Friday’s record-high temps lured people outdoors in droves.

By BEATRICE DUPUYand TIM HARLOW Star Tribune staff writers

Friday’s remarkable warmth kicked off a holiday weekend that is likely to find Minnesotans enjoying the outdoors in ways they usually only pine for in February.

The day’s high of 63 smashed the previous Feb. 17 record of 55, and record highs are possible again Sunday and Monday. Even the nights will be unseasonably warm, with the mercury staying above the freez-ing mark right through next Friday, according to the National Weather Service in Chanhassen.

Friday’s high was just one degree shy of breaking the highest tempera-

ture for the entire month of February — 64 degrees, set in 1896.

Last year on Feb. 17, the high was 29 degrees with a low of 14 degrees.

Temperatures of 60 degrees in February are rare. There have only been four days on record when the temperature has reached 60 or above in the second month of the year: 1896, 1921, 1981 and 2000.

The February heat wave, remi-niscent of 1930 and 1981, when the Twin Cities saw six consecutive days of readings of 50 degrees or higher, prompted Ben Johnson to ride his bike to his job at the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board offices. It was the earliest bike commute ever for him, he said.

Nick Schicker ditched his win-ter coat to sit outside the Hennepin County Government Center, where

ø On 24th floor: Hennepin unveils new jury room. B3

On the rocks: $5,000 reward set for stolen agates. B2

MINNESOTALOCAL • STATE • REGION

S TA R T R I B U N E . C O M / L O C A L • S E C T I O N B

2016 Pulitzer Prize finalist, Local ReportingWinner for Local Reporting in 2013

Philosophy professor at U’s Morris campus triggers a strong response with ‘ideologically right’ comments on immigrants.

By MAURA LERNER maura.lerner@startribune.com

Prof. Daniel Demetriou readily admits that his Facebook comments on immigrants were a bit of a rant.

But he never expected them to spread around campus, much less set off a public outcry.

Now, Demetriou, who teaches ethics and philosophy at the Uni-

versity of Minnesota Morris, is facing a backlash over a Face-book post in which he asserted that illegal immigrants “on aver-age have IQs lower than natives” and that many refugees come from a “cult with repulsive values at war with the west.”

The post, which was circulated around campus without his knowl-edge, prompted some of his fellow faculty members to call for a “teach-in” to support immigrants and refu-gees on Monday. “Hopefully we can pull together as a community and refute these outright lies,” Heather Peters, an associate professor of psy-chology who helped organize the teach-in, told City Pages.

Demetriou, who is on sabbatical in Sweden, said he was caught off guard by the uproar over his posts,

which he said were intended only for his Facebook friends.

At the same time, he defended his remarks, saying they had “been seized upon in order to further a political agenda and punish a dis-senting voice.”

“I am ideologically right in a very ideologically left world,” he wrote in a statement to news organizations. “Although I am outspoken in private discussion, I am not involved in any political groups on campus, and I

Facebook rant roils campus

Photos by LEILA NAVIDI • leila.navidi@startribune.comMegan Callahan-Beckel, 17, daughter of the center’s director, helped the wolves explore their new habitat. She was accompanied by Oliver, left, a Ger-man shepherd who helped raise 14 wolf pups. The center’s lease ran out after more than 25 years at Carlos Avery Wildlife Management Area.

By HANNAH COVINGTON hannah.covington@startribune.com

The howls, pitched high into the morning air,

carried several possible meanings normally lost on human ears.

But two-legged listeners at the Wildlife Sci-ence Center near Forest Lake lucked out Fri-day, with wolf expert Peggy Callahan nearby to interpret.

The howling in this context, she said, prob-ably meant something like: Halt, for this is my territory and you are in it.

“When you hear a wolf howl, you know that

they’re comfortable and feel like they’re home,” said Callahan, the center’s executive director.

The challenge now facing Callahan is trans-porting the center’s diverse pack of animals to a new home before the nonprofit’s long-standing lease ends next month .

The scene on Friday was all bushy tails and spunky wails as Callahan and her team worked to corral, vaccinate and anesthetize 14 wolf pups for their journey to broader pastures.

The pups were among the first batch of ani-mals moved to a new 165-acre property in Lin-wood Township in Anoka County’s northeast-ern corner, which the nonprofit acquired years

ago but waited to fully develop owing to the Great Recession.

The center is home to the largest population of captive wolves in North America, Callahan said. It provides science education programs each year for thousands of students from pre-school to 12th grade. Wildlife professionals frequent the center for training and research, and wildlife there have been featured on Ani-mal Planet, the History Channel and National Geographic.

The nonprofit has been based at the Carlos Avery Wildlife Management Area in Anoka

Packing up the pack for center’s big move

Day for ditching winter coats, dining al fresco

GLEN STUBBE • glen.stubbe@startribune.comOn Friday afternoon, Hannah Peterson described ice skating in 60-degree weather as “an amazing feeling,” especially in short sleeves.

The Wildlife Science Center, home to 70 or so wolves, is moving to a new home in Linwood Township.

Demetriou Officer faces murder charge for shooting at Chicago transit hub.

By LIBOR JANY libor.jany@startribune.com

Murder charges were leveled Fri-day against an Amtrak police offi-cer accused of fatally shooting an unarmed Minneapolis man during an encounter in downtown Chicago.

LaRoyce Tankson, 31, made a brief appearance Friday before Cook County Judge Maria Kuriakos Ciesil, who set his bail at $250,000. He had turned himself in to police the night before, prosecutors said.

Tankson was charged with a single count of first-degree murder in the shooting of 25-year-old Chad Robert-son, following a joint investigation by the FBI, Cook County State’s Attor-ney’s Office, and the Chicago Police Department’s Internal Affairs Divi-sion, prosecutors said. The charge carries a maximum sentence of 25 years to life in prison if Tankson is convicted.

Robertson died Wednesday morn-ing at the Chicago hospital where he had been treated for a gunshot wound from the Feb. 8 incident.

Prosecutors say that he was shot while running from Tankson and his partner, who had stopped Robertson and two of his friends apparently after catching them smoking marijuana outside Union Station, Chicago’s main transit hub.

An autopsy revealed that the bullet pierced Robertson’s left shoulder and lodged in his neck, prosecutors said.

Amtrak cop charged in death of Mpls. man

Provided by Nina RobertsonChad Robertson of Minneapolis, pic-tured with his girlfriend and two kids.

The police chief got to do some hands-on crime fighting after he witnessed an assault on Friday.

By CHAO XIONG chao.xiong@startribune.com

St. Paul Police Chief Todd Axtell was driving to work Friday morn-ing when he witnessed an alleged domestic assault and intervened, according to the department.

Axtell, who was in plainclothes and driv-ing an unmarked car, saw a 37-year-old man attacking a 38-year-old woman on the sidewalk about 8:45 a.m., said police spokes-man Steve Linders .

“[The man] grabbed her and threw her to the ground and began striking her several times with closed fists,” Linders said. “She was on the ground and trying to cover her head with her hands.”

The assault occurred on Broadway Street south of Balsam Street, a few blocks from police headquarters.

