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Family harvests corn after suicide of farmer who planted it
Brian Webster’s family shares a message about farmers and depression.
ELLSWORTH, Wis. — One-hundred 43 harvests have come and gone since the 1880 founding of the Webster farm.
But this one feels different to Mitchell Webster.
“I’m not used to driving the combine,” says the young man behind the wheel of the hulking machine.
Standing at the edge of the cornfield, Mitchell’s sister Jennifer agrees. This fall’s harvest doesn’t feel right.
“That’s dad’s office, he’s supposed to be in there,” she says, looking off toward the combine.
Brian Webster would be in the combine cab, bringing in the corn crop he planted last spring, if not for the morning of Aug. 3.
Brian’s wife Kim found him that day at his semi-truck.
At age 58, Brian had died by suicide.
“He was my love of my life,” Kim says through her tears. “I just wish he would have talked to me.”
The Webster’s story is all too familiar.
The National Rural Health Association says the suicide rate among farmers is 3.5 times the general population.
Key reasons cited by the group ring true to Brian’s family.
“You’re at the mercy of all these different obstacles,” Jennifer says. “And a lot of it you don’t have control over.”
Unpredictable weather and financial pressures bear down hard on farmers, who are often reluctant to seek mental health care.
“There’s still a pretty big stigma around mental health and keeping your feelings to yourself.” Jennifer says. “It’s a very, unfortunately, still a common thing in agriculture.”
Brian’s family decided to address the stigma head on in his obituary, writing – in the first line – that Brian had died from “complications with depression.”
Few of Brian’s neighbors knew he had struggled with the mental illness that had run in his family.
The condition was passed on again to Brian’s youngest son, Thomas.
“People judge me, I guess, whatever, it’s a real thing,” Thomas says as he stops to take a breath while milking the family’s 75 cows. “It’s an illness, but I’m not scared to let people know I have it.”
Once a month, between milkings, he drives from Ellsworth, Wisconsin to Red Wing, Minnesota to see a therapist.
“Talking to people about it makes me feel better, I mean, that’s what seems to help me,” he says.
Brian had also sought medical help. His doctor had switched him to a new anti-depressant shortly before he died.
“It’s really hard to know what was the tipping point exactly, if there was one thing, if there was multiple things,” Jennifer says. “It’s hard for me to make sense that he’s not here.”
Brian’s family buried him next to his parents within sight of his farm.
Then, a few weeks later, they emailed KARE 11 asked for help sharing their story.
The Websters had some things they wanted to say.
“I want farmers to know,” Brian’s wife says, before broadening her message. “Not just farmers, just anybody.”
Kim, a commodities trader, has taken a lead role in the family’s outreach efforts.
“It’s okay to talk about it, it’s okay to get help, it’s okay to be on medication, it’s okay to not be okay,” she says.
The Websters have set aside memorial money from Brian’s funeral to help bring the Farmer Angel Network to western Wisconsin. The organization, launched in southern Wisconsin, is made up primarily of farmers helping other farmers who are dealing with depression.
The family has established a GoFundMe page to raise additional funds for the project.
The Websters know, though private, the former combine driver had another attribute.
“Dad always wanted to help people,” Mitchell says. “If he could help somebody, he would.”
Helping now seems like the one thing that could bring some healing to this hurtful harvest.
“Please go get help,” Jennifer says. “There’s really no shame in getting help.”
If you or someone you know is facing a mental health crisis, there is help available from the following resources:
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The suit follows Minnesota-based UnitedHealth’s acquisition of LHC Group Inc., another home health and hospice provider.
MINNETONKA, Minn. — The Justice Department is suing to block UnitedHealth Group’s $3.3 billion purchase of Amedisys, citing concerns the combination would hinder access to home health and hospice services in the U.S.
The antitrust complaint was filed in Maryland federal court Tuesday. In a statement, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said the government is challenging UnitedHealth and Amedisys’ proposed merger because “patients and their families experiencing some of the most difficult moments of their lives deserve affordable, high quality care options.”
The suit follows Minnesota-based UnitedHealth’s acquisition of LHC Group Inc., another home health and hospice provider. Since that transaction’s completion last year, the Justice Department said, UnitedHealth and Amedisys have emerged as the two largest providers of home health and hospice care in the country.
The department argues that eliminating competition between UnitedHealth and Amedisys “would harm patients who receive home health and hospice services, insurers who contract for home health services, and nurses who provide home health and hospice services.”
Four states’ attorneys general — from Maryland, Illinois, New Jersey and New York — are joining the Justice Department in the antitrust complaint.
UnitedHealth is seeking to add Amedisys to Optum, its subsidiary that provides care as well as pharmacy and technology services. Optum said Tuesday the acquisition “would be pro-competitive and further innovation.” It said it plans to “vigorously defend (itself) against the DOJ’s overreaching interpretation of the antitrust laws.”
Louisiana-based Amedisys added that it also remains committed to the deal, which it believes “will create more opportunities to deliver quality, compassionate and value-based care to patients and their families.”
Beyond its Optum unit, UnitedHealth Group also runs one of the nation’s largest health insurers, UnitedHealthcare. Last month, UnitedHealth reported a third-quarter net income of $6.06 billion on revenue of $100.82 billion.
Haynes was 16 when convicted of killing Minneapolis flower shop owner Harry Sherer. He was released from prison in 2023 after his conviction was tossed out.
MINNEAPOLIS — A man who spent nearly 20 years behind bars is asking the state of Minnesota for $2 million to make up for that lost time after his murder conviction was vacated.
Marvin Haynes and his attorneys filed a claim with the Minnesota State Supreme Court on Nov. 7, maintaining he was wrongfully arrested, convicted and incarcerated in 2005 for a murder he did not commit. He was just 16 years old at the time he was convicted.
