-living and long-term care facilities in Fosston, plus clinics in Bagley and Oklee.
“Now that the arbitration process is over, Essentia is focused on the opportunity to engage our patients, colleagues and the community in building a shared vision for the future of health care in Fosston,” said Dr. Stefanie Gefroh, interim president of Essentia Health’s West Market, in a statement.
Arbitrators were asked to rule on whether Essentia eliminated a “core” service by discontinuing deliveries, since the city of Fosston would then have the right to terminate the affiliation agreement. But the panel in a 2-1 vote concluded that labor and delivery is just one aspect of obstetrics (OB).
“OB is a ‘core’ service under the agreement, encompassing labor and delivery as part of comprehensive care for pregnant women,” the ruling states. “Simply put, while the delivery of the baby is an essential component, it is not the sole care provided to a pregnant woman.”
Fosston officials, including the town’s mayor, were involved in the arbitration because the city has a legal connection to the nonprofit owner of the medical center, which historically was a municipal hospital.
Star Tribune
Judge gives driver year in jail for being drunk, fatally hitting man in Minnesota street
A driver was given a year in jail Wednesday for being drunk when he fatally hit a man in the street near St. Cloud.
Tyler J. Nies, 26, of Sartell, Minn., was sentenced in Benton County District Court after pleading guilty to criminal vehicular homicide in connection with the crash shortly before 11 p.m. on July 28 in Sauk Rapids near the intersection of N. Benton Drive and N. 8th Street that killed Kevin D. Oehmen, 47, of Sauk Rapids.
Judge Robert Raupp opted for the year in jail while setting aside a 5¾-year term. Raupp also ordered Nies to serve 10 years’ probation, perform 80 hours of community work service, complete a chemical assessment attend a victim impact panel, abstain from mood-altering chemicals and stay away from bars.
According to the criminal complaint:
An officer at the scene noticed that Nies smelled of alcohol. Nies initially said he had one beer before driving his pickup. A preliminary breath test by the officer measured Nies’ blood alcohol content at 0.129%, more than 1 1⁄2 times the legal limit in Minnesota.
Upon further questioning, Nies said that before driving he drank three beers, which were about 16 ounces each.
Nies told police he was heading north on Benton Drive in the right-hand lane and suddenly saw a man walking in the grassy area next to the curb “like he was going to cross the road,” the complaint read. Police Chief Perry Beise added that Oehmen was on a street with no marked crosswalk.
Here’s a roundup of 55 claims that caught the interest of the Washington Post, in the order in which they were made
Read the original article
New details on hunt for Osama bin Laden released by National Security Agency
Essentia Health wins arbitration dispute over control of Fosston, Minn. hospital
Alaska Airlines pilot describes moment of door blowout in first interview: “I knew something was catastrophically wrong”
New details on hunt for Osama bin Laden released by National Security Agency
Essentia Health wins arbitration dispute over control of Fosston, Minn. hospital
GIPHY App Key not set. Please check settings