2 Women Arrested in Veteran’s Death | Frey Names Minneapolis Fire Chief Nominee | Wednesday, May 20
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47 segmentsSo good, so good, so good. New summer arrivals are at Nordstrom rack stores now. Get ready to save big with up to 60% off brands like Rag and Bone, Levi's, Adidas, and free people. Join the Nordy Club to unlock exclusive discounts, shop new arrivals first, and more. Plus, buy online and pick up at your favorite rack store for free. Great brands, great prices. That's why you rack. Have you ever stopped and thought about what's actually powering your day, the coffee you made this morning, the drive you took to get here, even the device you're listening on it? I'm Tanner Faust, and that's exactly the kind of thing we're going to talk about on the energy tailgate, a podcast from Chevron. I'll be your host inviting guests to discuss big energy topics and what they mean for everyday life, all from the tailgate of our truck. This is the energy tailgate. You're listening to Four Things to Know, a WCCO Daily News podcast. Today is Wednesday, May 20th. I'm Maria Lizignoli. I'm Johnny Connor. Thanks for watching and listening to Four Things to Know. Our top story today is an update to a tragedy we first brought you yesterday. Two young women are in custody in connection to an attempted car theft that left a decorated army veteran dead. Amos Ferrier was a medic in the army and known for saving lives. Here in Minnesota, he was part of a mission to help local veterans. Two women, ages 18 and 19, were arrested in St. Paul yesterday in connection to his death. Police say Ferrier confronted two people trying to steal his car Friday afternoon outside the coffee shop where he worked. They say he was struck by or jumped onto their getaway vehicle. Ferrier was thrown from the hood and died from his injuries two days later. Verrier served two tours in Afghanistan and continued his service back home, working at Rick's coffee bar through the nonprofit every third Saturday, helping veterans transition back into civilian life. His coworkers are devastated by this loss and want justice. But they say they forgive the people who did this. Here's more from Tom McKenna, the co-founder of every third Saturday. It's a huge loss. Amos was such a huge part of what we do. His work with the interns that we employ, the veterans, was so important. And he had this unique way of connecting with each and every one of them. That's just heartbreaking. And Amos leaves behind two sons. The women arrested have not been charged yet, but they are being held in the Hennepin County Jail.
Number two today, after a five-month search, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey says he has found the man he would like to lead the city's fire department. Fry announced Dr. Reginald Freeman as nominee for chief this morning, and our Adam Duxter had a one-on-one interview with Dr. Freeman today. Here's his report from about noon. We were told this would be a nationwide search, and it turns out it was a global one. Dr. Freeman, coming from the other side of the world where he spent the last... year and a half doing confidential government work in Saudi Arabia. Louisiana native, his fireworkers taken him across the world, working in the private sector for Lockheed Martin, but also the public sector. He served as fire chief in Hartford, Connecticut for five years in Oakland, California for two years. Now he says he's done moving, saying he sees this job not just as a stepping stone, but a final step. I had a chance to sit down one-on-one with Dr. Freeman this morning after the mayor's announcement. He says his wife and two young kids are excited about moving to Minneapolis. This also isn't his first time applying for this job. He says he also applied five years ago when the job was last open. He also defended his decision to publicly walk away from a job that he had accepted to be chief in Portland, Oregon just this past summer. He had already signed the deal later changed his mind. He says he that's because he learned the Minneapolis job would be opening once more. This is a city to where my wife and I want to raise our children. You know, my daughter, my oldest is 13, my youngest is nine. So we are here for the long game. And this is not a stepping zone, not something that we plan to be here for a few years ago, until the next opportunity. We plan to be here for quite some time. And of course, this nomination still has to be approved by Minneapolis City Council. It's expected that vote could come as early as July. Number three, Governor Tim Walz made a visit to Hennepin County Medical Center today. Walls went to HCMC in Minneapolis to talk about how the state is going to help the hospital financially. Sunday night, the Minnesota legislature decided to give HCMC $205 million in one-time state funding. The legislature also created a $500 million reserve fund that can be used by hospitals in crisis if they meet the strict requirements. I have stressed that to all, especially those... those folks working here, we understand this is a first step. We understand that it is not the end and then to walk away. And I think it's also the silver lining in this is, is a lot of Minnesotans now understand the critical nature of this. And it puts it into perspective that when the federal government is unable to get things done or passes things like HR1, the impact becomes very personal for people all across Minnesota. HCMC expects to lose $50 million this year. Its deficit could reach $1.7 billion over the next decade. So HCMC may have to go back to the legislature in the future for more help.
