Sports on any level is never dull. However, professional sports continues to leave me “confuzzled,” as the kids say. Take the Houston Astros “apology tour” press conference they held to start off their spring training to address their sign-stealing scandal. Or WAS it a scandal?
Stealing Signs scandal and the “apology”
Straight from the horse’s mouth right here. Fast forward to about 2:25.
I can remember standing in a batter’s box in both high school (South Dakota calls it American Legion baseball) and amateur games in my youth. I’ll just come out and say it point blank. I would have LOVED to know what pitch is coming. Yes, you still have to put the bat on the ball. I understand it’s one of the hardest things to do in all of sports. But you can’t tell me for one second that knowing what was coming wouldn’t SUBSTANTIALLY improve the odds of at least making solid contact?
Look, I’ll admit I’m not the most perceptive person the Good Lord ever decided to put on this Earth (my wife is currently laughing hard at that statement). How’s that for honesty? Help me out. Were the Astros apologizing for doing something wrong? After all, the reporter in the video clip asked Crane about “cheating.” Crane’s response? Call it “whatever you want.” Seriously? You can’t even use the word “cheating?”
Sounds like someone was apologizing for getting caught. And I don’t think I’m off on that at all. If it “didn’t make any difference in our games,” as you say, then why keep doing it?
Minnesota Wild
Okay, let’s dive into this a little bit. The Wild fired their head coach, which didn’t surprise too many people. I think that’s a relatively safe statement. However, only in Minnesota do we make coaching changes when the team is PLAYING WELL? Seven wins in your last ten games to put you right outside a playoff spot? Here’s a video of the press conference from KAAL TV in Rochester.
I get that Bruce wasn’t coming back. Having watched multiple games over the course of his almost four years here, the guy did an amazing job considering what management gave him to work with. And the new head coach is some guy named Dean Eveson? That’s an improvement over a coach that’s won more than 500 games?
Good luck, coach. His first interview with the St. Paul Pioneer Press has him preaching accountability among the Wild players? I’m honestly not sure some of the older veterans know the meaning of the word. Let’s start with my old buddy, Ryan Suter.
Sports news never ceases to amaze me. Just as their climbing back into the playoffs, the Wild decide to fire Bruce Boudreau? Seriously? He’s one of the least of their problems.
Ryan Suter, who I’ve had a problem with almost since he walked in the door, and Zach Parise are both an albatross to the organization because of their ridiculous contracts (thank you, Chuck Fletcher). However, at least Zach plays hard. Suter looks disinterested to me on the ice. I hope I’m wrong. Oh well, at least he gets paid a lot, right?
Would it be a good thing for this middling franchise to make the playoffs this year? They need a serious influx of young talent that can score goals consistently. They also need a number one goalie. God bless Devyn Dubnyk. I can’t imagine trying to go through the grind of an NHL season worried about the health of your wife and the future of your family. On the ice, however, he looks distracted. I’d like to see Stalock take his spot, at least for the rest of the year.
Oh well. You don’t have to agree with me. Just venting.
Wild Hockey reporter Kevin Gorg interviews Minnesota goalie Devan Dubnyk during the intermission of a recent hockey game. (Photo from Pinterest.com)
Wild hockey, or any hockey, for that matter. You can hear the passion for the sport in the voice of Kevin Gorg, a hockey analyst for Fox Sports North. He was a recent guest on the Minnesota Sports Weekly podcast, a voice we hadn’t heard in a while. Gorg wished he could be talking about the Wild under better circumstances.
“Unfortunately, the season is not going the way we want for
the Minnesota Wild,” he admitted ruefully. “There is still time to get it
turned around. Things were very promising from November through December of
last year, but January has not been kind so far.”
Struggling in the new year
Minnesota was one of the highest-scoring teams in the
National Hockey League from November through December when they didn’t lose a
lot. What happened? First of all, Gorg said no one close to the team saw a
stretch of hockey like that coming from a team built from the defensive zone on
out.
“It’s not a case of the team not being able to score goals,”
he said. “Those of us who cover the team thought if they were to make the
playoffs, it would be with solid goaltending and good defense. The firepower up
front doesn’t match up with some of the elite teams in the NHL. We thought they
could defend, we’ve loved their blue line, and the goaltending’s been good for
years.