Axtell pulled over, got out of his car and identified himself as the police chief. “He detained the suspect by pushing him up against the side of [Axtell’s] vehicle because the suspect was attempting to flee,” Linders said.

Arrest is all in a day’s work for St. Paul chief

Axtell

See WEATHER on B2 Ø

See PROFESSOR on B5 Ø

See CHARGES on B5 Ø

See CHIEF on B5 Ø

See WOLVES on B5 Ø

ZSW [C M Y K] B1 Saturday, Feb. 18, 2017

S AT U R DAY, F E B R U A RY 1 8 , 2 0 1 7

25 YEARSOF BETTERSERVICE!#TurtleLake25

Jeff Rector is working the dream job of many kids. He’s a cowboy.

He has the dangerous job of rodeo pick-

up man. If you saw the recent Cinch World’s Toughest Rodeo at St. Paul’s X, you saw Rector at work. “My job is to get cowboys off the bucking horses safely. If they make the whistle, obviously they don’t want to jump off,” he said. “Our job is to help them get off safely and get the horse taken care of as well.”

A cowboy from Kansas City, Mo., Rector recently moved to Minnesota to accommodate his girlfriend and their 15-month-old. “They wanted to be here because her family is closer to here. Got to keep her happy,” he said.

Rector has a degree in business and sociology from Northwestern Oklahoma

State and his Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association card. Now that he’s a family man, he has a job in St. Paul that frees him for 30 week-ends to work rodeos.

Something funny hap-pened while I was shooting video of Rector feeding the horses at his City Slicker Ranch, a boarding facility in

Elko. I also can’t remember the last time an interview subject called 30 minutes before I was scheduled to arrive to see if I was hav-ing trouble with directions. “I feel I was raised the right way. It’s kind of the cowboy thing to have manners, think about others first,” he said. “I knew you didn’t know where you were going!”

Q: How did you get into this line of work?

A: I always had a fascina-tion with horses. When I was about 10 I talked my grandpa into buying a horse for me. We had to board it at a facil-ity in Kansas City called Ben-jamin Stables. At that place they had a huge 4th of July rodeo. When I would go out there to ride or whatever, I met the right people and they ended up giving me a job during the rodeo, helping chase out cattle. One thing led to another. I just really fell in love with it.

Q: What do your siblings do for a living?

A: My brother manages a foster care program in New York City. We have a very dif-ferent style of living.

Q: How many years have you been doing this and what are your rodeo goals?

A: I got my card in 1995. I’m a member of the Pro-fessional Rodeo Cowboys Association. From day one, I wanted to be the first African-American pick-up man at the National Finals Rodeo, kind of like our Super Bowl. Happens every year in December in Las Vegas. There haven’t been any Afri-can-American pickup men. … My goal is to be selected for that.

Q: I didn’t realize you were unique.

A: I didn’t get into it [thinking], “I want to be the first black.” I don’t think about skin color that much,

but once I started noticing, “Wait, I’m the only one doing this. This is kind of cool.” Then people were telling me You know, you’re the first one and I started having a little success.

Q: How long does it take to be selected for the National Finals if you’ve been doing it 20 years?

A: It takes a while. I’ve been trying to do something that has never been done. It’s not going to be anything that happens overnight. Whether I get there or don’t get there, I’m having fun along the way.

Q: You don’t wear a cow-

boy hat to your other job?A: I don’t. It’s an office job,

9 to 5. My rodeoing is like a football-basketball player. I don’t walk around with my uniform on all the time.

Q: Before you were in a relationship, did you notice how cowboys are a little

like professional athletes? Women gravitate to them.

A: It can be like that. Espe-cially somebody like me who is in the arena a lot. The aver-age cowboy is in the arena maybe a moment or two. In a 2½-hour rodeo I’m usu-ally in the arena the whole time. With me being a dif-ferent color than most of the people, I definitely have had a few who have liked me.

Q: Have you been called the N-word at the arena?

A: That’s just the way of the world. I don’t think there is more in the rodeo world. When people see what you can do, they respect you. The racism I’ve faced has not been from my rodeo fam-ily. It’s people in the stands. I stay focused on what my job is.

C.J. can be reached at cj@startribune.com and seen on FOX 9’s “Jason Show.” E-mailers, please state a subject. “Hello” does not count.

Rodeo’s pick-up man rides high in MinnesotaQ&A WITH C.J.

J E F F R E C T O R R O D E O C O W B O Y

“From day one, I wanted to be the first African-American pick-up man at the National Finals.”

PUBLIC SAFETY

By MICAH EMMEL-DUKE micah.emmel-duke@startribune.com

A shock of blond hair and a wide smile atop a baggy red T-shirt greeted readers of the St. Cloud Times on Friday morning. On what would have been Jacob Wetterling’s 39th birthday, his family placed a heartfelt thank-you ad to mark the occasion.

“The Wetterling Fam-ily would like to extend our deepest gratitude for the love, kindness, prayers, generos-ity and support of our fam-ily and the Jacob Wetterling Resource Center,” the ad read. “Jacob had a lot to live for and with all of your help, we know his ideals are continuing to help build a safer world for all children.”

Another version of the ad included the hashtag #11forJacob and listed 11 values that encouraged readers to be fair, kind, gentle, positive and hon-est.

Jacob was riding his bicy-cle with a friend when he was abducted near St. Joseph,

Minn., in October 1989. The mystery of his disappearance gripped the state for nearly 27 years until the killer led inves-tigators to Jacob’s grave last September.

Following Jacob’s disap-pearance, the Wetterling family spent years working for new state and federal laws and advocating for miss-ing and exploited children. In the letter for his 38th birthday,

Patty Wetterling wrote of the need for continued support of organizations like the Jacob Wetterling Resource Center.

That persistence paid off. Faced with a lengthy federal trial over child pornography charges, Danny Heinrich pleaded guilty to that crime in exchange for telling inves-tigators where Jacob was bur-ied and admitting what hap-pened. In open court on Sept. 7, Heinrich recounted in pain-ful detail how he abducted, sexually assaulted and killed Jacob. Heinrich was later sen-tenced to 20 years in prison.

In the ad, the Wetterlings said, “We’d like to, but we just can’t personally thank all of the wonderful people who have reached out in love and sympathy.

“Please know that your love is so appreciated. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts for sharing Jacob’s Hope and for helping us through this difficult time.”

Micah Emmel-Duke is a University of Minnesota student on assignment for the Star Tribune.

Wetterling ad marks Jacob’s 39th birthday

Parkin

Courtesy photoA St. Cloud Times ad expressed gratitude for the community’s support.

By HALEY HANSEN haley.hansen@startribune.com

For the past 20 years, Jesse Lofgren has slowly amassed a collection of Lake Superior agates.

But when he returned from a monthlong business trip ear-lier this week, Lofgren discov-ered that $60,000 worth of the gemstones were missing from his home.

Lofgren said a burglar smashed into two of his dis-play cases, each about the size of a refrigerator, and stole 75 of

his agates.Lofgren, who described

himself as a “very private per-son” said only a few people have seen the collection in his home.