And your fourth thing to know today, a metro school district is keeping kids out of class because of what they're calling a cyber incident. School leaders in Delano say the incident happened on Monday night and canceled school today out of an abundance of caution. The superintendent told us that it's not clear if it was an attack, but the district network was compromised. He says the district shut down the internet immediately after the network was compromised so no further damage could be done. And right now, teams are working on identifying and fixing the issue. Students will not go back to class until experts test the network and find out that it's safe. And just last month, a hacker shut down schools in Spring Lake Park. The hacker there got into some systems and demanded a ransom. The school district said there was no evidence they accessed any personal information. And today, Maria, Delano's school districts also said they would not have an e-learning day because of the cyber incident. So no school for the kids today. But this type of incident, we know it keeps happening. It keeps happening, just like we saw in Spring Lake Park. And then... You know, we've seen it at hospitals, big corporations. Yeah. We know that we are following this today, so we'll have much more in our later newscast. But those are the four things to know today. Let's check in on our next weather forecast. In the next weather center, this is meteorologist Mike Augustinac. The whole team here today to tell you about the holiday weekend upcoming. I think there's one chance for rain showers that comes in late Friday and lasts through part of Saturday. The rest of the holiday weekend looks quite nice. Get ready for summer and check the forecast anytime you want online and on air. And now here's more to know. Memorial Day is Monday, and we'll all remember and honor veterans who made the ultimate sacrifice. This morning, House Majority Whip Tom Emmer joined other House GOP leadership in a press conference in our nation's capital. They will vote on two bills in the House that Emmer says would increase care and benefits for veterans. Too often we forget the price of freedom. It is thanks to the bravery and sacrifice of the men and women in our military that we get to wake up each day in the greatest country on the face of the planet. That's why House Republicans are committed to delivering for our nation's veterans, their families, and their surviving spouses who've made the ultimate sacrifice. This week, as you've heard, we're going to vote on two bills that will do just that. American heroes and their families should not have to worry about making ends meet. Now to an update on the major wildfires that have been burning since Saturday up north, but thankfully with the work of Cruz and Mother Nature, the situation now is mostly under control.
Let's start on the North Shore. Highway 61 reopened at noon yesterday. Now, that is north of two harbors, and that's where the Stewart fire is now fully contained, which is great news. And investigators in the Brainer Lakes area now say they have identified people of interest who may have started the Flanders fire. Now, that fire is now 95% contained after burning more than 1,600 acres in Crowing County. Investigators say they believe the fire started on the north shore of Flanders Lake. good news that those fires are now under control. The Minnesota legislative session has come to an end. But something left out by lawmakers has parents of kids with disabilities trying to figure out what's next. These families desperately need hundreds of hours of nursing help at home for their fragile children. A WCCO investigation revealed two local health insurance companies are imposing caps on home nursing costs. That's despite coverage required by a 2010 statute. We spoke with a father whose son Chase needs care. Here's more from Brandon Walter. All of these children's lives are at stake. I mean, if they aren't getting the care that they need at home, they're going to be in a hospital, or they're going to be at risk at their home by not getting the care that they need. The insurance companies say they're operating within the state law, and they say families are also covered through Medicaid. Now to an interesting story that you might remember, there's a high-tech trend that's growing in the metro area. It's sending drones to a 911 call ahead of first responders. Bloomington is testing the program out right now, and here's how it works. Once the drone arrives at the scene of the emergency call, police officers back at the station can watch from a camera. This gives them real-time information and a better idea of who they need to send. Bloomington's assistant police chief, Damon Bitney, sees the technology as a tool to keep first responders safe, while also improving response times and their ability to track down suspects. If we don't have to send cars, that means that's less cars that are going lights and sirens to calls. It also means that if someone's trying to hide or do something or there's a significant incident, that we can hopefully have eyes on to see where those people might be. Edina and Minneapolis police departments are also considering a similar program. And meanwhile, in Minnetonka, the program is already underway. A man accused of pretending to be a high school student is now out of jail after a very short stay. Investigators had a warrant out for Kelvin Lebke after he missed a court date last month. They arrested him Monday. Then Lebke posted a $5,000 bond to get out of jail. Lebke is accused of using a fake birth certificate to enroll at White Bear Lake High School last year. He claimed to be 18, but is actually 22 years old.
