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Ukraine’s ambassador to US visits Minnesota
Oksana Markova headlined the first stop in a tour designed to rally support for Ukraine’s battle with Russia.
MINNEAPOLIS — Ukraine’s ambassador to the U.S., Oksana Markarova, visited Minneapolis Thursday to launch a whistle-stop tour to rally support for her nation’s ongoing defense against Russia’s invasion.
She shared the stage at the Ukrainian American Center with Heather Conley of the German Marshall Fund of the United States and Howard Buffett, the Nebraska farmer and philanthropist who heads the Howard G. Buffett Foundation.
Ambassador Markarova said she deeply appreciated the support of Americans and the U.S. Government, and asserted it needs to continue.
“When we talk about values and principles on which our countries are built, if we are serious about them, then we have to defend them everywhere,” Markarova told the crowd from Minnesota’s Ukrainian community.
“If we allow Ukraine to fall, then how can we still go ahead and say these values are sacred to us?”
Organizers of the tour say it started here in Minnesota because of the state’s deep, historic ties to Ukraine. The ambassador said it’s not just a matter of money and supplies.
“The most important support is your voice, and the fact Americans who support us can say it out loud, say it by putting the flag outside of your home, by telling your neighbors why you support Ukraine,” Markarova told reporters after the event.
“Just continue supporting us because we can win. We can win this one.”
Buffett noted that the stakes are high for Americans in Ukraine, because Russian’s ambitions may extend into NATO nations that the U.S. has committed to defend in warfare.
“His intent is to destroy Ukraine, destroy the Ukrainian people and then move on,” Buffett remarked. “If Putin beats Ukraine and moves deeper into Europe, we will be sending our children to fight that war. That’s what’s at stake.”
Conley said her foundation is working towards restoring the war-torn nation, just as the U.S. and its allies rebuilt its former enemies after World War II with the original Marshall Plan.
“This entire whistle-stop tour is about making sure that communities in the United States understand fundamentally what’s so important about Ukraine, and that our communities are joining together,” Conley told reporters.
Some Congressional Republicans have wavered in their support of Ukraine and NATO. They’re willing to extend aid to Ukraine as part of a deal that also includes more money for security along the U.S.-Mexico border.
One goal of the tour is to draw empathy from American farmers to what Ukrainian farmers are going through. The farming region once known as Europe’s “breadbasket” has been hobbled by the invading Russians.
“You’re seeing combines that are blown up,” Buffett explained. “You’ve seen farmers that have died in their fields as a result of it. You’re seeing farmland with thousands of land mines that will need to be removed.”
Ambassador Markarova said the Russian blockade of Ukraine Black Sea ports has made exporting agricultural products much more difficult.
“By destroying the crops Russia specifically targets the grain storage, the sileages, the elevators.”
Among those on hand for Thursday’s event were severely injured Ukrainian Army soldiers being treated here through the Protez Foundation. The ambassador spoke to them in their native tongue.
Thursday’s press conference was held in the gymnasium of the Ukrainian American center. a space filled with medical supplies destined for those wounded on the battlefront or injured in Russian missile attacks.
Little information is being made public as police investigate a homicide.
ST PAUL, Minn. — Police in St. Paul are investigating a fatal stabbing in the city Friday night.
Little information is made available at this time, but police are calling it a homicide.
It happened on the 200 block of E 7th Street, police said.
This story is developing and will be updated as more information becomes available.
Gov. Tim Walz took a break from the campaign trail to watch his old football team in action.
MANKATO, Minn. — People poured into Blakeslee Stadium on the Minnesota State Mankato campus Friday to see a clash between crosstown rivals Mankato West and Mankato East. Added to the mix was an appearance by Governor Tim Walz, who came to take a stroll down memory lane.
“I was lucky enough to have both Mr. Walz and Mrs. Walz as teachers,” Jimmy Baker, a Mankato West alum told KARE. “They started at West my freshman year, so they just as much a part of this place as I am.”
Baker played linebacker and running back on the Scarlets’ 1999 state championship team, with Tim Walz as his defensive coordinator. Walz was a social studies teacher at the time and his wife Gwen taught English and literature.
“He just really loved football, and he really felt passionate about the gameplay, and he gets really pumped up by good plays, and he was really good at redirecting and getting everyone on the same page,” Baker recalled.
Baker was one of the Mankato alums who took the stage wearing their Scarlet jerseys during the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. It was part of the DNC’s overall effort to reinforce the “Coach Walz” theme for their vice-presidential candidate.
“I don’t really follow politics as closely as some, but it was very surreal to be there on that stage,” Baker recalled.