The Monticello man has since shared his story on tele-vision and social media. He said he’s also asked other agate col-lectors to keep an eye out for his collection.

“It makes it very difficult for the collection to get sold,” he said.

Lofgren, who owns a win-dow-cleaning business, said

he doesn’t have homeowners insurance.

“I probably could have recov-ered my losses,” he said.

The Wright County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the inci-dent, and Lofgren said he’s con-sidering hiring a private inves-tigator. He is offering a $5,000 reward for the collection.

Lofgren has also created a GoFundMe page to help recoup his loss.

Haley Hansen is a University of Minnesota student on assignment for the Star Tribune.

Woman, 36, allegedly demanded oxycodone.

By KAREN ZAMORA karen.zamora@startribune.com

The Dakota County attor-ney’s office has charged a South St. Paul teacher with aggravated robbery in connec-tion with two armed robberies of a West St. Paul drugstore.

Melanie Sue Parkin , 36, was charged Friday with two counts of aggravated robbery in the first degree for allegedly robbing a Walgreens store in December and January. She also was charged in Washing-ton County for a similar rob-bery in Woodbury.

Parkin, a special education teacher in the South St. Paul schools, displayed a black handgun and demanded oxy-codone pain medication, the Dakota County attorney’s office said in a news release.

“This appears to be another crime of violence associated with a chemical addiction in our community,” Dakota

County Attor-ney James Back-strom said.

Just after 5 a.m. on Dec. 12, police responded to a robbery at a Walgreens store in West St. Paul. The perpetra-tor left on foot after robbing the pharmacy, and authorities were unable to locate her.

The pharmacist told author-ities that the robber “pointed the gun and stated she needed oxycodone for her sick father and she has no other way to get it,” according to the complaint.

The pharmacist then put a few bottles of oxycodone and another pill bottle with a tracking device into a bag. Authorities attempted to track the dummy pill bottle, but the GPS didn’t work, the criminal complaint said.

On Jan. 14, just after 3 a.m. Parkin allegedly approached the service window of the West St. Paul Walgreens with a black semiautomatic hand-gun and demanded “oxy.” She

told the pharmacist not to put a tracking device in her bag. She left and again authorities could not locate her.

On Monday, a Woodbury investigator informed a West St. Paul officer that they had arrested a suspect at a Wal-greens in their town matching Parkin’s description. She then identified herself in surveil-lance video from the Decem-ber robbery.

“She stated she got ‘oxys’ and a tracker and she threw the tracker away,” according to the criminal complaint. She told authorities she consumed all the pills and got the gun from one of her children.

The Washington County attorney’s office has filed charges against Parkin in the Woodbury robbery.

Dakota County District Judge Michael Baxter set bail at $75,000 on Friday. Parkin’s next court appearance there is set for March 16.

Karen Zamora • 612-673-4647

D A K O TA C O U N T Y

South St. Paul teacher charged in armed holdups at drugstores

M O N T I C E L L O

$60K worth of Lake Superior agates stolen

By BRANDON STAHL brandon.stahl@startribune.com

A man attacked by a K-9 and kicked by St. Paul police in an incident captured on video is suing the officers involved and their supervisors, saying they violated his civil rights.

Frank A. Baker had parked his Jeep near his apartment building about 10 p.m. on June 24 about the time that police got an anonymous tip some-one with a gun was in front of the building.

Several officers responded to the anonymous call, where an officer said he spotted Baker and that he matched the description of the man with a gun, according to the lawsuit.

A K-9 handler, officer Brian Ficcadenti , ordered Baker to get out of his car and put his hands up, which Baker did, according to the lawsuit. How-ever, 20 seconds later, Ficca-denti released a K-9, who bore down on Baker’s leg.

Video shows Baker scream-ing in pain and being dragged to the ground by the dog as officers shouted, “Get him!”

Baker spent two weeks in a hospital. One officer involved in the incident, Brett Palkowitsch , left the depart-ment. Ficcadenti was put on a 30-day suspension. Other offi-cers at the scene and named in the lawsuit are Joe Dick , Brian Nowicki , and John and Anthony Spencer . Retired Sgt.

Mark Ficcadenti , Sgt. Mike Ernster and former chief Tom Smith are also named in the suit, although current chief Todd Axtell was sworn in the day before the incident occurred.

Neither St. Paul police nor the police union could be reached for comment.

After making the video pub-lic in November, Axtell apolo-gized for his officers’ actions.

“As St. Paul’s police chief, I’m disappointed and upset by what the video shows,” Axtell said at a news conference. “I’m profoundly saddened. I’m releasing this video today because it’s the right thing to do.”

S T. PAU L

Man attacked by police K-9 sues officershe works.

“I needed to get some vita-min D, so I decided to get out-side,” he said.

Outdoor tables filled up fast at lunchtime at Psycho Suzi’s in northeast Minneapo-lis, where “we are celebrating the sun,” said Susan Martin , director of marketing.

The bar and restaurant was one of several places that hauled out patio furniture a month or more earlier than normal.

At Betty Danger’s Country Club, the mini-golf course opened. For the first time in memory, the popular estab-lishment on Marshall Street wasn’t passing out blankets to those daring to take a midwin-ter ride on its colorful Ferris wheel bar.

Deteriorating iceMeanwhile, the state

Department of Natural Resources and law enforce-ment officers reminded peo-ple that ice conditions near lake access points, shorelines and channels are deteriorat-ing.

“I want to stress the impor-tance of ice safety. Driving on the ice right now could be a life-threatening risk,” said Hennepin County Sheriff Rich Stanek , noting that there have been no injuries thus far this year because of people or vehicles going through the ice .

Owners of fish houses in southern Minnesota have until March 6 to get them

off the lakes, a deadline set by law, said the DNR’s Julie Forster. Local sheriff ’s offices are able to prohibit or restrict the use of motorized vehicles on all or a portion of the body of water if there are concerns with conditions, she said.

Visitors planning a trip to the ice castle in downtown Stillwater will have to wait until next year after officials closed the destination spot for the season.

But the spring temperature could revive some vampires. Mike McLean , a spokesman for the Metropolitan Mos-quito Control District, said that the sudden warmth could help mosquitoes that can sur-

vive winter come out of hiber-nation.

Minnesotans might not want to ditch their scarves and mittens just yet. The National Weather Service is monitoring a low-pressure system that could bring much more wintry weather to the region next weekend, starting Thursday.

For now, it’s too early to tell how much rain or snow the system might bring, said Weather Service meteorolo-gist Alli Keclik .

beatrice.dupuy@startribune.com • 612-673-1707tim.harlow@startribune.com • 612-673-7768

Warming trend sets a recordø WEATHER from B1

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70˚F*2017

62˚198155˚

195449˚1948

48˚2011

46˚

Source: Midwestern Regional Climate Center RAY GRUMNEY • Star Tribune

High temperatures for Feb. 17, 1939 to 2017

Friday’s high reached 62 degrees in the metro area smashing the previous record high of 55 degrees set in 1981.