“That’s what caught us by surprise,” he said. “They were
outscoring teams. If you look at who the Minnesota Wild really is, that wasn’t
a sustainable way of doing things. Now, goal-scoring has run dry and the team
is having to play from behind, which makes things worse. You saw that the other
night during a (7-2) loss at Pittsburgh.”
It’s difficult in the NHL, the highest level of professional
hockey, to always be down a goal or two and playing from behind. Compounding
that during the recent game at Pittsburgh was the fact that the Penguins were
welcoming back their team captain and top goal scorer, Sidney Crosby. Could the
timing have been any more unfortunate for the Wild?
“He’d been out for nine weeks,” Gorg said. I could almost see him shaking his head even though Gorg was on the phone. “For anyone that knows hockey, he’s a hero in that town. The crowd was amped up, the team was amped up, and Crosby got going. You thought there’d be a little rust there, but no, he put up four points in that game.”
Here’s a few high, er, lowlights from the Wild hockey game at Pittsburgh.
Back to Basics
Teams that hit a losing skid tend to try to do too much to get
off the slide. Players will try to overcompensate and their desire to play
outside of their roles can make things even worse. Gorg, a lifelong hockey fan
and one-time coach, talked about how the Wild get out of their current run of
non-winning hockey.
“They just need to get back to basics,” he said right away. “They’re
not going to outscore people. Maybe that run of high-scoring hockey late last
year got in their heads a bit. They’ve got to be a lot more responsible in
their defensive zone, a better back-checking team, they’ve got to take fewer
penalties, and be much better on the penalty kill.”
Starting goaltender Devan Dubnyk has been carrying quite a load this year. He missed a month of the season because of his wife’s serious health problems and recently came back to take his place between the pipes. Gorg says the Wild’s top goalie is hanging in there through his family challenges.
“He’s got to be a rock back there, along with (backup goalie)
Alex Stalock,” Gorg said. “If you look at the defensemen in front of them, this
core is as good as any you’ll find in the NHL, especially when you talk about
the top four. However, they haven’t played that way.
“The forwards have to be better in the offensive zone,” he
added. “This team has to win games 3-2, rather than 5-4. Score early and play
good defense. We don’t have pure scorers like Crosby on the roster. We do have
Zach Parise (16 goals, 28 points), who’s on pace for 30 goals, Jason Zucker (12
goals despite just coming back from a broken leg), who should score 25-30
goals, and a guy like Eric Staal (16 goals, 33 points), who’s on pace to score
25-30 goals.”
Young players
That core of young players is what will likely put the Wild
into the playoffs if they can raise their level of play. Guys like Kevin Fiala,
Jordan Greenway, Joel Eriksson Ek, and Ryan Donato all have to elevate their games.
So far, it’s just been Fiala (9 goals, 17 assists) that’s taken that step, with
Gorg calling him a potential “25-30-goal scorer.”
The guy many hockey fans are most curious (and maybe
concerned) about is Jordan Greenway (5 goals, 11 assists). The one-time U.S. Olympian
has been a bit of an enigma. Six-foot-six inches tall off his skates, the big left-winger
can look like a freight train on skates, but many times simply disappears in
long stretches.
“Last year was his first full season of professional hockey,” Gorg recalled. Between Iowa and the Wild, he played over 100 games last year. You’d think that foundation would have him set up for bigger and better things this year. We’ve seen the flashes. For a guy his size, he’s got really good hands and offensive instincts. He just can’t stretch it out four or five games. But, you don’t give up on a guy that size.”
Buyers or Sellers?
One interesting topic is the trade deadline, which is coming up on Feb. 24. Will the Wild be buyers or sellers? As of right now, it’s not looking like they’ll be buying under new General Manager Bill Guerin.
“Eight points out of a playoff spot in the standings, I think that’s still to be determined,” Gorg said. “I’m impressed with Guerin’s patience. That may be because he’s already got four Stanley Cups in his pocket, two coming as a player.”
College football recruiting is quite a process, both for players and coaching staffs. A Spring Grove, Minnesota, high school standout had played his first year of college ball for the University of Minnesota-Crookston and very unexpectedly found himself going through the process a second time. Here’s what it looked like when the news first broke late last year.
Spring Grove native Alex Folz enjoyed a successful first
season of college football at the University of Minnesota-Crookston in 2019.
