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Calls to Minnesota poison center triple as wild mushrooms thrive

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The Minnesota Regional Poison Center says calls from April through July tripled when compared to the same time period last year.

MINNEAPOLIS — The warm, soggy summer across much of the Midwest has produced a bumper crop of wild mushrooms — and a surge in calls to poison control centers.

At the Minnesota Regional Poison Center, calls from April through July more than tripled over the same period last year, said Samantha Lee, the center’s director. The center took 90 calls for potential exposures over that period, compared to 26 calls for the same months in 2023. 

Exposures include people who have had actual or suspected contact with potentially poisonous mushrooms and who may or may not develop symptoms, she said.

The cases can include kids who didn’t know what they were doing and foragers who make mistakes, Lee said. But those numbers don’t include people who are merely curious about whether the mushrooms popping out of their yards are good to eat.

“Fortunately the majority of the time these tend to be mild symptoms,” Lee said. “A lot of these are mushrooms that were in the yard or nearby parks. Many of these cause upset stomachs, vomiting and diarrhea, but every year we do get some cases with serious outcomes.”

The situation appears to be similar throughout wetter areas of the country this spring and summer. Kait Brown, clinical managing director of America’s Poison Centers, said calls were up 26% across all states and territories for April through June.

“There are probably a couple areas in the country that are experiencing large case volumes that could be related to different weather patterns,” Brown said. However, she said her office doesn’t have state-by-state data to pinpoint exactly where.

The Minnesota Poison Center issued a warning this month that wild mushrooms can be hard for untrained people to identify. Common ones that typically cause milder symptoms include the little brown mushrooms that grow in yards and the small white mushrooms that can form “fairy rings,” Brown said. 

But some deadly species also grow in Minnesota, including one popularly known as the “death angel” or “destroying angel.” They can cause liver failure.

Foraging for edible wild mushrooms has become increasingly popular in recent years, even before the pandemic, said Peter Martignacco, president of the Minnesota Mycological Society.

“The metro area of Minneapolis-St. Paul itself is having a huge year for mushrooms due to the previous few years of severe drought followed by this year’s extremely wet and cool spring, with consistent moisture thereafter,” said Tim Clemens, a professional forager and teacher who consults for the Minnesota Poison Center.

The best way to learn what’s safe is to go out with an experienced mushroom hunter, said Martignacco, whose group organizes frequent forays throughout the state. Although there are good guide books, identification apps can be inaccurate and there are guide books generated by artificial intelligence that are “notoriously useless,” Clemens said. 

The misleading information can cause people to make very serious mistakes, he added.

“I’m not sure what motivates them to eat something when you don’t know what it is, but some people do that,” he said.



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Pumpkin display hopes to raise money for food shelf

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Gary Peterson and his friends are collecting donations to help people in their community.

ST. LOUIS PARK, Minn. — A St. Louis Park pumpkin display is raising money for their local food shelf.

Gary Peterson started carving and painting three pumpkins over a decade ago. It’s now grown to over 100.

“I’ve heard people say they’ve come from Hutchinson,” he said.

Peterson along with two of his neighbors have spent the last 14 years growing their display, turning it into a neighborhood event.

“It’s been incredible, I just can’t believe how much this has expanded,” he said. “We did it just because we like to and then people were asking to give us money to cover the cost.”

The trio refused to take people’s money, but then one of them had an idea.

“My neighbor, Steve Leensvaart, just mentioned how about we just do it for the STEP program and the STEP program is our local food shelf in St. Louis Park,” he said.

So, they started to collect donations to help families in need. They’ve raised hundreds of dollars and donated hundreds of pounds of food over the last few years, carving for a cause.

“It is more gratifying every year,” Peterson said.

He estimated they have over 100 unique pumpkins in their yard. They’ve created the displays and come up with new family-friendly concepts for people to enjoy. Peterson said about 30 of their neighbors carved their own pumpkins to be put on display, and it’s been a big hit.

“It’s great. In the last couple of years, it’s turned into more of a neighborhood event,” said Sarah Durch.

“We love this Halloween display, we come every year to see it. We love that the whole community gets involved to craft and carve the pumpkins,” said Jami Gordon-Smith.

“The shading and the details are unbelievable,” said Elizabeth Hanson.

Hanson hopes to take her 2-year-old son trick or treating for the first time but is worried the cold temperatures might keep them indoors.

“We’re going trick or treating hopefully,” she said. “He’s going to be a firefighter, but we’re probably going to have sweatshirts maybe like two pairs of sweatpants underneath. We’re going to be bundled up.”

