Star Tribune
Rochester firefighters call for more EMTS, new station to tackle growing needs
ROCHESTER – Firefighters here say more leadership staff, a new emergency medical services division and a new fire station in northwest Rochester are key to keeping up with the city’s growing population over the next few years.
The Rochester Fire Department is proposing an eight-step plan over at least a five-year period to address increasing call volumes as Minnesota’s third-largest city continues to grow.
The plan involves hiring about 15 new employees and creating a new division of emergency medical technicians (EMTs) to shoulder medical emergency calls and calls for lift assistance – people who fell and need help getting up but aren’t injured. That would free up firefighters stationed downtown to move into the northwest part of town, which would reduce ongoing response time problems.
Rochester Fire Chief Eric Kerska told the Rochester City Council Monday the plan would likely help save close to $3 million in operation and construction costs once implemented.
“You’re going to have to spend money on Rochester fire one way or another if the city continues to grow,” Kerska said. “Let’s figure out a way to do it in such a way that we’re effective.”
The plan comes as the city’s Fire Department deals with strained resources as the city continues to grow. The department operates eight crews in five stations, including three crews stationed downtown. Firefighters took 12,147 calls last year, more than 9,000 of which were for medical emergencies or lift assists. That’s also about 1,000 more calls than 2021.
A majority of those calls come from downtown Rochester. Deputy Fire Chief Holly Mulholland said downtown call volumes alone are projected to overwhelm firefighters as soon as next year without more help.
In addition, the Fire Department hopes to improve lagging response times in the northwest, which is projected to grow faster than other parts of the city over the next several years. The department has a seven-minute response time to the neighborhood near Dakota Middle School, according to Mulholland.
The Fire Department hopes to add a new assistant chief position in 2024 or 2025 to focus on community engagement, which Kerska said would help in recruiting future firefighters to diversify the department.
“The community wants us to look more like them,” he said.
From there, the department hopes to hire a supervisor and up to 10 EMTs to staff enough people to serve the downtown area. Another three battalion chiefs would be hired as the city buys land to build a new fire station.
It remains to be seen how soon the city could fund improvements — the council will weigh budget requests later this year — but council members largely seem to support the Fire Department’s goals.
“We have a really unique and long history in our fire department and we need to be proud of that,” Council member Shaun Palmer said.
The Lynx are in the hot seat.
The team lost Game 3 of the WNBA Finals series against the New York Liberty on Wednesday night 77-80, setting the stage for a decisive match at Target Center on Friday night. Fans in the arena reacted with resounding disappointment after Sabrina Ionescu sunk a three-pointer to break away from the tie game and dashed the Lynx’s chance at forcing overtime.
Before we get to the reactions, first things first: The Lynx set an attendance record, filling Target Center with 19,521 spectators for the first time in franchise history. That’s nearly 500 more than when Caitlin Clark was in town with the Indiana Fever earlier this year.
Despite leading by double digits for much of the game, the Lynx began the fourth quarter with a one-point lead over the Liberty and struggled to stay more than two or three points ahead throughout.
The Liberty took the lead with minutes to go in the fourth quarter and folks were practically despondent.
Of course, there were people who were in it solely for the spectacle. Nothing more.
The Lynx took a commanding lead early in the first quarter and ended the first half in winning position, setting a particularly jovial mood among the fanbase to start the game.
Inside Target Center, arena announcers spent a few minutes before the game harassing Lynx fans — and Liberty fans — who had not yet donned the complementary T-shirts draped over every seat.
DULUTH – The Minnesota and Wisconsin transportation departments will make upgrades to the Richard I. Bong Memorial Bridge in the summer of 2025, in preparation for the structure to become the premiere route between this city and Superior during reconstruction of the Blatnik Bridge.
Built in 1961, the Blatnik Bridge carries 33,000 vehicles per day along Interstate 535 and Hwy. 53. It will be entirely rebuilt, starting in 2027, with the help of $1 billion in federal funding announced earlier this year. MnDOT and WisDOT are splitting the remaining costs of the project, about $4 million each.
According to MnDOT, projects on the Bong Bridge will include spot painting, concrete surface repairs to the bridge abutments, concrete sealer on the deck, replacing rubber strip seal membranes on the main span’s joints and replacing light poles on the bridge and its points of entry. It’s expected to take two months, transportation officials said during a recent meeting at the Superior Public Library.
During this time there will be occasional lane closures, detours at the off-ramps, and for about three weeks the sidewalk path alongside the bridge will be closed.
The Bong Bridge, which crosses the St. Louis River, opened to traffic in 1985 and is the lesser-used of the two bridges. Officials said they want to keep maintenance to a minimum on the span during the Blatnik project, which is expected to take four years.
Red Wing will celebrate the grand opening of its first permanent set of pickleball courts next week with an “inaugural play” on the six courts at Colvill Park on the banks of the Mississippi, between a couple of marinas and next to the aquatic center.
Among the first to get to play on the new courts will be David Anderson, who brought pickleball to the local YMCA in 2008, before the nationwide pickleball craze took hold, and Denny Yecke, at 92 the oldest pickleball player in Red Wing.
The inaugural play begins at 11 a.m. Tuesday, with a rain date of the next day. Afterward will be food and celebration at the Colvill Park Courtyard building.
Tim Sletten, the city’s former police chief, discovered America’s fastest-growing sport a decade ago after he retired. With fellow members of the Red Wing Pickleball Group, he’d play indoors at the local YMCA or outdoors at a local school, on courts made for other sports. But they didn’t have a permanent place, so they approached the city about building one.
When a city feasibility study came up with a high cost, about $350,000, Sletten’s group got together to raise money.
The courts are even opening ahead of schedule, originally set for 2025.
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