Star Tribune
Don’t stop on side of road to rescue animals in distress
A driver on Interstate 694 in Little Canada this week saw five day-old baby wood ducks stuck in a storm drain on the side of the freeway and knew they needed help.
For that motorist, who posted about the incident on Reddit but asked to remain anonymous when reached by the Star Tribune, there was only one thing to do: stop in rush hour traffic, get out of the car and put operation duck rescue in action.
The problem is that’s against the law. It puts both the individual and other drivers at risk of a fatal or serious injury crash, Sgt. Troy Christianson with the Minnesota State Patrol said Friday.
“We totally understand. It’s natural reaction to want to keep wildlife and other animals safe if they’re on or near the road. Nobody wants to see them in danger from passing vehicles,” Christianson said. However: “People should not stop on a freeway or get out of their vehicle to rescue animals. The risk of a crash is too high.”
The motorist stopped on the shoulder of 694 near Rice Street and about 100 feet back from where the ducks were stuck, according to the social media post.
“I never once feared for my life because I parked on the widest part of the shoulder,” the motorist wrote. “I was also able to reach through the grate while staying on the other side of the guard rail. The only time I feared for my safety was when the cops showed up.”
The motorist said police were aggressive and gave her a stern warning to move on.
Brittney Yohannes, communications director for the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center in Roseville, sided with the State Patrol.
“Human safety always comes first,” Yohannes said. “That is a big part of our messaging.”
Drivers who spot animals in distress on city, county or state roads should leave rescues to the professionals. That means calling the local public works or fire department, which will respond in cases where a situation involving animals is having an adverse impact on traffic, Yohannes said.
Motorists also have the option to call 911. The dispatch operator can contact animal control or the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources to respond, Christianson said.
Minnesota law allows for drivers to pull off to the side of the road if they’re having car problems.
“Even then, we recommend people stay buckled up in their vehicle until help arrives,” Christianson said.
The driver who stopped was able to pluck two of the tiny ducks from the drain and get them to the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center, where there have been 87 ducks brought in for treatment this spring.
But these ducks didn’t make it. Yohannes said it’s likely they expended a lot of energy and endured a lot of stress during the ordeal.
Still, the driver posted that she has no regrets.
“I’ve always had a passion for wildlife and will do what I can to help if I see an animal in distress,” she wrote.
Two people from Minnetonka were killed late Friday afternoon when their GMC Suburban ran a stop sign and was struck by a GMC Yukon headed north on Hwy. 169 west of Palisade, Minn.
According to the State Patrol, Marlo Dean Baldwin, 92, and Elizabeth Jane Baldwin, 61, were dead at the scene. The driver of the Suburban, a 61-year-old Minnetonka man, was taken to a hospital with life-threatening injuries.
The Suburban, pulling a trailer, was headed east on Grove Street/County Rd. 3 at about 5:15 p.m. when it failed to stop at Hwy. 169 and was struck by the northbound Yukon. The Yukon then struck two westbound vehicles stopped at the intersection.
Four people from Zimmerman, Minn., in the Yukon, including the driver, were taken to HCMC with life-threatening injuries, while two passengers were treated for non-life-threatening injuries. Three girls in the Yukon ranged in age from 11 to 15.
The drivers of the two vehicles struck by the Yukon were not injured, the State Patrol said. Road conditions were dry at the time of the accident, and alcohol was not believed to have been a factor. All involved in the accident were wearing a seat belt except for Elizabeth Baldwin.
Hill City police and the Aitkin County Sheriff’s Office assisted at the scene.
Amid the cacophony and chaos of the pregame preparation before a recent Minnetonka High School football game, an exceptional group of six girls is gathered together among the school’s deep and talented cheerleading and dance teams.
The cheerleaders, a national championship-winning program of 40 girls, dot the track around the football field. As the clock ticks down to kickoff and their night of choreographed routines begins, the six girls, proudly wearing Minnetonka blue T-shirts emblazoned with “Skippers Nation” and shaking shiny pom-poms, swirl around the track, bristling with excited energy.
Their circumstances are no different from any of the other cheerleaders with one notable exception: The girls on this team have special needs.
They’re members of the Minnetonka Sparklers, a squad of cheerleaders made up solely of girls with special needs.
A football game at Minnetonka High School is an elaborate production. The Skippers’ recent homecoming victory over Shakopee brought an announced crowd of 8,145. And that is just paying attendees; it doesn’t include school staffers, coaches, dance team, marching band, concession workers, media members and others going about their business attached to the game.
The Sparklers program, now in its 12th season, was the brainchild of Marcy Adams, a former Minnetonka cheerleader who initiated the program in her senior year of high school. Adams has been coach of the team since its inception, staying on through her tenure as a cheerleader at the University of Minnesota.
She started the program after experiencing the Unified Sports program at Minnetonka. The unified sports movement at high schools brings together student-athletes with cognitive or physical disabilities and athletes with no disabilities to foster relationships, understanding and compassion through athletics. Many Minnesota schools offer unified sports.
“I grew up in a household that valued students with special needs and valued inclusion,” Adams said. “I saw a need to give to those students. At Minnetonka, we have a strong Unified program, and this was a great opportunity to build relationships and offer mentorship opportunities.”
Elite runners are in a league of their own.
To get a sense of how far ahead elite runners are compared to the rest of us, the Minnesota Star Tribune took a look at how their times compare to the average marathon participant.
The 2022 Twin Cities Marathon men’s winner was Japanese competitor Yuya Yoshida, who ran the marathon in a time of 2 hours, 11 minutes and 28 seconds, for an average speed of 11.96 mph. He averaged 5 minutes and 2 seconds per mile.
That’s more than twice the speed of the average competitor across both the men’s and women’s categories, of 5.89 mph, according to race results site Mtec. The average participant finished in 4 hours, 26 minutes and 56 seconds. That comes out to an average time of 10 minutes and 11 seconds per mile.
And taking it to the most extreme, the fastest-ever marathon runner, Kelvin Kiptum of Kenya, finished the 2023 Chicago Marathon in 2 hours and 35 seconds, for an average pace of about 13 mph. Kiptum averaged 4 minutes and 36 seconds per mile.
Here is a graphic showing these differences in average marathon speed.
