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Bloomington group works to honor veterans for Memorial Day
“Very proud of him, 16 years is a long time, and now we see this,” said Mary Wento.
BLOOMINGTON, Minn. — For veteran Mary Wento, it’s a somber day as volunteers place flags on the graves of fallen service members at Fort Snelling National Cemetery.
“It hurts, people don’t understand what they gave,” said Wento. “My son James – he was a staff sergeant and he served 16 years.”
His grave now sits in this cemetery after he was killed in a training accident overseas in 2021.
“I haven’t even started grieving yet,” she said.
Like Mary, Dardis is a veteran, who has now made it his mission to honor those who made the ultimate sacrifice.
“I served in the US Army in Vietnam, I was wounded in combat,” said Michael Dardis.
Dardis is the president of Bloomington Remembers Veterans, which is fundraising to build a new memorial on the east lawn of the City’s Civic Plaza. It will be one of the first of its kind featuring new technology, along with mental health resources for veterans and all who visit.
Along the landscape barrier will be six arching threads, each representing a branch of the military.
Symbolic metal dog tags identifying Bloomington Veterans will name the serviceman or woman, their service branch and years of service, and some additional information you wouldn’t expect to find at a memorial.
Each dog tag will have a QR code etched into it that leads people who take a picture of it with their phones to a special tribute website.
“There’s a feeling I have for veterans and the sacrifice, and that’s reflected in the design,” said Dardis. “That’s what this memorial is all about regardless of the war, we want your service to be recognized.”
As volunteers place flags down one-by-one back at Fort Snelling.
“Very proud of him, 16 years is a long time, and now we see this,” said Mary Wento.
It’s a time to remember and celebrate the sacrifices of the men and women who have served, and their families. “I’m not the only mother who lost their child, but today is the day you say thank you for what you served, my heart goes out to all of these people and their families,” she said.
To learn more about Flags for Fort Snelling, visit the link here.
Learn more about donating or volunteering for the project at BloomingtonVeteransMemorial.org, or by contacting Mike Dardis, Vice President of Bloomington Remembers Veterans Inc. He can be reached at 952-888-3479 or via e-mail at m1dardis@hotmail.com.
The organizers hope to have the memorial in place by the Fall of 2024.
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With a 17-member jury finally seated after an arduous selection process, the prosecution and defense on Thursday took the first step in building their cases.
MANKATO, Minn. — With an arduous jury selection process finally in the rearview mirror, both prosecutors and the defense began laying out their cases Thursday in the murder trial of Adam Fravel.
Fravel is charged with four felony counts – first-degree murder, first-degree premeditated murder, second-degree intentional murder, and second-degree unintentional murder while committing a felony offense – in the death of 26-year-old Maddi Kingsbury, his live-in partner and mother of Favel’s two children.
Kingsbury was last seen dropping her young son and daughter off at daycare in Winona the morning of March 31, 2023. She was reported missing by family and friends later that day. Maddi’s decomposing remains were found south of Winona 68 days later. The medical examiner eventually concluded she died of homicidal violence, likely asphyxiation.
Opening statements began shortly after 9 a.m. in Blue Earth County District Court, chosen as the venue after Judge Nancy Buytendorp ruled Fravel’s trial should be moved from Winona County due to extensive pre-trial publicity.
The state was the first to address the jury panel, with prosecutor Phil Prokopowicz immediately painting a picture of Maddi as a successful career woman and mother who had become increasingly frustrated with Fravel and his inability to contribute as their seven-year relationship crumbled.
Prokopowicz told jurors that Kingsbury had met a man, Spencer Sullivan, on a dating app and as their relationship grew Maddi decided to end her partnership with Fravel. Kingsbury contacted her landlord and said she was terminating the least, and that she had found a townhouse where she and the children would live.
The state also laid out a list of electronic and video evidence it says proves Fravel killed Maddi and engaged in an elaborate coverup, also indicating there will be testimony on alleged abuse in the relationship.
Fravel’s defense team began its opening statement with a geography lesson of sorts, with attorney Zach Bauer naming Winona and the small communities of Rushford, Choice, Mable, and the highways and county roads that run through them. Bauer asked jurors to think about the locations as they listen to testimony and absorb the evidence presented in Fravel’s trial.
The defense then began painting its own picture of the relationship between Fravel and Kingsbury, saying like many couples they had disagreements and there were times Maddi would move out the home and other times when Fravel would go home to stay with his parents.
Unlike prosecutors – who said Kingsbury’s relationship with Spencer Sullivan was getting deeper – the defense told jurors about texts from Maddi to her sister saying she was going to marry Adam Fravel. Ultimately, Bauer told the court, Kingsbury and Fravel agreed to separate but were doing so in a cooperative and planned manner.
Bauer told jurors that Fravel cooperated with police after Kingsbury disappeared, saying his defense team would show that investigators ignored evidence and facts that suggested his innocence. He indicated they will challenge the prosecution’s version of how and where the body was found, and who may have had access to the remote site not far from Mabel.
The defense also said they will call a neighbor who will testify they never heard any fighting or signs of discord in the relationship between Kingsbury and Fravel.
The 16-year-old girl was last seen in September in north Minneapolis.
MINNEAPOLIS — The Anoka County Sheriff’s Office is asking for the public’s help to find a missing teenage girl.
The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) shared Thursday on X that 16-year-old Tivona Cardenas was last seen in late September in north Minneapolis.
Cardenas is 5 feet 2 inches and 108 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes, according to the Minnesota BCA.
If you have any information on the teen’s whereabouts, call 911.
St. Paul’s Harriet Island will host the event Sunday to raise money for colon cancer awareness and screenings.
ST PAUL, Minn. — St. Paul’s Harriet Island will host runners, walkers and supporters on Sunday for the 20th annual Get Your Rear in Gear event.
The fundraiser boosts money and awareness for colon cancer and the importance of screening for it. Attendees can enjoy music, snacks, a giant inflatable colon, timed 10K and 5K races, untimed 5K and one-mile memory walk and a Kids’ Fun Run.
Chris Evans, the president of the Colon Cancer Coalition, and William Pierce, a caregiver who lost his mom to colorectal cancer, visited KARE 11 News at Noon to share more about the event and the importance of screening.
According to the American Cancer Society, about 2,550 Minnesota residents will be diagnosed and 830 could lose their life to colon cancer in 2024.
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