Haynes was exonerated and released from prison in Dec. 2023, meaning he spent more than 19 years imprisoned for a crime both Haynes and the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office say he did not commit. On the day it was announced that Haynes would be released, Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty apologized to him, saying his civil rights were violated in the 2005 trial and that securing his freedom would be “a step toward righting this wrong.”
“It is not easy to admit and correct our wrongs but it is necessary,” Moriarty said in a news conference. “To Marvin Haynes: You lost the opportunity to graduate from high school, to attend prom, have relationships, attend weddings and funerals and spend time with your family around the holidays. I’m so deeply sorry for that.”
In his claim for damages, Haynes and his legal team note that on Sept. 12, 2024, the Hennepin County District Court issued an order finding that Haynes is eligible for compensation. His attorneys say state statutes dictate that Haynes is entitled to damages “of not less than $50,000 for each year of incarceration” and additional monies based on economic damages, medical expenses, physical or non-physical injuries or sickness resulting from his incarceration plus expenses for education, housing and transportation as he tries to rebuild his life.
“His noneconomic damages include, but are not limited to, nearly 20 years of loss of liberty, past and future severe mental anguish, emotional distress and psychological damage; loss of familial relationships; loss of reputation; physical pain and suffering; humiliation, indignities and embarrassment; permanent loss of natural psychological development; and loss of enjoyment of life as a result of restrictions on all forms of personal freedom including diet, sleep, personal contact, personal fulfillment, sexual activity, family relations, reading, television, movies, travel, enjoyment and expression,” his attorneys asserted in the claim.
Based on those alleged damages, Marvin Haynes is asking the State of Minnesota for $100,000 for each year of his incarceration, a total of nearly $2 million.
Haynes was convicted in Sept. 2005 for the murder of 55-year-old Harry “Randy” Sherer, the owner of a flower shop in north Minneapolis. After a jury found Haynes guilty, he reportedly said out loud in the courtroom, “I didn’t kill that man!”
“Marvin has proclaimed his innocence since day one,” said his sister Marvina Haynes said in Nov. 2023 as the effort to overturn Haynes’ murder conviction reached its conclusion. “There’s nothing linking Marvin to the crime scene. The evidence — they don’t have any.”
The Minneapolis-based Great North Innocence Project led Haynes’ legal challenge for post-conviction relief, arguing in court filings that the original trial relied on “false evidence” from witnesses and “constitutionally defective eyewitness identification evidence.”
Haynes’ attorneys claim that important eyewitness testimony in the case “should have been suppressed because it was the result of highly suggestive identification techniques and was wholly unreliable.” There was no physical evidence linking Haynes to the murder.
Police and prosecutors who worked the case still believe Marvin Haynes was the person who killed Harry Sherer. Former Assistant Hennepin County Attorney Mike Furnstahl, who served as the lead prosecutor during the 2005 trial, said suggestions of Haynes’ innocence are “really a joke.”
“The reason this case is coming back now is not because there’s substantial and compelling evidence that Marvin Haynes is innocent, but rather because political winds are blowing in his favor,” said Furnstahl, who was also the prosecutor in the Myon Burrell case.
“If the judge grants the petition for post-conviction relief, I would make sure the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office files an appeal on it. I wouldn’t let them just stand by and let this guy walk out of prison. Because [Haynes] murdered that man. There was no question in my mind. There was no question in the jurors’ minds.”
A report on the team’s website says current general Manger Derek Falvey will transition to the business side of the Twins’ operation.
MINNEAPOLIS — A tumultuous offseason for the Minnesota Twins is continuing with news the ballclub’s longtime president is stepping down.
Dave St. Peter, Twins President and CEO for 22 years, will leave his position and transition into an advisory role. St. Peter made the announcement to employees throughout the organization Tuesday morning.
St. Peter’s departure will have a domino effect: Current Twins General Manager Derek Falvey will slide from his role supervising the on-field product to the business side of the organization, assuming the job of President-CEO. Assistant GM Jeremy Zoll, who was recently promoted following the departure of Thad Levine, will become General Manager of baseball operations.
All this is happening in the wake of October’s announcement that the Pohlad family is exploring a possible sale of the franchise following a season of payroll cuts and growing fan dissatisfaction.
“Twins fans, players, staff and certainly our family are better for the 35 years that Dave St. Peter has brought his truly one-of-a-kind leadership to our team and community,” said Twins Executive Chairman Joe Pohlad. “I have had the good fortune to work alongside Dave for the past 18 years and experience firsthand how he leads with integrity, compassion and an unmatched dedication to our organization and fans. I will always admire Dave’s commitment to do right by the Twins.”
“Dave St. Peter is a very special person, friend and leader,” added controlling owner Jim Pohlad. “Our family and the Minnesota Twins would not be where we are today without Dave’s skill and lifelong commitment.”
St. Peter started with the Twins as an intern back in 1990 and made his way up the ranks, being named team president in 2002. In a letter to the team’s fanbase, St. Peter said he initiated discussions with the Pohlad family over the past two years to develop a succession plan that would lead the club into a new era.
“While my personal Twins journey has been a dream come true, in recent years I have sensed a calling to explore new professional challenges and a growing desire to spend more time with the people I love the most,” the outgoing St. Peter wrote.
“The Twins have been a central part of my life for longer than I remember, but I find myself at peace with the knowledge I ran the race as best I could. It’s simply time to hand the baton to someone else.”
St. Peter explained in the months to come he will work closely with the Pohlads as they consider a potential sale of the team “and the best possible outcome for this franchise and the fans.”
The Twins are holding an open house event Tuesday at 2 p.m. and will further discuss the team’s leadership transition. KARE 11 will have the latest developments here on the website and broadcast.
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