NEW HIGH RECORD REACHED

Note: All data is for the Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport

*As of 4 p.m. Friday

’17’10’00’90’80’70’60’50’40

ZSW [C M Y K] B2 Saturday, Feb. 18, 2017

B2 • S TA R T R I B U N E M I N N E S O TA S AT U R DAY, F E B R U A RY 1 8 , 2 0 1 7

Hennepin County wanted a more inviting, comfortable place for potential jurors to wait.

By KELLY SMITH kelly.smith@startribune.com

Jury duty just got an upgrade.Hennepin County on Friday

unveiled a new $2.1 million jury assembly room at the Government Center in downtown Minneapolis, where the 20,000 people who serve annually on jury duty will check in and pass the time.

As county leaders noted, the proj-ect elevates the jury room in quality — making it a modern space — and literally, moving it from a window-less basement room under the street to “penthouse” space on the Govern-ment Center’s 24th floor.

“It’s very fitting for us to place the jury assembly room where it belongs — at the top of the court tower — in recognition of the important roles that jurors and jury trials have in our justice system, indeed in our democ-racy,” Hennepin County Chief Dis-trict Judge Ivy Bernhardson said. “We want our jurors to pass their time pro-ductively and comfortably while they await service.”

New technology and features include a kitchen, secure lockers, flat-screen TVs with headphones and a private room for nursing mothers or people who want to pray. Board games and phone charging stations are available.

Kiosks allow jurors to check in electronically, speeding up the pro-cess so court proceedings can start on time, said Kate Fogarty , the district court administrator.

The 6,400-square-foot assembly room, which opened in December, is indicative of a national push to demonstrate the value of jury duty by moving jury rooms to better loca-tions, officials said.

The former assembly room had been in the basement of the Govern-ment Center since it opened in the 1970s, located below the street where jurors could hear rumbling from the traffic passing overhead. That room will now be used for scanning docu-ments.

The new jury room was carved out of the county’s law library, which was downsized and remains next door. It seats 200 people and can be repur-

posed for other events or used as a con-ference room. It’s the same size as the old room, but it’s much more inviting.

“You can’t get a better space in the building than this,” Fogarty said.

The law library, which is open to the public and offers continuing legal education classes, also got new car-pet, shelves, desks and chairs. Karen Westwood , the law library direc-tor, said the collection was reduced because more materials are available online.

Both rooms have panoramic views of the east side of downtown and U.S. Bank Stadium. “What a wonderful, wel-coming space,” said Jan Callison , chair-woman of the Hennepin County Board.

In 2015, more than 28,000 Hen-nepin County residents were sum-moned for jury duty; of that number, 20,000 served on juries for 784 crimi-nal trials, 134 civil trials and more than 50 grand jury sessions.

Jurors are randomly selected from a list of licensed drivers, state identi-fication card holders and registered voters. The average jury service time is three days.

“The space is so wonderful,” Bern-hardson said, “maybe some of you are wondering, ‘How can I get picked for jury duty here in Hennepin County?’ ”

Kelly Smith • 612-673-4141Twitter: @kellystrib

Months after the state Supreme Court ruled that a student was wrongly expelled after she acci-dentally brought a pocket knife to school, a state legislator has pro-posed making it easier for school officials to dismiss students in such cases.

Rep. Ron Kresha , R-Little Falls, cautioned at the start of a House committee hearing Thursday that he was not yet sold on his legis-lation. But that did not stop crit-ics from branding it as unconsti-tutional and a threat to efforts to ease racial disparities in school discipline matters.

Last summer, the Supreme Court upheld a Court of Appeals decision stating that a southern Minnesota school district was wrong to expel a high school honor student for having a knife in her purse in her locker because it failed to show she had willfully violated school policy or willfully endangered others.

The student, Alyssa Drescher , who is white, told the principal at United South Central High that she used the pocket knife to cut twine on hay bales at her boy-friend’s farm and “totally forgot” it still was in her purse.

Kresha’s bill would eliminate the requirement that an act be “willful” in order for a student to be dismissed from school.

Michael Waldspurger , whose firm represented the school dis-trict in the pocket knife case, told members of the House Educa-tion Innovation Policy Commit-tee that districts now face a tough challenge removing students for weapons violations. Violators sim-ply can assert an “I forgot” defense, he said, “a very strong defense to overcome.”

Peter Shaw , an attorney for the Rosemount-Apple Valley-Eagan district, said the “willful require-ment” was a higher standard than criminal prosecutors face.

But Andrea Jepsen , the attorney who represented Drescher, said that a former legislator who was in office when the Fair Dismissal Act was passed in 1974 assured her that lawmakers were clear that a student’s actions had to be inten-tional to warrant dismissal.

Kresha’s proposal also drew criticism from activists with Stu-dents for Education Reform and Black Lives Matter St. Paul.

John Thompson, a friend and co-worker of Philando Castile , the black St. Paul school cafete-ria supervisor shot and killed by a police officer in Falcon Heights, said black students are being sus-pended “at an all-time high rate.” He worries that the legislation would worsen disparities.

“You guys have to get this right,” he told the panel.

No action was taken. Kresha said that he will try to craft a com-promise. If that fails, he pledged to discontinue work on the bill.

ANTHONY LONETREE

Teach for America-Twin Cities names new leader

Mikisha Nation is taking the helm of Teach for America-Twin Cities , the program that annually trains students who teach in class-rooms with many minority or low-income students.

Fifteen local school districts and charter school networks work with TFA, including Minneapolis Public Schools, Hiawatha Acad-emies , Higher Ground Acad-emy and KIPP Minnesota , a TFA release said. Nation will lead more than 40 Teach for America corps members, plus nearly 700 alumni.

She was most recently execu-tive director at Breakthrough Twin Cities , which helps prepare students for college and possible teaching careers. On her watch, the program doubled the number of youths being helped to about 500.

In the TFA release, Nation said her primary goals are “to foster a diverse teacher and leadership pipeline, and build school and community partnerships.”

“I believe in the power of the Twin Cities community,” Nation said. “Working together, we will ensure that all children have the opportunity to attain an excellent education.”

BEENA RAGHAVENDRAN

Weapons bill targets ‘I forgot’ defense

CLASS ACT

AROUND THE METRO

By ERIC ROPER eric.roper@startribune.com

A coffee cup tossed in the trash will either be reduced to ash in a giant fire or spend its days buried under-ground. So which one is it?

The answer depends on where it was tossed. But assuming it can’t be recycled — about half the Twin Cities’ waste is now recycled — the chance it will end up in a landfill has grown dramatically since the early 1990s, according to state trash data.

While landfilling has been on the decline locally since a peak in 2006, the Twin Cities still sent more than twice as much trash to landfills in 2015 by weight than it did a quarter-century ago, data show.

That 774,000 tons weighs more than two Empire State Buildings. After being compacted, that’s still about a Metrodome-sized mass of leftover food, product packaging and other garbage entering the ground every two years.

