Star Tribune
Alexandria basketball recruit Chase Thompson signs with Clemson men’s basketball
“I definitely learned a lot of life lessons from both my grandparents and then obviously my dad played growing up too,” he said. “My brother, he was just a huge role model growing up. He kind of paved the way. I got to see it firsthand, you know, throughout his experience, throughout his recruiting, and then just kind of transferred from him to me, and now I’m here.”
“My parents are super supportive. They’re at every game, and they go to Treyton’s games down in Florida, too,” he continued. “Last year, during the state tournament for basketball, they went to my two games, flew to New York, watched his March Madness game, and then flew back that Saturday morning. They’re crazy. They travel everywhere, and they love watching me play.”
Basketball player Chase Thompson, right, and his father Kyle, left, sign a letter of intent to play at Clemson University during a signing day ceremony at Alexandria Area High School in Alexandria, Minn. on Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024. ] LEILA NAVIDI • leila.navidi@startribune.com (Leila Navidi)
The senior will now pivot all of his attention to football. As one of the most talented quarterbacks in the state, he’s leading Alexandria in its quest for the Class 5A state championship. The football team competes in the state semifinals this weekend at U.S. Bank Stadium.
Football was a surprise for the Thompsons. They’re a basketball family.
“Two No. 1 basketball players in one family. That’s something,” said grandpa Richard Thompson, 79, at the signing ceremony Wednesday.
The height comes Richard Thompson, Chase’s grandfather, and Kyle. Both Richard and Kyle played basketball at Glenwood.
The region has been rocked over successive years with allegations of child labor in the all-important meat-packaging industry. In 2023, Downs Food Group — which operates a plant in Madelia — paid $300,000 to settle child labor allegations brought in Watonwan County court. The company disputed those charges.
According to the state’s terms, Smithfield will also put on a 30-minute presentation at an industry event to communicate the importance of child labor compliance. Smithfield is owned by Hong-Kong-based WH Group, the largest pork company in the world.
St. James, a city of 4,793 in south-central Minnesota, has long been a food-processing hub, attracting a sizable immigrant population, including many Hispanic residents, to work in the plants. In 2022, the city website noted Smithfield expanded a parking lot to add 140 jobs as they added three production lines.
BISMARCK, N.D. — Natural gas flares at oil wells sparked two North Dakota wildfires earlier this fall, according to reports from the North Dakota Fire Marshal’s Office.
Investigators concluded that flares combined with high winds and extremely dry weather and started a wildfire near the town of Keene and another near New Town, the Bismarck Tribune reported Thursday. Officials with ConocoPhillips and Hess Corp., which operate the oil wells, say they are still reviewing the reports.
No one was killed or injured in the two fires that both began Oct. 5, but a combined 14 square miles (36.3 square kilometers) were burned, damaging land and livestock.
The fires were among several in northwestern North Dakota in October that burned up to 118,000 square miles (477.6 square km). Two people died and six were injured in other North Dakota wildfires. Agencies are still investigating what caused the other fires.
Flaring is the act of burning off excess natural gas that comes up along with oil. Oil and gas companies are required to flare natural gas from oil wells that cannot be captured or moved — venting natural gas is illegal and creates more pollution than flaring it.
ConocoPhillips spokeswoman Lexey Long said the company is still reviewing the fire investigation report. The company is committed to providing information to the state fire marshal’s office and is working directly with landowners and tenants, Long said in a statement.
”Our focus remains on the safety of our workers, the community and on the protection of the environment,” Long said.
Hess spokeswoman Alison Ritter said the company ”is in the process of reviewing the report” and declined further comment.
A deadline has passed for Hennepin County jail to significantly reduce its inmate population as in response to a state-issued mandate, but it remained more than 120 people over the order’s required population as of Thursday.
“As of right now, we are working to comply with the order and we continue to do everything we can do move people to other facilities,” Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Megan Larson said in an email.
The Minnesota Department of Corrections (DOC) sent the order on Oct. 31 sent , informing the Sheriff’s Office that it must reduce the number of inmates from roughly 850 to 600 by noon on Thursday (Nov. 14). As of Thursday morning, Hennepin County had a slightly larger number of inmates in its system than last week, with roughly 880, but 155 of those inmates have been moved to other counties’ facilities, Larson said. That means 723 inmates are still physically lodged in the jail.
The mandate detailed a variety of violations, saying the jail doesn’t have enough staff on duty and that it isn’t checking on inmates as often as it should. Seven inmates have died in the jail since September 2022, and the DOC found that the Hennepin County Adult Detention Center had violated the state’s rule for regular well-being checks in each of those deaths, according to the state’s order.
Since the order the Sheriff’s Office has worked on getting more agreements with other counties to receive some of Hennepin County’s inmates, Larson said. The county has also worked to move inmates for months before the order, and currently has agreements with five counties and is working on getting a dozen, more according to Larson. “This takes time,” she said.
Sheriff Dawanna Witt previously said the short amount of time made it impossible to meet the deadline. In a Nov. 8 statement, Witt said that parts of the order “contradict both Minnesota law and the DOC’s own standards and training materials.”
“We have raised these concerns repeatedly with the DOC and have offered to meet, but they have not responded to these offers,” Witt said in her statement.
Spokespeople for the DOC did not immediately return calls and emails on Thursday seeking comment on the missed deadline, and whether there would be any punitive action taken by the state.