Now, Lebke had a hearing yesterday morning and is due back in court in August. Okay, Maria, let's get to sports. We know the Timberwell season has come to an end. Yes, sadly. Yeah, and that means they're doing, you know, press conferences on what's ahead. So yesterday, president of basketball operations, Tim Connolly, he spoke on what's ahead in the off season. Now, the team won a series this year, but they did take a step back, right, after going to two straight Western Conference finals. So Connolly says they just got to keep pushing the envelope and getting better. We have a lot of confidence in our guys. But again, it would be disingenuous would be sitting here in front of this crew and say, hey, we're happy with the sixth seed. We're happy we're not being the home court playoff team. We're happy that our last three closeout games, you know, have been lopsided. So we have to be realistic about what we have, which is way more good than bad, but know that we're not good enough right now. Not good enough. Definitely what you want to hear, though. You know, they're not going to just bring the same team back. Hopefully make some moves. They're a good team. They're not a great team. Right. Great way to put it. Great way to put it. Okay. And in baseball, Maria, the twins made big news yesterday. They sent down former number one overall pick, Royce Lewis, to AAA. So in St. Paul, where the Saints play. They sent a Twins player to go play for the Saints. Yeah, so this happens a lot, though. That's just their minor league team. But, you know, he was their former number one overall picks, supposed to be a superstar, really, really struggling this year. He's been down in the dumps. And that's a big decision. They want him to get some confidence back, you know, play against some weaker competition. Okay. But, yeah, big decision there. And we actually spoke with the team's GM, Jeremy Zoll. Do you think it's physical or mental with him that he struggles so much hitting? You know, I think on all these things, it's a multitude of factors for any player that struggles. You know, there's a variety of components. Obviously, since Royce came back from his brief stint on the aisle this year, you know, his numbers haven't been where anyone are hoping that they'd be, but we also know there's a really good player in there that's had a ton of great moments for this organization. So yeah, hopefully that gets them back on track. Let's hope because I kind of feel bad for him. Demoted. It's time to take a breath with your daily bright spot. You know that the Twin Cities have some excellent parks. Amazing. You were just out there today. Yes, because we did a story today on how the Twin Cities just won for some of the best parks in the nation. In fact, Minneapolis got number three. of best parks in the whole country. And St. Paul got number four. That's a good combo. That's what I mean, right back to back. And it's from the nonprofit trust for public land. They scored the cities on a number of things. It's by looking at like five different categories, equity, access, investment, amenities, and acreage. And access really is a major factor for Minneapolis. 99% of residents live within a 10-minute walk of a park. That is a great number. I didn't know that. And yeah, I mean, I think we almost take them for granted. There's parks everywhere. I don't even think about it. You don't even think about it. I mean, I was even driving down.
from WCCO to go to a park to shoot this story. And we passed three on the way there. We passed Loring Park, Walker Sculpture Park, and then we got to the Lake of the Isles parks. And it was just like, I can't believe. how close we are to all of this. And same goes for St. Paul. The access there is within a 10-minute walk wherever you live as well. That's so nice. And honestly, my favorite thing about Minnesota and living here, I love getting outside. And so many other people do. You know, we have the four seasons, so you can go ice skating in the winter. You can do whatever you want. And it really is nice. Washington, D.C., that would not have been my guest. They came in as number one. Number one in Washington, D.C. I agree. So, you know. Number two is Irvine, California, which I suppose, you know, you think about California. Natural beauty there. Exactly. But, yeah, so we came behind those two, Minneapolis number three, St. Paul number four. And, you know, I get it. I understand why. We have beautiful parks here. And like you said, we really do embrace them in the winter as well. Absolutely. Yeah. Ice skating. festivals, you know, stuff like that. It's so nice. And summertime is my favorite, though. So I just love getting outside. Every day after work, I try to get outside. You really do. You're going to play tennis today, right? Golfing today. Oh, you're golfing today is a golfing day. Okay. Love it, love it. Oh, well, hey, I hope you all get outside tonight, too, because it is beautiful. With Johnny Connor, I'm Maria Lizignolli, and this has been four things to know. We're here with the news you need every weekday afternoon by 3 o'clock.
Listen to Four Things to Know, a WCCO Daily News podcast, wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Maria Lizignoli, and this podcast comes to you from the WCCO Podcast Studio. I'm Johnny Connor, and this is where you'll find the latest news of the day with us on Four Things to Know. I'm Mariel Mose, and I bring you the stories behind the female athletes redefining the game on women in sports. I'm Adam Dukster. Join me for a deep dive into faith in what it means to Minnesotans around the state on bigger than belief. Stay in the know on the go with the WCCO podcast studio. Go to WCCO.com slash podcast. podcasts.