“There’s a lot more landfilling of waste than what people realize,” said Paul Kroening , supervising environ-mentalist at Hennepin County. “I think people think that we’ve really reduced our landfilling of waste to almost noth-ing, and that’s not really true.”

State regulators, who are pushing to redirect more waste from landfills to area incinerators, attribute the 1990s rise of landfilling largely to a 1994 U.S. Supreme Court decision that essentially blocked governments from mandating where waste must be hauled. Counties therefore could no longer require trash to be brought to their incinerators.

A subsequent decision in 2007 clarified that governments could require waste to be trucked to publicly operated facilities. Washington and Ramsey counties have since bought a processing plant in Newport with the intent of directing waste there, where metals are removed and the trash is ground up for incineration.

Landfilling has few advocates, but incinerating trash to make energy has attracted ample controversy over the years because of the air pollution from local burners. The Hennepin Energy Resource Center in downtown Min-neapolis is the frequent target of ire from environmental groups.

Yet state law prioritizes burning over landfilling because it produces energy and the processing plants gen-erally remove recyclable metals.

A growing Twin Cities popula-tion is another reason for additional landfilling. But trash data maintained by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, or MPCA, show that the over-all tonnage of waste has risen by just 31 percent since the early 1990s, while landfilling has more than doubled.

Waste Management, the nation’s

largest trash firm, owns three of the four primary landfills where the metro area sends its trash. Com-pany spokeswoman Julie Ketchum highlighted that a steady decline in landfilling has occurred in the past decade. And per capita, Twin Cities residents produce less overall waste than they did in the 1990s.

“We need to celebrate the success we have had in the last 10 years instead of looking at a 30-year trend line that fails to reflect advances in waste man-agement methods, new technologies, reduction in the amount of packaging and paper used and less waste gen-eration per capita,” Ketchum wrote in an e-mail.

State data illustrate that where you live matters when it comes to where that tossed cup travels. Almost no Carver County trash is burned to make power, for example, compared with about 37 percent of all waste from Hennepin County.

And some counties are doing a

much better job than others at recy-cling. About 34 percent of Carver County’s waste is recycled, a far cry from Scott County’s 51 percent.

Comparing landfilling and incin-eration to recycling and compost-ing further illustrates differences between the counties. Scott County again emerges a winner.

Hennepin County does not report yard waste in its organics category, however, which puts it farther behind other counties.

Despite the proliferation of curb-side recycling programs, the tonnage of recycled waste has stayed rela-tively flat . But the MPCA says that’s in part because what we recycle is get-ting lighter, and newsprint is growing rarer as readers shift online.

Peder Sandhei , the MPCA’s main planner, highlighted the conversion of applesauce containers from glass to plastic, for example.

“The fact that recycling percent-ages [are] staying level is a sign that

we are actually collecting more mate-rial, but it weighs less,” Sandhei wrote in an e-mail. “As the waste composi-tion of household waste continues to evolve, finding acceptable recycling markets will continue to be a grow-ing challenge.”

Ketchum, with Waste Manage-ment, said her company advocates a move away from weight-based recy-cling goals for this reason. A recent state law change states the metro area should aim to recycle or com-post 75 percent of its waste by weight by 2030. “Weight-based goals do not represent the positive impacts on the environment that comes with recy-cling,” Ketchum said. “This is why we need to transition to a measurement system that looks at the environmen-tal benefits of recycling — what mate-rials get the most [greenhouse gas] emissions reduction when recycled?”

There is room for progress, how-ever. The MPCA believes that about 60 percent of the waste heading to area landfills could be recycled. A lot of that is leftover food, which local governments are increasingly trying to steer toward composting.

Overall, the network of public and private entities that handle Minne-sota’s waste do it well for relatively low cost, said Tom Halbach , a former University of Minnesota professor and board member of the Minnesota chapter of the Solid Waste Associa-tion of North America.

Yet there are concerns.“Within the industry there are

people that say, ‘We’re landfilling way too much. There’s valuable stuff. If I could just get the flow to my facility, I could recycle, I could recover x, y or z, I could get some value,’ ” Halbach said. “In the landfill, once it’s buried, it’s going to be buried there.”

And all this discussion of municipal waste doesn’t even cover the full scope of trash that we generate as a region.

The MPCA also is concerned about the growth of nonmunicipal waste such as construction, demoli-tion and industrial debris — which now exceeds more traditional house-hold and commercial waste. That includes contaminated soils, drywall and other materials.

The agency’s long-term policy plan — due to be made final in com-ing months — attributed some of the growth to municipal waste being reclassified.

But it’s unclear precisely what’s driving the spike.

“There’s been a lot of focus on [municipal] waste and not much on non[municipal],” Sandhei said. “The policy plan is really imploring that we get better data so that we can better understand what’s happening.”

Eric Roper • 612-673-1732 Twitter: @StribRoper

To burn or bury? Use of landfills remains substantial

Twin Cities waste in millions of tons per year

2015 wastein tons bycategory

T H E G R OW T H O F L A N D F I L L I N G WA S T EThe Twin Cities produced about 31 percent more waste in 2015 than it did in 1991, but the amount being sent to area landfills is more than double what it was at that time.

’92 ’94 ’96 ’98 ’00 ’02 ’04 ’06 ’08 ’10 ’12 ’14

Organics336,732 tons

Waste to energy942,850 tons

Recycling1,313,255 tons

Landfill774,484 tons

0

0.3

0.6

0.9

1.2

1.5

WHERE YOUR WASTE GOES, BY COUNTYThe percent of waste headed to landfills or incinerators is differs by county. Here’s a look at percentages for 2014 figures, since new reporting methods make 2015 numbers less comparable.

0

20

40

60

80

100%

Waste toenergy

Organics

Recycling

Landfill

CarverDakota

ScottAnoka

HennepinRamsey

Washington

Source: MPCA MARK BOSWELL • Star Tribune

Percent of waste by county, 2014

DATA DROP

A modern new space for juries to hang

KELLY SMITH • kelly.smith@startribune.com Hennepin County celebrated the opening of its new jury assembly room on the top floor of the Government Center on Friday. Court Administrator Kate Fogarty tested new kiosks that allow jurors to check in electronically.

