This was the second time in roughly the past 17 months that Griffen has been arrested on suspicion of drunken driving. In July 2023, he was stopped in Chanhassen and accused of driving 60 mph in a 40 mph zone. His blood-alcohol content was 0.09%. Griffen pleaded guilty to a reduced careless driving charge in February and was placed on a year’s probation.

In the months following that allegation, Griffen crashed his car into a fence and gazebo in Mound on Oct. 28, 2023. He was cited and convicted of failure to drive with due care, a petty misdemeanor. On Dec. 7, 2023, in Shakopee, police stopped Griffen for driving 55 mph in a 30 mph zone. He was convicted of a petty misdemeanor in that case as well.

Griffen called 911 shortly after 3 a.m. from his Minnetrista home on Nov. 24, 2021, saying someone was with him, and he needed help. He also told the dispatcher he fired one round from a gun, but no one was wounded, police said. They added no intruder was found.

The same day, Griffen had posted, then deleted, a video on Instagram saying people were trying to kill him as he held a gun in his hand. He was alone inside the house, with police outside, until he emerged and agreed to be taken for treatment.

Griffen also spent four weeks undergoing mental health treatment in 2018 after two incidents that September — one at the Hotel Ivy in downtown Minneapolis, the other at his home — that prompted police involvement. He later revealed he lived in a sober house for the remainder of the 2018 season.

On Facebook, North Shore residents have been keeping track. He’d been spotted on London Road. He was on 61 by the Knife River Bridge. He was at the Lake Breeze Motel on Congdon Road. There were Bo Peep jokes. “Sheepers!” someone exclaimed. “RUN BRAD RUN!” someone else urged.

Nobody knows how a sheep ended up by his lonesome along the North Shore. Nobody has claimed him and there aren’t any significant sheep operations in the area.

Travis Hoffman, a sheep specialist and associate professor at North Dakota State University and the University of Minnesota, (whose phone number ends with 2222, or “Baaa,” he said, no kidding), said that judging by photos posted on social media, Brad the sheep is young, maybe a year or so old. He looks like he was last sheared about six months ago. His breed wasn’t immediately apparent. He could be a Shetland or a Romeldale, or possibly a cross-breed. An identifying ear tag that could trace his origins appears to be missing.

All sheep need, he said, is grass and water, so as long as Brad can forage, he’ll be fine.

Hoffman offered advice for would-be sheep nabbers. A lone sheep will see humans as predators and will move away from them. So if you want a sheep to go right, approach from the left. (This could be useful, as you never know where livestock will turn up. When I was a teenager in Plymouth, I came home to find a pig sleeping by our house.)

Get the sheep into a fenced-in backyard or into a garage, he advised. Don’t try anything goofy like pulling on a fleece and getting onto all fours (my idea). A well-trained sheep dog could round up Brad in a hurry. Also, as sheep like to hang out in flocks, a few bait sheep might entice him into a pen.

RICE LAKE, MINN. – Before and after photographs decorated the side of a construction vehicle parked in a St. Louis County Public Works garage Wednesday morning, marking the ceremonial end of a years-long project to replace aged bridges and culverts within northern Minnesota.

The more than $25 million bridge bundling project, a collaboration between the county and the Minnesota Department of Transportation, brought fixes to 17 spots in St. Louis County and four in neighboring Carlton County. The finale was a bridge on West Skyline Parkway leading to Spirit Mountain, which opened in mid-October — a month earlier than expected.

It was the largest road and bridge construction contract that this county has seen, according to 5th District County Commissioner Keith Musolf, who chairs the Public Works and Transportation committee.

“Replacing these bridges has made our region a safer place, strengthened our ability to withstand the environment of northern Minnesota’s weather and the events that have occurred over the past few seasons,” he said during a press conference.

The partnering entities started collecting funding for the project in 2018 when the Federal Highway Administration solicited applications for a project that would bundle bridge work, with a goal of demonstrating cost savings, according to Matt Hemmila, St. Louis County’s deputy director of engineering.

They were able to secure $10.2 million, then tacked on more federal, state and local funds for the rest. Hemmila estimated they saved between 10% and 15% on the cost of bridge fixes by not tending to each individually.

“So I think the program was a success,” he said.

Areas that saw upgrades, starting in 2022, include a spot on Normanna Road, over the French River, Munger Shaw Road over Shaw Bug Creek, and Three Lakes Road over Boulder Creek. There were two projects on Kensington Drive and two on Hwy. 210 that cross the Tamarack River. The only project this year was over Knowlton Creek on West Skyline Parkway, which included stream restoration work. St. Louis County has a two-minute video that shows before and after photos from each location.