MINNESOTA, USA — Minnesota’s north woods and boundary waters are breathtaking, serene, and remote – a rare place where you can get back to nature. 

But that isolation can be detrimental if something goes wrong, which is where Department of Natural Resources helicopter pilot Grace Zeller comes in.

Her skills were put to the test back in May when Zeller was tasked with saving two canoeists who were badly hurt after their canoe went over a waterfall. 

“My job was to fly the aircraft,” said Zeller. “Everything that happens as a result of that is a benefit.”

She was responding to a call about four people who had gone over Curtain Falls near the Canadian border, including Reis Grams and his friend who, at the time, were still missing. The other two, one of whom was Grams’ brother, were badly hurt.

“I’d say landing remotely in the dark was definitely the most challenging,” said Zeller about the rescue. 

She had to fly from her office in Brainard to the airport in Ely and then another 15 minutes to the scene. The area is surrounded by trees that the helicopter’s rotors had to clear. And if the water level was low enough, landing on rocks was her only option. 

The helicopter weighs about 2,000 pounds. 

“You don’t necessarily need to bring the helicopter all the way out of flight mode, so you’re still hovering, but you’re balanced on something,” said Zeller. “That was a moment I had to take real slow, real careful.”

Zeller made the trip twice to rescue two men, without knowing where the others were. 

“I can’t imagine leaving people still missing,” said Zeller. “I knew that was going to be really hard for the guys.”

She has been flying helicopters for a decade and says she has to stay focused on her job during emotional missions.

“They’re already better off with the helicopter there, so you can’t try to make anything go faster, you can’t try to do anything more than just fly the aircraft,” said Zeller, who was recently recognized for her efforts that day with a lifesaving award from the DNR. 

Grams’ brother has since been recovered and was at the event, along with Reis’ wife. According to the St. Louis County Sheriff’s Office, Reis’ body was found on June 3 – several weeks after the tragedy. 

“It could have been a lot worse situation and it was already bad enough, but things could have spiraled from there, so we’re very fortunate for the rescue effort, from everyone involved, especially Grace,” said Erik Grams. 

Zeller will also be a guest at an event on September 21st called Girls in Aviation which is designed to introduce young women to aviation. It’s at Flying Cloud Airport and will run from 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. at the Jet Lynx private hangar and will offer speakers, exhibitors, educational activities, demonstrations and static displays.

Admission to the event is free, but registration is required. 

MINNEAPOLIS — The Minneapolis City Council has approved three new measures they believe will help prevent and respond to homelessness.

Before voting in Thursday’s regular council meeting, council members discussed homelessness at length – all agreeing it’s a problem but disagreeing at times on approach.

“We’ve declared a public health emergency in the city of Minneapolis yet we’re still falling short,” said council member Emily Koski, who represents Ward 11. 

Among the approved measures, the council gave renters relief by unanimously extending the notification period required for evictions from 14 days to 30 days.

With a veto-proof majority, the council also approved a measure mandating the city to report the cost and effectiveness of clearing out homeless encampments.

And, in a 10 to 3 vote, the council allocated a $1.5 million grant using contingency funds to Agate Housing and Services.

The money is to help fix up one of its downtown shelters after the nonprofit last month announced it would need to permanently close the site because conditions were unsafe but too expensive to rehab.  The facility, at 510 South 8th St, offers a 42-bed shelter program and a 95-bed board and lodge program.

During the meeting, Ward 4 council member Latrisha Vetaw said she wants the city to help Agate but questioned the timing.

“This decision was made swiftly,” Vetaw said. “I also don’t see this as an emergency. I think we have time. This is a construction project.”

Council member Aurin Chowdhury, Ward 12, addressed concerns raised over the grant’s impact on various city departments’ budgets.

“While we’re taking from a projected surplus, this isn’t eliminating the entire surplus,” Chowdhury said. “There’s still projected surplus within these departments.”

The grant is contingent upon Agate securing at least $1.5 million in matching funds by the end of next year. A spokesperson sent a statement in response, telling KARE 11 they are thrilled about the vote.