ZSW [C M Y K] B3 Saturday, Feb. 18, 2017

S AT U R DAY, F E B R U A RY 1 8 , 2 0 1 7 M I N N E S O TA S TA R T R I B U N E • B3

ZSW [C M Y K] B4 Saturday, Feb. 18, 2017

B4 • S TA R T R I B U N E M I N N E S O TA S AT U R DAY, F E B R U A RY 1 8 , 2 0 1 7

Arneson, Lyle BryanSept. 5, 1925 - February 12, 2017

Lyle passedin the compa-ny of his fami-ly on Sunday,February 12,2017 after ashort illness.He was pre-ceded indeath by hisbrother Don-

nie and two sisters, Irene and Betty,his daughter-in-law Carol Arnesonand his beloved wife Joan Arneson.He is survived by his son Bryan anddaughter Kris (Clint Cutler) andgrandsons Andrew and Ben Cutleras well as his blended family withJoan: daughters Terri Togstad (PaulPeterson) and Mary Togstad, sonsJim Togstad (Sandy) and JoeTogstad (Kim) and their children,Allison and Brianne Schwarz,Jourdan and Spencer Togstad,Michael and Danny Peterson,Broten and Willy Togstad, McKennaand Katie Togstad. Lyle grew up inMayville, ND. He joined the U.S.Naval Reserve in 1943. After leavingthe service he attended MayvilleState Teachers College where hemet and married his first wife Bev.He was a teacher, coach (basketballand baseball) and high school prin-cipal in Minnesota, North Dakotaand Oregon. He then changed ca-reers, joining State Farm InsuranceCompany. He enjoyed his time asan agent, manager and executivewith State Farm over his 40 yearcareer. Lyle loved to play golf andtennis, and was an avid water andsnow skier. He also enjoyed goingon cruises or “up to the lake” withJoan and family. He will be remem-bered as a faithful member of theMount Olivet community. Memori-als preferred to Mayville State Uni-versity and Mount Olivet LutheranChurch. Memorial service will beheld Monday, February 20, 2017 atnoon at Mount Olivet LutheranChurch, 5025 Knox Ave., Minneapo-lis, MN. Visitation begins at 11:00am, preceding the service.

www.Washburn-McReavy.comEdina Chapel 952-920-3996

Getchell, Geraldage 93, ofrural Aitkinpassed awayThursday,Feb-ruary 16, 2017at EssentiaSt. Joseph’sin Brainerd.Gerald’s me-morial serv-ice will be

Tuesday, February 21, at 2 PM, atLakewood Evangelical Free Churchin Baxter. Visitation will be at thechurch, during the hour prior toservices. Interment will be at Min-nesota State Veteran’s Cemetery, inthe spring.Gerald Joseph Getchell was bornJune 3, 1923 in Minneapolis, toLewis and Lena Getchell. He grewup in Osseo, graduating from OsseoHigh School in 1941. He served hiscountry in the US Navy from 1942-1945, serving in combat in the SouthPacific, as a Higgins Landing Craftoperator with the USS GeorgeClymer troop carrier. Gerald wasunited in marriage to Leona Tonnon June 4, 1945, in Osseo. The cou-ple made their home in Osseo,where Gerald farmed and droveSkelly bulk truck. He went to workfor the Osseo Police Department in1954, and served as DepartmentChief for 25 years. He also servedwith the Osseo Volunteer Fire De-partment during this time, and wasactive with the Lions Club. He waswidowed when Leona passed awayin January of 1969. On July 24, 1970,Gerald was married to DarleneSkalsky, in Aitkin. They lived inOsseo until Gerald’s retirementfrom the police department at theend of 1979, when they moved totheir home on Round Lake in AitkinCounty, near Garrison. Gerald en-joyed attending auctions, and heloved old cars, going to car showsin Branson and Phoenix, and owneda 1929 Whippet Roadster. Geraldand Darlene loved living on the lake,and every Fourth of July Geraldwent skiing around the lake, proud-ly waving an American flag.Gerald is survived by Darlene, hiswife of 46 years; six children, Linda(Ray) Augustson, of Aitkin, Jerry(Vikki) Getchell, of Marine on St.Croix, Ronald (Barbara) Skalsky, ofHam Lake, Larry Getchell, of Aitkin,Cheryl (John) Flatt, of Detroit Lakes,and Joe (Kara Kristofferson)Getchell, of Baxter; thirteen grand-children; and thirteen great-grandchildren. He was preceded indeath by his parents, Lewis andLena Getchell; his first wife, Leona;two children, James Getchell andTodd Skalsky; and a brother, Stan-ley Getchell. Services entrusted toBrenny Funeral Chapel.

Lucey, Robert P.Dad, Grampsand GreatGrandpa

Born 2-23-41,passed awaypeacefully athome, loving-ly surround-ed by his fam-ily. Precededin death byhis belovedwife Karen;sister MarilynHerkel andsister-in-lawJ o y c eRanheim.He is foreverloved by hisc h i l d r e n :Todd (Tam-

my) Lucey, Rene (Doug) Gavic,Jolene (Lynn) Christensen; grand-children Doug (Olivia), Nicole (Jack-son), Sheaden, Shaun, Katie, Kalieand Drew; great granddaughterRuby; brother Joe (Barb); sisterMary (Clarence); brother-in-lawTom; special nieces Amy andCarrie; nieces, nephews, cousins,friends, dear friend Wendy and pre-cious dog Mac. Bob proudly servedin the United States Navy aboardthe USS Laffey 724. He worked forControl Data and 3M before retiringto lovingly take care of his wife.Above everything, Dad was devotedto his family. He ensured we alwaysknew how much he loved us andhow incredibly proud he was ofeach of us. He found the good inevery situation. Even if you werenot family, he made you feel likefamily. He always had words of wis-dom, a smile or hug to share. Hewas our rock, our inspiration. Wewere blessed to call him our Dadand we will miss him completely.“I Love you more.” Funeral service11 am Monday, Feb 20th, VisitationSunday, Feb 19th 2-5 pm and onehour prior to service, all at

www.Washburn-McReavy.comHillside Chapel 612-781-1999

2610 19th Avenue NE, Mpls

PAID NOTICESArneson, Lyle................................ MplsGetchell, Gerald.......................... AitkinKivens, Jeffrey................ St. Louis ParkLucey, Robert..................... North OaksMagdanz, James................. Tucson, AZRichmond, Kathryn...........Maple PlainSmith, James.......................... LakevilleTaylor, Barbara............................. Mpls

GENEROS ITY OF

spirit

Helpful Telephone Numbers

Social Security Admin.1-800-772-1213

Service available from 7 a.m.to 7 p.m. on business days.Call to provide notification ofdeath or to inquire about sur-vivor benefits.U.S. Dept. Of Veterans Affairs

(VA)1-800-827-1000

Call for survivor benefits, bur-ial benefits or to provide no-tification of death.

United Way 2-1-1Metro: 2-1-1

or (651) 291-0211Free, confidential, multi-lingual information is offered24 hours every day. UnitedWay 2-1-1 is a unique com-munity information and ref-erral service. Call if you needto know where to turn forhelp.

Kinkaid Cemetery in Alexandria,MN. 2 Mausoleums (side by side)for sale - $4,000, 320-762-5535

Smith, James (Jim)Surroundedby his lovingfamily, James(Jim) Smithpassed awaypeacefully onFebruary 13that the age of87. Precededin death byhis parents

Bob and Mabel, sister Wanda O’Neil,and brothers Weslie and Robert.Survived by his devoted wifeSharon of 56 years; daughtersDebbie Mulqueen (John) and BarbReitan (John); four grandchildrenShannon Mulqueen, Michelle, Nick,and Jen Reitan; sisters-in-law CarolSmith, Janet Holmes and JoyceSherstad and many loving niecesand nephews. A graduate of Bloo-mington High School class of 1948,Jim was employed at the Star Trib-une for 44 years. Jim served in theUS Marine Corps during the KoreanWar. He was active in the AmericanLegion, Blinded Vets, and SantaAnonymous. Jim enjoyed wood-working, yard work and entertain-ing friends and family at RooseveltLake.The family wishes to thank theFairview Ridges Hospital ICU andChaplin staff for their support andcare.Funeral services will be held onMonday, February 20th at HillcrestMethodist Church, 9100 Russell AveS, Bloomington, MN 55431 at 11 amwith visitation one hour prior at thechurch. Private interment at FortSnelling National Cemetery.

