Star Tribune
Park redo threatening to displace youth baseball in Fridley has advocates crying foul
Supporters of youth baseball in Fridley are hoping for a ninth-inning rally as they attempt to save diamonds slated to disappear as part of a multi-million dollar park renovation project.
Though plans to redo Commons Park have been in the works for more than two years and approved by the city’s Parks and Recreation Commission, officials with the Fridley Youth Sports Association (FSYA) say it was just a few months ago they learned their baseball fields would be sacrificed to rebuild an existing building to provide indoor programming and add an ice rink and splash pad.
“We were never clear how finalized the plans were,” said Jason Karsten, FYSA’s president. “They came out with a menu of options of what you want to see in a park. They never said what you’d have to give up.”
A grassroots community group called Save Our Sports (SOS) has joined FYSA’s push to preserve their fields and quash a plan that would shift many games to nearby Community Park. That plan is unfeasible, says SOS co-chairman Jake Karnopp, because those fields have no lights, are used by adult softball teams and would force baseball to compete with youth soccer teams, which also use the ballfields almost every day of the week.
“We will have groups of kids not have a place to play,” Karnopp said. “It will decimate our program.”
SOS members plan to attend Monday’s City Council meeting to make their case.
Fridley is in the midst of an ambitious $30 million effort to remake 28 of its 39 parks, and this year is completing an upgrade at Moore Lake Park with the large project at Commons Park up next. The city in 2021 surveyed residents when it kicked off its Park System Improvement Plan, and formed a task force to learn what amenities they want. A splash pad and an inclusive playground ranked as some of their top desires, said Mayor Scott Lund.
Karnopp said it’s hard to argue with the survey results and agrees that adding the amenities the residents want would be good for the city. But not at the expense of baseball and FYSA’s seven teams composed of about 170 players in T-ball through eighth grade.
The city does not offer youth athletics as part of its parks and recreation program. FYAS has filled that void since the 1970s.
Karnopp and Karsten claim their concerns have fallen on deaf ears, and say they were told as recently as January that plans for Commons Park were still in the planning stages.
At a Feb. 12 City Council Meeting, Mayor Lund said he wants to see Fridley parks better utilized and have a diverse array of activities.
“It’s not supposed to be just a picnic park. It’s not just supposed to be a ballpark. We want to make it more diverse so people can use it year-round,” the mayor said.
In the months that followed, Lund said the city has stepped to the plate and has even offered $600,000 to go toward putting three basic fields without dugouts, lights or a concession stand on property owned by the Fridley Public Schools. That arrangement has not been approved by the school district, said Parks and Recreation Director Mike Maher.
The city has also spent $25,000 in recent months redoing plans trying to accommodate baseball, the mayor said.
The flap over baseball fields comes as the city learned it may have to shrink the size of the proposed building at Commons Park as costs have risen by $750,000. The entire Commons Park project is projected to cost between $8 million and $12 million.
“Why should we spend $600,000 when we have to downsize our project,” Lund said. “They do not appreciate what we are trying to do at the 11th hour. It’s unfair to say we are not listening to the community. That is a very false statement.”
Lund said the Commons Park project needs to go out for bid this year so the project can start on schedule in 2025, meaning final decisions have to be made soon.
Karstens said he’s hopeful the city will see the value in retaining baseball fields at Commons Park or fully foot the bill to upgrade school fields.
“It (baseball) was something dying in popularity a few years ago, but it’s now on the rebound, and kids are excited about playing,” Karstens said. “Fridley is not a hockey town, but we’d have more rinks than baseball fields. There is a great need for them.”
Star Tribune
Minnesota Fallen Firefighters honors Burnsville’s Adam Finseth, others who died in line of duty
At the lectern, Albertville fire chief Eric Bullen, who serves as president of the Minnesota State Fire Chiefs Association, reminded those in attendance why the day had been dedicated to remembering the fallen with all the trappings of dress uniforms and flags and bagpipes and bugles.
“The men and women whose names appear in the steel behind me are not simply coworkers in a common field, and they certainly didn’t die of routine causes,” Bullen said. “Each one took an oath to place their life on the line for your benefit, the benefit of the communities they serve, and the benefit of the partners who counted on them. And each one paid the ultimate price for their commitment to run towards what most people want run away from.”
Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan addressed the crowd to express gratitude for all first responders’ daily work — and for their support networks. “Long after the funerals, and after that last plate of lasagna is brought over, we must take up the cause to never take for granted the sacrifice that is borne by the families and loved ones,” she said.
Several of those family members then received memorial flags on behalf of the five honored firefighters.
Finseth, a 40-year-old Army veteran, husband, and father, was recognized as an even-keeled natural leader whose warmth and concern lifted others up. The firefighter and medic died when his SWAT team was engaged in a standoff with a man who shot Finseth as he rendered aid.
The names of two Deputy State Fire Marshals killed in the line of duty, Lloyd Conley, Sr., in 1921, and Arthur Clark, Sr., in 1913, had been lost to history before an archivist found them. Schroeder, the deputy state fire marshal inspector, discovered the two men and then tracked down their descendants to share what he’d found.
Star Tribune
Israeli airstrikes kill dozens across Lebanon as Hezbollah confirms a 7th top commander was killed
JERUSALEM — Israeli airstrikes across Lebanon killed dozens of people on Sunday as the Hezbollah militant group sustained a string of deadly blows to its command structure, including the killing of its overall leader, Hassan Nasrallah.
Hezbollah confirmed Nabil Kaouk, the deputy head of the militant group’s Central Council, was killed Saturday, making him the seventh senior Hezbollah leader slain in Israeli strikes in a little over a week. They include founding members who had evaded death or detention for decades.
Hezbollah had earlier confirmed that Ali Karaki, another senior commander, died in Friday’s strike that killed Nasrallah. Israel says at least 20 other Hezbollah militants were killed, including two close associates of Nasrallah, one of whom was in charge of his security detail.
Meanwhile, Israeli warplanes and drones carried out deadly strikes across Lebanon on Sunday. Two consecutive strikes near the southern city of Sidon, about 45 kilometers (28 miles) south of Beirut, killed at least 32 people, the Lebanese health ministry said. Separately, Israeli strikes in the northern province of Baalbek Hermel killed 21 people and injured at least 47.
The Israeli military said it also carried out another targeted strike on Beirut, but did not immediately provide details.
Lebanese media reported dozens of strikes in the central, eastern and western Bekaa and in the south, besides strikes on Beirut. The strikes have targeted buildings where civilians were living and the death toll was expected to rise.
In a video of a strike in Sidon, verified by The Associated Press, a building swayed before collapsing as neighbors filmed. One TV station called on viewers to pray for a family caught under the rubble, posting their pictures, as rescuers failed to reach them. The Lebanese health ministry reported at least 14 medics were killed over two days in the south.
Meanwhile, wreckage from the strike on Friday that killed Nasrallah was still smoldering. AP journalists saw smoke over the rubble as people flocked to the site, some to check on what was left of their homes and others to pay respects, pray or simply to see the destruction.
CONYERS, Ga. — Some residents east of Atlanta were evacuated while others were told to shelter in place to avoid contact with a chemical plume after a fire at a chemical plant.
Rockdale County Fire Chief Marian McDaniel told reporters that a sprinkler head malfunctioned around 5 a.m. Sunday at the BioLab plant in Conyers. That caused water to mix with a water-reactive chemical, which produced a plume of chemicals. The chief said she wasn’t sure what chemicals were included.
A small roof fire was initially contained, but reignited Sunday afternoon, Sheriff Eric Levett said in a video posted on Facebook as gray smoke billowed into the sky behind him. He said authorities were trying to get the fire under control and urged people to stay away from the area.
People in the northern part of Rockdale County were ordered to evacuate and others were told to shelter in place with windows and doors closed. Sheriff’s office spokesperson Christine Nesbitt did not know the number of people evacuated.
The federal Environmental Protection Agency and the Georgia Environmental Protection Division were both on site, county Emergency Management Director Sharon Webb said. The agencies are monitoring the air ”to give us more of an idea of what the plume consists of.”
McDaniel said crews were working on removing the chemical from the building, away from the water source. Once the product is contained, the situation will be assessed and officials will let residents know whether it is safe to return to their homes, she said.
An evacuation center was opened at Wolverine Gym in Covington.