“We are thrilled about and grateful for the City Council’s vote today. Ten Councilmembers stepped up to save the 510 building and its housing. Our next steps are to find the matching funds required by the City’s gift and get an updated and thorough assessment of the building’s needs. We don’t have all the answers yet, and cannot say with certainty that the building will reopen, but we’re much closer to that happy result.”

Meanwhile, Mayor Jacob Frey expressed frustration with council members who have been bashing his response to what many are calling a crisis.

“Several City Council members are trying to prevent the closure of encampments through advocacy, activism, and soon-to-come policy changes,” Frey wrote in a statement released Wednesday following two murders and a shooting at three encampments. “This is irresponsible.”

In a council-led press conference following the regular meeting, council vice president Aisha Chughtai said the amount of unsheltered people has only increased under the Frey Administration.

“Six years ago, Mayor Frey promised to end homelessness,” Chughtai said. “The Frey Administration says no to every solution that we are proposing.”

The mayor sent a new statement Thursday, telling KARE 11 that Chughtai’s increased homelessness claim is untrue, as “unsheltered homelessness is down 24% in Hennepin County.” He also emphasized the dangers of encampments, pointing out his directive to have city staff expedite closures.

“The ordinance passed by Council includes a majority of items the City is already doing. What it doesn’t do is address the fact that encampments are dangerous and inhumane. While the Council is focused on procedural tweaks and making it harder to close encampments, my administration is focused on expanding access to shelter, combating the fentanyl epidemic, and continuing our nation-leading affordable housing work,” said Frey.

MINNEAPOLIS — To fix what city leaders call a dangerous intersection, officials in Little Canada have proposed the reconfiguration of a frontage road near I-35E, although some residents and business owners are pushing back against the plan.

The proposal, which would total more than $10 million from various funding sources, is in the early stages. However, according to a preliminary design presented to the city council last month, a stretch of Country Drive near the highway would be moved about a block west, with a new roundabout implemented to redirect traffic northbound.

City Administrator Chris Heineman said the intersection near I-35E, Country Drive and Little Canada Road is an “area of conflict.” Citing a high rate of crashes, including two recent ones involving bikes, he said drivers are often confused by the double stoplight and sharp turn from the I-35E off-ramp onto the frontage road. 

“This has been a difficult intersection for many, many years,” Heineman said. “There are both vehicle and traffic issues at this intersection, that have been really increasing over the years.”

The plan would still need city council approval, and if the project is given the green light, construction wouldn’t start until 2026.

However, opposition against the proposal has formed from some businesses and residents in the area, because of the proposed roundabout that would straddle properties including a condominium complex and a longtime bar. 

The bar, known as Gordies Place, has been operating in Little Canada since 1936. Calling the establishment a “generational bar,” Gordies general manager Kim Battisto said the proposed roundabout would have a major impact on the business, since it would cut through the back of the property where they hold bags competitions. 

According to Battisto, Gordies has the largest bags league in the Twin Cities.

“The City of Little Canada, they think that’s okay, that we’d still be able to operate, but we would not,” Battisto said. “These outdoor games are our lifeblood for the summer. That’s what gets us through the summer months.”

Meanwhile, at the Fleur Royale Condominiums, Board of Directors member Bruce Bester said the project would severely impact the quality of life on a “24-7” basis, due to noise and light from the roundabout near their condos.

He acknowledged that the nearby intersection needs to be fixed to improve safety, but said it shouldn’t come at the cost of the condo residents. He proposed a different solution to create a dead-end on the existing Country Road, which he said would save the city money.

“Fleur Royale, Gordies, and the city – we all want to act as partners and get this thing fixed,” Bester said.

Chris Heineman, the city administrator, said he’s sensitive to concerns from residents and business owners. He said the city, county and state explored other options for the interchange near I-35E, but that none of those other plans were seen as feasible by all parties. 

He said the city is negotiating with property owners about the early design plans.

“It is still a very preliminary proposal,” Heineman said, “so yes, we are still vetting other options.”