After getting significant playing time as a freshman for the NCAA Division 2
level Golden Eagles, Folz was into offseason workouts and studies when he got the
news that no college athlete expects. He wouldn’t be playing football for
Crookston again.
The school had decided to ax its football program due to “budget concerns.” Folz was left without a team to play for, decided to open himself up to the college football recruiting process once again, and found a new team to play for. This time around, it’s going to be a much-bigger road trip from Spring Grove to his new home. The Spring Grove high school standout is now a member of the Eastern New Mexico State University Greyhounds football team. Why decide to join the team in Portales, New Mexico?
“The first few days of looking for colleges generated some interest from NAIA schools, NCAA Division 3 schools, but nothing that big,” Folz recalled. “I had a couple of offers from NCAA Division 2 schools in southern states like West Virginia. I sent some film out to Eastern New Mexico and by the fourth day of my college football recruiting process, the head coach (Kelley Lee) sent me an email saying he loved my film and thought I’d be a good fit there.
Spring Grove native Alex Folz, shown here as a freshman playing for the University of Minnesota-Crookston, found himself going through college football recruiting for a second time after Crookston decided to cut it’s football program after the 2019 season. (Contributed photo)
“Coach said they might even have opportunities for me to do
more things than just offense, which I loved doing at Spring Grove and did at
Crookston,” he added. “The recruiting coordinator called to talk to me, and
they eventually gave me a pretty nice scholarship.”
He began to look into the team and program, including their
facilities and liked what he saw. Folz said the multiple coaches he talked to
“seemed nice.” Appropriately enough for the social media age, Folz followed
several of the Greyhounds’ players on Twitter, who all seemed to enjoy what
they were doing down in New Mexico.
“I thought to myself ‘is this what I really want?’,” he
recalled with a laugh. “Minnesota is great, and I have family here, but it’s
got to be nice to live in warmer weather and get out to explore the U.S. a
little bit.”
Folz admits that the whole “re-recruiting” process ended a
little quicker than he thought it would.
The highly decorated high school player had a successful
first year with the Crookston program, more so on a personal level than in
terms of team success (0-11). He felt the team had something building as a member
of a large recruiting class for the Northern Sun Conference school. The team
was doing offseason conditioning work when they got notified of an “emergency
team meeting” out of the blue.
“I’d just finished class and was sitting with one of my
roommates when he got a phone call saying a friend had heard the football team
was getting cut,” Folz said. “The friend on the phone knew someone at St. Cloud
State that had a meeting at the same time and their program also got cut. We
initially thought it was just rumors and nothing like that would happen.”
However, after scrolling through social media reports and
other online articles, Folz and his teammates slowly started to think there
might well be bad news coming. A lot of his teammates had no idea what they
were going to do if it was true because this was the only place they could play
while going to school.
“Our coaches came into the meeting room and sat at the back,
which is not something they normally do,” he recalled. “The Chancellor (Mary
Holz-Clause) stepped up to the microphone and told us she was sorry we had to
find out the way we did because they wanted to news to come straight from the administration.
She also said, ‘as of today, we’re cutting the football program.’
“You could see it in the faces of every guy in the room,”
Folz added. “The look in their eyes said, ‘are you kidding me?’”
What Folz didn’t appreciate was the fact that Holz-Clause
told the team they’ve been trying to cut the football team for the previous 18
months. “That’s what got me,” he said emphatically. “Our coaches found out just
ten minutes before she told us (on Dec. 10). Why couldn’t they have told us as
soon as the season ended (Nov. 16)?”
That meant more than 60 players had to find new colleges by
spring. That’s when coaches typically want their new players enrolled so they
can get to know the team and practice in the spring. That left them less than a
month to find a new home.
And, the school wasn’t prepared to offer a lot of extra help to the students. Folz said athletes who had questions could ask and they’d try to assist them. However, the former Golden Eagle football players were on their own in the college football recruiting process.
From a personal perspective, Folz was disappointed because he had a successful freshman season.
Spring Grove, Minnesota, native Alex Folz is shown here carrying the ball for the University of Minnesota-Crookston football team. Crookston decided to cut its program after the 2019 season, forcing Folz to undergo college football recruiting a second time. (Contributed photo)
“I started the season playing on all four of the special
teams’ units,” he said. “I was also a running back. As the season went on, I
took over the punting job, returned kicks, and was on the punt return and
kickoff teams. Halfway through the season, I moved from running back to slot
receiver just because their numbers were low at the position.”