NicholasAnthonyWresh

2/18/1988 -7/23/2008

When you see a penny on theground, it’s a sure sign Nick’saround. The hardest thing in life tobear, is to want our Nick who is nolonger there. Happy 29th birthdayNick! XO Ashley, Mom, Dad &Grandpa and Grandma Otto.

Kivens, Jeffrey Stewartage 74, of St. Louis Park, passedaway peacefully at home from Alz-heimer’s disease on Feb. 15, 2017.Proud owner of Minneapolis Granite& Marble Co. for over 30 years.Loved his family, classic cars, fami-ly genealogy, schmoozing, Florida,and singing with his beautiful,booming bass voice. Preceded indeath by parents, Nathan & HelenKivens; brother, Larry Kivens;father-in-law, Charles (Shy)Winthrop; mother-in-law, RevaWinthrop; brother-in-law, JoelSimes. Beloved husband of SharonKivens; loving father to daughters,Dr. Wendy Kivens (Dr. Alexei Sacks),Marlee Kivens; beloved grandfatherof Eitan and Nava Sacks; lovingbrother-in-law of Roberta Simes,Sonie & Steve Winthrop. Survivedby special nieces and nephews,Laurie & Jeremy Passer, Eddie &Rachel Winthrop, Michael and Au-drey Simes; and many other cher-ished nieces, nephews, cousins andgood friends. Our family gives spe-cial thanks to Synergy HomeCareand Open Circle Adult Day CareCenter for helping to make Jeff’slast four years joyful, fulfilling andengaging. Memorials preferred toOpen Circle, 34 10th Ave. S.,Hopkins, MN 55343 or to donor’sfavorite charity. Funeral serviceswere held Friday, Feb. 17 at 2 pmat Adath Jeshurun Congregation,10500 Hillside Lane West,Minnetonka. Shiva will be held onSunday and Monday at 7 pm atAdath Jeshurun Congregation Chap-el. Arrangements with AdathJeshurun Chevra Kavod HaMet and

www.Washburn-McReavy.comEdina Chapel 952-920-3996

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Richmond, KathrynMancino

Age 64,passed awayp e a c e f u l l yFebruary 8,2017. Preced-ed in deathby parentsSam & TheoMancino, andson David.Survived by

her husband, Terry Richmond; chil-dren: Allison & Christopher Cook(Megan), Nora & Anthony Richmond(Angela), and 4 grandchildren.Celebration of Life held on Friday,February 24, 2017, 3:00 pm, at UnityChurch - Unitarian, 733 PortlandAve., St Paul 55104. Memorials pre-ferred, Doctors Without Borders orHeifer International.

FUNERAL HOMES

Taylor, Barbara L.Age 66, ofMinneapolis,passed awayon Feb. 16,2017. Sur-vived by herhusband of48 years, DanTaylor, 3 chil-dren, 3 grand-children, and

many other family and friends. Acelebration of Barb’s life will beheld at 10 AM on Mon., Feb. 20, 2017at Sacred Heart Catholic Church inRobbinsdale, MN, with a visitationstarting at 9 AM.

love

IN MEMORIAM

Well done

is better than

well said.

—BENJAMIN

FRANKLIN

IN MEMORIAM

It is the custom of many per-sons to publish an In Memoriamverse as a token of respect tothe memory of one who hasgone.

Insertion of an ad in Memoriam& additional assistance in cor-rect phrasing may be arrangedby telephoning

612-673-4130

Magdanz, James A.age 75, ofTucson, AZ,(formerly ofMpls. & Cam-bridge, MN),passed awayFebruary 2017after a long ill-ness. Born inHutchinson,MN, and grad-

uated from Mpls. South Highin 1960. Jim proudly servedas a Minneapolis Police Offi-cer for over 27 years. Preced-

ed in death by his parents and in-laws, sister-in-law, Barbara Har-ding Cowan, and brother-in-law,Charles T. Harding. Survived by hiswife of 52 years, Donna Magdanz,Tucson; daughter MichelleMagdanz, Tucson; son Charles(Janet) of Cambridge; grandchil-dren Zachary, Emelie, Stacie, Scott,Kristene and Brandon; siblings, Eric(Lyn), Kathryn (James), Virginia(Jerry); sister-in-law Patricia Har-ding, brother-in-law RaymondCowan; several cousins, nieces andnephews; friends and fellow offi-cers; and beloved dog, Rosie. Jimwas always committed to family,friends, fellow officers, and com-munity service. His story-telling,humor, and love are deeply missed.Memorial celebration of Jim’s life isSaturday, July 15, 2017 at CommonGround United Methodist Church404 Cypress St. N, Cambridge, MN at2 pm officiated by retired PastorDonavon Eslinger. In lieu of flowers,memorials preferred to the Minne-apolis Police Honor Guard, or theAmerican Diabetes Association.Cremation services by Adair Funer-al Home, Tucson. Private interment.

REMEMBERING

Robert Michel, 93, who became the longest-serving Republican leader in the his-tory of the U.S. House while earning a reputation as a genial conciliator who worked with Democrats to get major legis-lation passed, died Friday in Arlington, Va.

Michel, who was from Peo-ria, Ill . , had r e p r e s e n t e d his hometown district for 38 years. He lived in Washington at his death.

He led his party as House minority leader for 14 years, from 1981 until he retired in 1995, having decided, at 71, not to seek another term in 1994. It was one election too soon.

The ’94 midterm elections produced what was called the Republican Revolution, with the party winning control of both the House and the Sen-ate for the first time in 40 years, capturing a majority of the nation’s governorships and dealing President Bill Clinton a crushing setback.

Michel, having announced his retirement, was wist-ful after Election Day. “I feel like the small boy who ate his spinach and his broccoli but leaves the table before his mom brings the strawberry shortcake,” he said.

In a 2008 interview, Michel said the “most exhilarating time” in his long years in the House had been when he got President Ronald Reagan’s economic program through the lower chamber. Though Republicans had picked up seats on Reagan’s coattails in the 1980 election, they were still 26 short of a majority, and Michel had to sway enough conservative Democrats to pass tax and spending bills.

For many years, he was known for getting along with Democratic leaders, golf-ing frequently with Speaker Thomas O’Neill of Massachu-setts. But younger Republican House members — especially Newt Gingrich of Georgia, the assistant leader, or whip — later began challenging the Democrats constantly and complaining that Michel was too pliable.

The new breed of Republi-cans were not much more con-servative than Michel, whose votes were judged 85 percent correct by the American Con-servative Union. But they believed that the only way to win control of the House was through confrontation.