“It was pretty amazing to do that and also be able to do it with some of my oldest friends was probably the best part.”
As soon as Walz joined the Kamala Harris ticket in early August many former students of Gov. Walz and First Lady Gwen Walz have come forward to share their stories with the media of what it was like to be in their classroom decades ago.
At a State Capitol press conference, former student and football player Nate Hood from the Class of 2002 said Walz made a point of ensuring second-stringers got some playing time.
“Coach Walz brings me over and he was like, ‘Hood, what’s’ the score?’ I said, ‘Zero to 34, we’re down.’ He goes, ‘Alright! You can get in there!”
Walz taught social studies at Mankato West for nine years and served as defensive coordinator and assistant coach for the Scarlets until retiring to run for Congress in 2006.
Not everyone was thrilled with Walz’s appearance at Friday night’s game. Former Rep. Jeremy Munson of Lake Crystal said the Secret Service security measures would be inconvenient for families looking to enjoy the game.
“It’s upsetting to a lot of the parents to have this turned into a political event, by bringing the Secret Service, and I understand that’s the position he’s in as a candidate he has to have that security.”
Munson and others have commissioned a plane to fly over the stadium before the game with a banner that read “Bench Coach Walz – Trump 2024.”
The plane never made it to its destination. Munson later explained that the plane with the banner took off but was instructed by the control tower to return to the airport a few minutes later.
Jimmy Baker, who now has children of his own at Mankato West, said he thinks it’s great to see Mankato’s big game in the spotlight. He said he believes Gov. Walz and the First Lady have every right to see the big game.
“They’re as much a part of the community as anyone else. Whatever they’re at, or whatever they’re doing, they absolutely belong here!”
Wendell Epps and Charles Hallman agree Thursday’s game was unlike anything they’ve ever seen… or covered.
MINNEAPOLIS — A security camera inside Minneapolis’ A Bar of Their Own looked as if it would fall from the ceiling on Thursday night, as Minnesota Lynx fans erupted in celebration during the team’s historic comeback in Game One of the WNBA Finals.
It was one of several fan reaction videos that spoke to the joy and pandemonium that unfolded in the final seconds of regulation and throughout overtime, as the Lynx clawed back from an improbable 15-point deficit with less than six minutes to play in regulation.
That joy wasn’t just coming from fans.
Wendell Epps, the 23-year-old, first-year play-by-play announcer for the Minnesota Lynx Radio Network, had some of the best seats in the house for all the unforgettable plays, and his selfie-style recording of his final calls captured the chaos that unfolded in New York.
“It was absolutely insane,” Epps said. “I mean, this is my first, big-boy play-by-play job and to have that opportunity was really cool and it was a surreal experience. I loved it.”
Just thinking about it made Charles Hallman, a Hall of Fame sportswriter for the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder, laugh.
“That young man… just think, this is his first year calling WNBA games and he’s in the Finals,” Hallman said, with a loud laugh.
Charles Hallman is on the other end of the spectrum… the basketball writer says it’s also one of the best games he’s ever seen… and he had to watch from his living room.
Charles Hallman: “I watched on an easy chair and I was on the edge of my seat.”
Kent Edahl: “I’m guessing you were NOT at the edge of your seat after that shot by Courtney Williams.”
Hallman: “Haha, no, I fell backwards! I fell backwards like she fell when she got fouled.”
Though he is no stranger to covering the Lynx in the WNBA Finals, Hallman said this run has stood out.
Hallman: “If they win this, this will be a very unique, unique championship.”
Erdahl: “What do you think makes this run special?”
Hallman: “This team, literally, just came together this year, that just shows you the great coaching job of Cheryl Reeve, who don’t get a lot of credit for what she does, and how these players grasp on to her. The chemistry of this team is just… for professional sports is very impressive. They just love to play together.”
“I just think we have a lot of players who have kind of flown under the radar,” Epps said. “Even Napheesa Collier, our best player, is probably the most underrated superstar in any professional sports league.”
And the fact that the Lynx were able to bite back in the Big Apple makes it even sweeter.
“Literally, every time out I would see a different celebrity pop up on the jumbotron,” Epps said.
“I’m glad that America got to see the Lynx play if they haven’t seen them play all year, that was a fantastic, an instant classic,” Hallman said. “I mean, to see the Lynx on the front page of the paper today. You don’t see that very often. For somebody that’s been covering the sport for as long as I have. That’s something that I love to see, and I’d love to see that more because women’s sports deserves to get that kind of praise.” added Epps.