The former high school quarterback also took snaps as the
backup quarterback in practice, just in case of an emergency.
The biggest adjustment to college sports came in the
classroom. He said Friday and Saturday were his busiest days for football. “That
meant you couldn’t be as much of a typical college kid the rest of the week,”
he said. “You really have to take your time to study and get your homework
done. When all that’s done, you still have to pay attention to the game of
football. It’s a big time-balancing exercise.”
Folz is heading out for New Mexico on Jan. 8, will move into
his apartment, and then have a couple of days to adjust to the new
surroundings. School starts on Jan. 13. Folz is leaving familiar surroundings
and heading almost 1,150 miles from home. What’s the first thing that comes to
mind when he thinks about the distance?
“I’m really excited,” he said after some thought. “I’ve
always wanted to get out and see the country. The only thing I’m nervous about
is meeting new teammates. We had a close brotherhood at Crookston. I felt as
though I could have gone to any of the players or coaches with anything. I’m
hoping all those guys down there will be the same way and I’m sure they will.
“We all just want to play football,” he said with a laugh.
SEC Showcase. Just a cool name for a great day of watching high school basketball. The first-ever Southeast Conference Showcase in Rochester, Minnesota, featured a full slate of basketball games featuring every team in the league. I went down to Rochester from the Twin Cities to specifically take in the Kingsland vs. Mabel-Canton boys’ and girls basketball games.
Kingsland won the girls’ game 53-43. The Kingsland boys made it a sweep, beating the M-C boys 53-49.
Here’s a few video highlights from both games, with the articles and pictures down below.
SEC ShowcaseGirls’ Game
The Knights came out firing early in the game and ran off 11-straight points to start the game before Mabel-Canton would score their first points. All-SEC standout Payton Danielson gave the Cougars their first two baskets of the game, the first coming with 13:38 left in the first half.
The Kingsland and Mabel-Conference game featured a couple of solid guards. All-conference guard Payton Danielson of Mabel-Canton (in blue) brings the ball up the floor, where Alyssa Link of Kingsland awaits to play defense. (Photo by Chad Smith)
The Cougars would knock that Kingsland lead down to 15-11
with 9:18 left in the period. M-C stretched its scoring run to 15-8 with five
minutes to go in the half. The Knights kept their lead around four points over
the final minutes of the first half, leading 21-17 with four minutes to go.
Kingsland would head into the halftime locker room with a 26-22 lead. However, most of the half belonged to Mabel-Canton, who outscored the Knights 22-15 after being down 11-0 early in the game.
The Kingsland girls came out firing in the second half, going on a 10-4 run to take a 36-26 lead six minutes into the second half. The Knights stretched their scoring run to 15-6. Leading by double-digits at 41-30 with 10 minutes on the clock. But Mabel-Canton still wouldn’t go away.
Lauren Wyffels of Mabel-Canton looks to inbound the basketball during their matchup with Kingsland at the SEC Showcase in Rochester. The Knights won the game 53-43. (Photo by Chad Smith)
The Cougars whittled the Kingsland lead down to four points
(42-38) with 4:35 left. It was 42-40 Kingsland when MaKenzie Kelly of
Mabel-Canton hit a free throw to tie the game at 42-all with 3:34 left.
However, Alyssa Link of Kingsland answered with a big three-point basket.
It was 46-42 Knights with 2:15 to go. Link hit a couple of
big free throws late to make it a 50-42 Knights’ lead with 25 seconds left.
Anika Reiland hit free throws to stretch the Kingsland lead to 53-42 with five
seconds left. A Danielson free throw for M-C made it a 53-43 final.
Link, who looks completely healthy and is playing without a
brace after recovering from a serious knee injury last season, led the team
with a double-double, getting a team-best 15 points and pulling down 11 boards.
She had three big three-pointers and went three of four at the free-throw line
in the second half, coming up with big points in clutch time. But she had help
on the perimeter as well.
Sam Wernimont finished with 13 points, hitting three shots
from outside the arc in the first half. Meredith Farlinger provided scoring in
the paint, finishing with another double-double of 12 points and 14 rebounds.