Gordon-Smith said her family will be out Halloween night no matter the weather.

“Halloween only comes once a year, so you really have to take advantage and enjoy the evening no matter what the weather brings,” she said. “Guess it’s not totally unheard of in Minnesota to have a cold Halloween, but we are going to try and modify and do a lot of layers underneath our costumes and then we might add some hats and maybe some warmer socks.”

Durch also isn’t surprised they’re in for another chilly night.

“Well, what would Halloween be without Minnesota cold? I feel like every time you plan a costume you have to plan for how you can make this work if it’s snowing,” she said.

Peterson said they will have a bonfire and some hot chocolate and cider on Halloween to keep trick-or-treaters warm while they look at their pumpkins.

Click here to learn where you can see the pumpkins and how you can donate.



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Search continues for Bemidji missing person

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Jeremy Jourdain was 17 when he was last seen on Halloween 2016.

BEMIDJI, Minn. — The search for Jeremy Jourdain, who was last seen on Halloween in 2016, continues now eight years later. 

Jourdain was last seen at a family member’s house in Bemidji, according to the U.S. Department of the Interior Indian Affairs. He left the residence near the 500 block of Wood Avenue after midnight and while people followed him, no one was able to find him. 

Jourdain was 17 at the time.

Officials said he was wearing a blue and grey sweatshirt, and blue jeans when last seen. He is Native American and is described as 6 foot 5 and 175 pounds. 

If you have any information on his whereabouts, you can contact the Bemidji Police Department at (218) 333-9111. Tips can also be sent to 1-833-560-2065, or you can email ojs_mmu@bia.gov.



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Asian-American voter turnout projected to rise despite barriers

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The organizations say many Asian Americans are planning to vote despite lack of candidate outreach.

ST PAUL, Minn. — Most people have been contacted in some way shape or form by a campaign in the last few weeks. And if the polls are right and the race for president is a dead heat, every vote will matter. 

That’s why this is a head scratcher: 

According to a September 2024 voter survey by Asian American Pacific Islander Data, 27% of Asian-American voters said they hadn’t been contacted by either political party trying to get their vote. Last spring, earlier in the voting season, it was even more – 42%.

Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders are the fastest growing racial or ethnic group nationwide. 

Their voter participation levels are growing too, with 60% of eligible Asian-American voters turning out in 2020. And AAPI Data reports as many as 90% of Asian Americans they surveyed said they plan to vote this cycle.

“Candidates are not reaching out to Asian Americans, which is a huge mistake,” said ThaoMee Xiong, executive and networking director of the Coalition of Asian American Leaders.

She says even though there are more than 200,000 eligible Asian voters in Minnesota, the Asian vote is under-appreciated.

RELATED: How to watch KARE 11’s live coverage on Election Night 2024

“Neither the Democratic or Republican parties have been reaching out in huge numbers,” Xiong said. “They’re sending general mailers to everyone but … they need it in their native language.”

That’s why CAAL is partnering with two more organizations to keep voter turnout high and reach anyone candidates or advocates missed.

Xor Xiong is from Asian American Organizing Project, which focuses on engaging metro-area teens and young adults.

“Many of our communities are still facing barriers to go to vote,” he said. “There’s been more times than I like to admit in terms of when I was having a conversation over the phones of voters being surprised that they can take time off to go and vote, or they can bring the kids to the polling locations, or they can even bring someone to translate for them.”

“In Ramsey County, because of the large Hmong American population there, the polls in Ramsey County are federally required to provide interpreters and translated materials,” ThaoMee added.

Their nonpartisan campaign, Get Out the Vote for Asian Minnesotans, aims to get people registered and well-informed.

“Throughout Covid, there was a lot of anti-hate around the AAPI community and we are still feeling the impact of that to this day,” said Amanda Xiong, a community organizer with a group known as CAPI USA. “Even if folks are afraid to go to the polls, due to that, we try our best to then educate them around absentee ballots, voting early.”

“And so yes, there is a huge increase in terms of voter turnout, but then why is it still 70% feel as though they don’t belong?”

In 2021, the FBI reported a 168% increase in anti-Asian hate crimes. 

In Brooklyn Park and Brooklyn Center, the groups knocked on at least 700 doors in one session alone while keeping safety top of mind.

“We make sure that there’s a car following all the door knockers,” ThaoMee said. “We put everyone on text chain … and we are putting a lot of precautionary measures in place for the day of voting.”

After the election, the CAAL plans to conduct surveys and send the results to county election officials. They’ve done this before and say it led to policy changes this year at the legislature including measures to ensure people have easier access to interpreters.



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