Star Tribune
‘Beloved’ goat Hazelnut stolen from St. Paul school; public’s help sought
One of three goats that calls the Great River School in St. Paul home went missing this week, and community members are asking for the public’s help to get her home.
A teacher arrived Tuesday night to feed the animals in their pen on the east side of the school, and discovered one goat was missing, student parent and volunteer Lynn Overvoorde said. Community members suspect the goat was stolen. Overvoorde described the loss as “devastating.”
“It feels like we lost a really important member of our community,” Overvoorde said. “These goats have really become an ingrained part of the community, they’re more than just farm animals to us.”
The missing black and brown goat, named Hazelnut, was last seen Monday afternoon or evening after she was fed. It’s believed she went missing sometime overnight Monday into Tuesday. Great River School is on Energy Park Drive just south of Como Park.
The friendly goat is part of the larger animal care program at Great River, a Montessori school which also has chickens and a garden that students help care for.
There was evidence someone tampered with the fence surrounding the pen, and may have lifted Hazelnut out, Overvoorde said. The school and neighboring buildings had surveillance cameras, and footage showed an SUV pull up and two people get out who community members think may have taken the goat, she noted.
The community is offering a $500 reward for anyone who finds and returns the goat, according to a missing animal flier on Facebook.
“Please help us find this beloved animal,” the post reads. It asks anyone who finds the animal to call 612-803-4871.
The school has been hoping to utilize the goats as part of a larger project where children learn to milk them, and sell the milk or cheese to learn about economics, Overvoorde said. The three goats were added to the school at the start of the last school year.
“In here, it can be a very dark and lonely place, and it can be difficult to see the light at the end of the tunnel,” Benson said. “Events like this just help keep that hope alive.”
While the incarcerated people listened, they were joined at tables by prison staff, guards, the warden, and others, including Corrections Commissioner Paul Schnell, who stood against a brick wall. A couple of inmates, who work as photographers for the prison’s newspaper, strolled the cafeteria taking pictures.
When the performance went longer than expected, the warden smiled and gave the performers a thumbs up. He was fine with letting it continue. When it was done, the musicians took a handful of questions and signed flyers. Then inmates were guided back to their cells.
Hennepin County Board candidate Marisa Simonetti was arraigned in District Court on Thursday morning on a misdemeanor charge of 5th-degree assault after a dispute with a tenant of her Edina home.
Simonetti, who was arrested and jailed in June on allegations that she assaulted the tenant by throwing a live tarantula and other objects at the woman, stayed in the court hallway Thursday while her attorney John Daly handled the routine appearance. Simonetti was given a Jan. 9 pre-trial date and plans to plead not guilty.
Wearing a campaign T-shirt, Simonetti said after the court proceeding that she’s done nothing wrong and plans to fight the charge “to the death.”
Simonetti said her campaign for the District 6 seat is going well and that she sent out “a ton of texts” last week. “We’re getting feedback, positive feedback. It’s going to be very exciting to see what happens on Nov. 5,” she said.
An email to Simonetti’s opponent, Commissioner Heather Edelson, was not immediately returned Thursday.
In April, Simonetti came in second in a six-candidate special primary for an open seat on the board and then lost the special election Edelson, a DFLer and former state representative. Simonetti has campaigned as a Republican, although some local Republicans have since pulled their support for her.
The board oversees the county’s $2.7 billion budget and 10,000 employees. Commissioners earn $122,225 annually.
District 6, which covers cities including Edina, Hopkins, Mound, Minnetonka, Wayzata, Long Lake, Shorewood and the northern portion of Eden Prairie.
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In her final season with the Ducks, Ionescu became the first NCAA Division I basketball player to record more then 2,000 career points, 1,000 assists and 1,000 rebounds. She dedicated the performance that put her over the edge to Bryant. “That was for him,” she told ESPN.
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Ionescu is a menace from behind the 3-point line like Steph Curry, Luka Doncic and Caitlin Clark
Ionescu has made more three-pointers during the regular season than any other WNBA player in history.
Ionescu’s clutch three might give Minnesota basketball fans deja vu. It was reminiscent of the three-pointer Luka Doncic of the Dallas Mavericks sank in Game 2 of the Western Conference Finals to win that game 109-108 and put the Timberwolves on their heels. The Mavs ended up winning the series 4-1.
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