Free throws were huge for Kingsland in the second half, when
they made 12 of their 16 attempts (75%). It was a marked improvement from the
first half when the Knights were just three of 10 at the stripe.
On the defensive end of the floor, Kingsland finished with
six steals (Wernimont 2, Audrey Webster 2) and nine blocked shots (Farlinger
4).
SECBoys’ Game
The SEC Showcase game tipped off in the Mayo Civic Center and points were slow in coming for both teams. The Knights trailed just 4-3 with five-and-a-half minutes off the first-half clock. Just over two minutes later, Brayden Gjere of Mabel-Canton grabbed an offensive rebound and landed a put-back shot to give the Cougars an 8-7 lead with 12:16 to go in the first half.
The Kingsland Knights boys’ basketball team is shown here warming up for their SEC Showcase matchup with Mabel-Canton in the Mayo Civic Arena, right in downtown Rochester. The Knights won the game 53-49. (Photo by Chad Smith)
The Knights trailed 10-9 when Luke Howard drained a
three-pointer to make it a 12-10 Knights’ lead with 7:23 left in the half.
However, the Cougars’ Reid Crawford answered with a trey of his own to give MC
the lead back at 15-14 with six minutes on the clock.
Both teams were settling into the neutral court and were
finding the range more consistently on their jump shots. As the tempo picked
up, another Luke Howard trey made it 22-15 Kingsland at 3:44 to go in the half.
He attempted another three as the first half buzzer sounded and was fouled. He
dropped in one of three free throws to make it a 25-19 Kingsland lead at the
half.
Mabel-Canton came out swinging in the second half with a 7-0
scoring run to take a one-point lead (26-25) with 16 minutes left in the game.
An offensive rebound and made basket by Reed Merkel broke the streak and gave
the lead back to the Knights, 27-26 with 15 minutes left.
The lead would go back and forth for the rest of the game. Kaden Rath hit a jumper to tie the game at 37 with just over eight minutes left. Another Howard three-pointer and a steal and layup from Nick Eickhoff made it 42-39 Kingsland with 7:15 on the clock.
Braydin Gjere (#10) of Mabel-Canton looks for an open teammate as Kaden Rath (#2) as his Kingsland teammates play defense during their SEC Showcase game in Rochester on Saturday, Dec. 21. (Photo by Chad Smith)
As the game wound down, Kingsland started showing a
full-court press. The Knights had shown a half-court trap before that and had
some success forcing Mabel-Canton mistakes with the basketball.
Walker Erdman nailed one of two free throws to tie the game
at 44. The teams traded baskets and tied the game at 46 all, when Howard hit
the biggest three of the game off a Mabel-Canton turnover and Kingsland was
back on top, 49-46 with 1:21 to go.
The Cougars’ Reid Crawford line up a three-point try that
rolled all the way around the rim and fell away. The Knights grabbed the
rebound and Erdman hit two free throws to make it a two-possession game at
51-46. However, Crawford came back the other way and drained a three to cut the
Kingsland lead to just two points, 51-49 with only 4.7 seconds left.
Mabel-Canton tried hard to swipe the inbound pass and was
forced to foul. Two free throws from Howard sealed the game and a Knights’ win,
53-49.
Howard and Erdman tied for the team lead in scoring, each
finishing with 14 points. Howard was two rebounds from a double-double,
grabbing eight missed shots and finishing with two steals. Erdman also grabbed
eight rebounds and hit three of five free throws. Eickhoff chipped in 12 points
on five of 11 shooting.
The team hit 19 of its 53 shots (35%) from the field. They
were most effective down under the basket, making 13 of 27 shots (48%) from
two-point range. The Knights did make enough free throws to win the game, but
they could have given themselves a little more breathing room late. Kingsland
was just nine of 18 from the stripe.
They finished with 32 rebounds, 12 offensive.
Defensively, the Knights came up with seven steals and four blocked
shots.
Canine Officer Trace Erickson of the Houston County Sheriff’s Office poses with his partner, “Roman,” after winning the National Field Trials and Certification event in Florida back in November. (photo from bluffcountrynews.com)
Canine Officer Lieutenant Trace Erickson of the Houston County Sheriff’s Department recently took first place in a national police canine competition earlier this month. The National Field Trials and Certification event is put on by the United States Police Canine Association and takes place in Florida. Erickson said it’s a chance to compete with the “best-of-the-best” canine officers from across the country.
“You have to qualify with a high-enough score at a regional
competition to be invited to the national contest,” Erickson said. “We
qualified with a high-enough score and got to go up against the best canine
officers from across the country. We went down representing a small law
enforcement agency and won the whole thing.”
One reason police departments from all over the country send
canine officers to these contests is for national certification, something
that’s very important to their canine programs.
“It shows that our dogs are under control,” he said. “They’re
fully functioning, above board, and they meet high standards. The U.S. Police
Canine Association sets the highest standards in police certification because it’s
been around 49 years and is accepted in all courts as the highest
certification.”
The dogs are put through five different tests in these
competitions. “There’s obedience, which dogs are scored on,” he said. “Then
there’s agility, which is the dog’s ability to move around and over obstacles.
“There’s also scent work,” Erickson said. “That includes a
suspect search, as well as an article search, in which someone holds two
articles for 45 seconds, throws them into a 30-foot by 30-foot pad, and the
dogs have to go retrieve them in a timed event.
“There’s also an apprehension part of the test,” he added.
“The dog has to show proficiency, in that as a decoy takes off running, the dog
doesn’t move until it’s told to. There’s a recall part of the test, in that the
dog takes off after a decoy and is then called back after about 18 yards. It
shows that canines are the only use of force police have that we can call back.
Once you fire a gun or taser, that’s it.
“After that is the actual apprehension test, where the decoy
is chased and bitten (while wearing protective padding),” Erickson said. “When
the handler tells the dog to let go, the canine has to immediately let go.”
The last part of the apprehension testing takes place under
gunfire. Erickson said that shows the stability of the dog in a loud
environment. “While blanks are fired in the background, the dog is sent after
the decoy, releases at the handler’s command, and the decoy is searched,” he
described. “During the search, the suspect ‘assaults’ the handler, the dog
engages again, and then has to let go immediately when told to.”
There are 700 total points available in the competitions.
Erickson and his canine “Roman” scored an amazing 692.8 to win the contest.
As a veteran canine officer, he spends a lot of his time
training with the dogs he’s had over the years. It takes a lot of time to make
sure the dog is 100 percent competent in the job, noting that “obedience and
control” are the biggest keys to a successful canine. “We do something every
day to keep Roman sharp,” he said.
“I didn’t start out intending to be a canine officer,”
Erickson recalled. “That came a few years later. I’ve worked with several dogs
for the Houston County Sherriff’s Office. We’ve received several awards for
street work and certification. We’ve been very fortunate in Houston County in
terms of the canines we’ve had over the years.”
Roman is a 3.5-year-old Dutch Shepherd and the fourth police
canine that Erickson has worked with during his career. “This dog has been on
the street a little over a year, and to win a national title like that is
unbelievable,” he said. “He also does drug detection, and we use him to search
vehicles and execute search warrants at different locations in the county.
“He can also do things like tracking, including searching
for missing children,” Erickson added. “He can also help us track suspects and
find lost hunters. Of course, he’ll also do protection work if someone attacked
me. He can help us clear buildings. If someone breaks into a building, he can
go in and search the building, keeping officers out of harm’s way.”
The Houston County Sheriff’s Office Canine Program received both regional and national certification with the team’s wins. “We do these contests because we want people to know our canine program is proficient and above board,” he said. “We also won a national championship trophy too.”
Holiday Scams are something we have to keep an eye out for this year, especially if you have elderly relatives. The elderly are one of the most vulnerable segments of rural America.
Holiday scams. I really hate that this is something we need to think about, even in rural America. The holidays are a prime time for scammers to do their business. Be vigilant. If someone is asking for your private information, such as a social security number, and you didn’t initiate the call, do NOT give out any information. Period.
I got a call last summer from the “Social Security Administration,” who said someone had used my social security number for “nefarious purposes.” Well, guess what? As a long-time member of the media, I’ve done multiple stories on scams and knew better than to answer when he wanted me to confirm my social security number. At that point, I was already running a tape of the call and as soon as they found out, it was CLICK. End of phone call.
Online purchasing makes holiday shopping easier for rural residents, but it doesn’t make shopping more secure. Cyber holiday scams are rampant during this time of year. Sean Voskuhl, AARP State Director for Oklahoma, says you should stay vigilant when shopping online during the holidays, and throughout the year.
When ordering holiday items online, Voskuhl says, make sure the website you are purchasing from is reputable, and take proper precautions when purchasing gift cards to avoid holiday scams.
Finally, with many in the mood to give back this holiday season, he says make sure your donations are going to a worthy cause.
AARP offers year-round tips on this topic, and others of interest to rural America. Learn more holiday scam tips online by visiting the Fraud Watch Network at aarp.org or watch Thursday night at 9 pm Central Time on RFD-TV.
The Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) is reopening enrollment in its Dairy Assistance, Investment, and Relief Initiative (DAIRI) program for eligible milk producers through the end of the year.
Producers who have locked in five years of coverage through the USDA Farm Service Agency’s Dairy Margin Coverage (DMC) program and who have not already successfully enrolled in the Dairy Assistance program can apply.
The MDA has already issued $3.4 million to about 1,800 producers representing more than 1,550 farms in Minnesota through the program in its first round of payments.
Producers not yet successfully enrolled will not receive the first round of payment, but may receive a check for the second round of dairy assistance, which will be determined after all new enrollments have been received.
In order to qualify, farmers must have produced less than 160,000 cwt (hundredweight) of milk in 2018. They will be paid based on production levels, up to 50,000 cwt of milk produced in 2018.
An application form, an IRS Form W-9, a copy of their DMC enrollment form, and a statement from their processor(s) detailing the amount of milk produced in 2018 are required to complete an application. All materials must be postmarked by December 31, 2019.
Producers who are already successfully enrolled and have received their first check do not need to take any action. They will automatically receive a second payment. However, producers who submitted incomplete applications and have not received a check must return any requested information by December 31, 2019, to be eligible for the second payment.
For additional information and the application form, visit the DAIRI program page of the MDA website.
New money is available to Minnesota livestock producers to help prevent wolf attacks. A total of $60,000 will be awarded through the Wolf-Livestock Conflict Prevention Grants. Applications are due January 31, 2020, to the Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA).
Wolf attacks on livestock are unfortunately a common occurrence for Minnesota’ s livestock farmers. There is some financial help available for prevention measures. (photo from capitalpress.com)
The grants provide reimbursement for costs of approved practices to prevent wolf-livestock conflicts. Eligible expenses for the grant program will include any or all of the following items:
Purchase of guard animals
Veterinary costs for guard animals
Installation of barriers which may include pens, fladry, and fencing
Installation of wolf-deterring lights and alarms
Calving or lambing shelters
Other measures demonstrated to effectively reduce wolf-livestock conflicts
“We’re fortunate to be able to offer this assistance again to Minnesota farmers and ranchers thanks to a grant from the US Fish and Wildlife Service,” said Assistant Agriculture Commissioner Whitney Place. “Livestock owners can get additional resources to protect their animals and livelihood, and I encourage producers to examine ways they can decrease the chances of wolf attacks and apply for this funding.”
Producers must live within Minnesota’s wolf range, as designated by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, or on property determined by the Commissioner of Agriculture to be affected by wolf-livestock conflicts. Any animal species produced for profit and documented to have been killed by wolves in Minnesota in the past is eligible. This includes bison, cattle, chicken, deer, donkey, duck, geese, goat, horse, llama, mule, sheep, swine, and turkey.
The grant application must be emailed or postmarked by 5 p.m. on January 31, 2020. Work for this grant must be done and expenses reported by August 31, 2020. The application and more information can be found at www.mda.state.mn.us/wolfgrants.
The grant from the US Fish and Wildlife Service is funding the third round of Wolf-Livestock Conflict Prevention Grants. The first two rounds were funded by the Minnesota Legislature in 2017. Those grants awarded $240,000 between July 1, 2017 and June 30, 2019. Grantees used the money for items like fencing, guard animals, and motion lights – all deterrents to wolves.
Here’s another chadsmithmedia podcast, this time with Houston and Fillmore County Extension Educator Michael Cruse, talking harvest progress in southeast Minnesota.
Harvest season. Never a dull moment in farm country. It’s never an easy season for anyone, regardless of what the growing season was like. This year’s ridiculously wet growing season is going to make things even more challenging, which is not exactly a state secret.
The harvest season is officially underway in southeast Minnesota. A few days of drier and windier weather last week allowed some crops to come out of fields across the area. Houston and Fillmore County Extension Educator Michael Cruse said timing appears to be everything when it comes to fall harvesting in 2019.
“I’m glad you called me later last week, rather than on
Monday,” Cruse said. “I would have been much more down on the situation earlier
last week. However, a couple of windy days helped some farmers take some corn
and beans out of their fields. In spite of that, we’re still behind and we’ll
still be scrambling to make sure everything gets done before the ground
freezes. At least we’re starting to make some progress.”
The excess rainfall this year means the crops will come out of the fields much wetter than normal. He said the recent windy days seem to have put soybeans into pretty good shape. But, the corn is still going to require some time in the dryer, which isn’t a big surprise this harvest season.
Harvest season is underway in southeast Minnesota, all be it slowly, according to Michael Cruse of the University of Minnesota Extension Service. There’s still a long way to go in very we conditions. (Photo from UMN.Extension.Edu)
“The beans are actually drying down to the point that it
looks like they’ll be okay,” Cruse said. “Just be patient with them. Obviously,
the last thing you want is to get a big snowfall on top of them, but they seem
to be coming along. However, the hard truth is that the majority of our corn
crop will come out of the field too wet.
“No matter how long we wait this fall, we just won’t have
the drying conditions to get that corn down to optimal moisture,” he added.
“That’s probably why we see a lot of farmers working corn right now. They know
there’s going to be a bottleneck while the corn has to sit in their dryers and
it’s going to take some time. Get a head start because it’s going to take a
while.”
Fire prevention is a perfect topic that should be top of mind as the winter gets ever closer. We’re all gonna spend more time inside soon. Accidents happen. Are you ready? Here’s a video to warm you up.. it’s only 92 seconds. Take a look.
Ever thought about what would happen if a fire broke out in your home? The recent National Fire Prevention Week means it’s a perfect time to consider the options, such as how to get out of each room in your house if a fire starts? This year’s theme for National Fire Prevention Week is “Not Every Hero Wears A Cape. Plan and Practice Your Escape.”
National Fire Prevention Week takes place every October and It’s a perfect time to remind you that winter is coming. We all spend much more time indoors. That’s when accidents can happen. Are you ready? You don’t get a second chance when a fire breaks out. (Photo from starlocalmedia.com)
“National Fire Prevention Week is a perfect time to remind
people to think about fire safety, especially as we get closer to winter,” said
Rushford Volunteer Fire Department Chief Chad Rasmussen. “Let’s do things like
check the smoke alarms, make sure our furnaces are clean, and anything else
that would make our homes a little safer.
“People are using their furnaces more in the wintertime, they’re using their wood stoves, and too much snow can block dryer vents,” he added. “There’s a lot of things to keep in mind when people are ‘boxed in’ more during the winter.”
Other preventative steps include keeping chimneys swept and
moving snow away from gas meters. Keep space heaters away from things like
curtains or blankets that could easily catch fire if the heater happens to tip
over accidentally.
Rasmussen said people tend to downplay their chances of
having a fire break out in their house. “They really do think it’s never going
to happen to them,” he said. “If you aren’t prepared for it, the worst things
usually happen. People lose their lives. You could be out of your home. The way
we’re building our homes these days makes them burn a lot quicker than they did
in the past.”
He said the best way to prepare for a possible fire is to
practice an escape plan. People tend to think escape plans are for families
with children but that’s not the case. Even someone who lives alone needs an
escape plan to get out of their house safely.
“You could be downstairs doing something and a fire breaks
out upstairs from a space heater that tipped over,” Rasmussen said. “You need
to know how to get out of there as soon as possible. Have a practice fire drill
every month or two with everyone in the house. People tend to panic when a fire
starts. Make sure what you have to do to escape is drilled into everyone in the
house.”
It’s important to have a meeting place picked out that
everyone knows ahead of time so you can account for those people in the house.
That way, when the fire department does get there, they’ll know right away if
they need to check for someone in the house.
The National Fire Protection Association points out that in
a fire, people may have as little as one to two minutes to escape safely after
the smoke alarm sounds. Escape planning and practice can help make the most of
the time you have to get out safely.
“Fire doesn’t care who you are, it’s going to take from
you,” Rasmussen said. “It doesn’t matter if you’re male or female, an adult or
child, it will take everything from you. Be prepared.”