In 1992, without warning Michel, Gingrich told report-ers that he would run for House GOP leader in two years — a potential faceoff that was averted by Michel’s retirement.

A triumphant Gingrich went on to become House speaker in the wake of the GOP tide of 1994. Afterward, Michel was critical of the Republican agenda called a “Contract With America,” saying that its pro-posed tax cuts and increases in military spending could deepen the budget deficit.

Until he joined a Washing-ton law firm as an adviser in 1995, Michel’s entire work-ing life had been spent in the House. He had gone to Wash-ington in 1948 as an assistant to Rep. Harold Velde right after graduating from Bradley Uni-versity in Peoria.

When Velde retired in 1956, Michel won the seat. He was elected minority whip in 1975. He was seriously challenged only in 1982, when recession hit Peoria hard. He still won, with 51.6 percent of the vote.

When Clinton presented Michel with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1994, he lauded him as having “served our nation well, choosing the pragmatic but harder course of conciliation more often than the divisive but easier course of confrontation.”

Robert Henry Michel was born in Peoria on March 2, 1923.

NEW YORK TIMES

“He was determined to make something of himself.” — Zaneeta Best, daughter

By BEATRICE DUPUY • beatrice.dupuy@startribune.com

Until his last days, Bennet Cyrus was shouting at the Minnesota Vikings. Cyrus was usually a calm man, but when football came on, he unleashed his inner Viking — he would scream with the fans in the stadium and throw foam bricks at the TV.

The fervent fan and father of four died on Feb. 5 at age 70 of complica-

tions from lung cancer.Like his team, Cyrus rooted for those around him. The

charismatic entrepreneur and minority business leader was familiar with the hard work and sacrifice it takes to succeed so he mentored and lifted up those around him.

Cyrus left his home in Trivandrum, India, in 1968 to study computer programming at the University of Min-nesota.

“He instilled in us that you are not born with anything,” his daughter Zaneeta Best said. “You have to work for what you want.”

While in college, Cyrus met Daniel Kaiyalethe. They would go on to share 46 years of friendship and meals. In college, they would cook up Indian dishes and invite the other international students over to dine. They had a stand-ing engagement to eat out at a restaurant every Wednesday. The friends kept up the tradition until Cyrus’ death.

Cyrus spent 14 years working as programmer for TCF Bank before he founded a multimillion-dollar corporate travel company, Metro Travel & Tours. Some of his clients included General Mills and Honeywell.

Cyrus quickly became a leader in the minority busi-ness community and won the 2013 Supplier of the Year

award from the Midwest Minority Supplier Development Council. He often gave back to the local Indian community and would help friends with financial advice and business guidance. Cyrus wanted to tell anyone willing to listen that the American dream was possible.

“He grew up very poor in India,” Best said. “He was determined to make something of himself.”

Cyrus took each of his four children on one-on-one trips to India to visit family, filling his suitcase with gifts to bring back home.

Tasha Cyrus traveled with her dad when she was 13. She said the trip changed her perspective on her life back in America.

“It was a special moment,” she said, but she also remem-bers, “He did lie to me about a train trip. He said it was only going to be a few hours and it was 18.”

On family vacations, Cyrus got to relax. He would belt out the lyrics to “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” on trips to Brainerd or light up a cigar on the beach in Jamaica.

At home, he would unwind with a glass of Johnnie Walker and put on his white V-neck T-shirt and his purple, gold and white Zubaz pants. His children had to special-order the ’80s-style elastic-waist pants for their dad, who seldom took them off.

Along with his Zubaz, Cyrus was hardly ever seen with-out his tiger teeth necklace from India, which he was forced to take off only during radiation treatments. “When we were younger, we believed my father fought a tiger for those teeth,” Best said.

On Feb. 10, his family said their last goodbyes at the First Memorial Waterston Chapel in Minneapolis.

Besides his daughters Zaneeta and Tasha, Cyrus is sur-vived by son Rajeev Cyrus and daughter Jasmine Cyrus, three grandsons and his sister Betsy.

Immigrant Indian entrepreneur believed in the American dream

Bennet Cyrus Businessman founded multi-million dollar company

ALSO NOTED

He served longest as GOP leader in House

Michel

The man, who has not been charged, tried to push away from the car and escape, Linders said.

Axtell detained him until two other officers arrived and handcuffed him. It was Axtell’s first arrest since becoming chief last June.

Afterward, Axtell said he was glad he was in the right place at the right time.

“This incident isn’t really about me. I was just doing what our cops do every day — responding to something that is wrong in order to make it right ,” he said. “My hope is for the victim to connect with services that will help keep

her safe and for the perpe-trator to be held accountable for his actions so this doesn’t happen again.”

Linders said the man and woman lived together in St. Paul.

The accused attacker has a lengthy criminal record that includes convictions for third-degree criminal sex-ual conduct, theft, domestic assault and failing to register as a predatory offender.

According to court docu-ments, the man has to regis-ter as a level two predatory offender until Dec. 2, 2033.

Chao Xiong • 612-270-4708 Twitter: @ChaoStrib

Gov. Mark Dayton on Fri-day signed into law a measure authorizing the state to pro-vide up to $35 million in loans to help Minnesota farmers buy land and improve their agricultural operations.

The bill, which received support from both Republi-cans and DFLers in the Leg-islature, continues the work of the Rural Finance Author-ity. That program, launched in 1986, has provided $270 million in loans to more than 2,800 farmers across the state. It provides loans at terms and rates that farmers often cannot get elsewhere, and can help farmers restruc-ture their debt or make other major improvements.

Dayton and lawmakers who attended a bill-signing ceremony said they were pleased to see the bill pass early in the five-month leg-islative session.

Minnesota Department of Agriculture Commissioner Dave Frederickson said the state has already been taking applications for the program and intends to move quickly to ensure farmers can secure the financing they need for the year ahead.

“The timing did work out,” Frederickson said. “If we would have moved this fur-ther into the spring, it would have been a problem.”

ERIN GOLDEN

Dayton signs off on $35M in new loans for farmers

have never rallied for a cause. ... But I am persuaded that the leftist immigration and refugee policy agenda, espe-cially given the influence of divisive social justice theory and looming automation, is an existential threat to the US and other advanced western nations.”

Demetriou, a tenured associate professor who has taught at Morris since 2009, wrote in his Facebook post that “100% of illegal immi-grants lower confidence in the rule of law and add people and workers and students we don’t need.”

After copies of his post started circulating on the Morris campus, Chancellor Michelle Behr sent a campus-wide e-mail Feb. 13, saying: “While democracy should and does rightfully tolerate expression of differences of opinion, some members of our community have found these communications both personally and professionally distressing.” She never men-tioned Demetriou by name, but added: “It is imperative that we all make every effort to express these differences in a respectful way.”

To many, the Facebook post was the latest sign of an upsurge in anti-immigrant sentiment since the presi-dential election, according to Julie Eckerle , an English pro-fessor who is helping orga-nize Monday’s teach-in. “[It] illuminated the deep need for more conversation, and per-haps gave a local intensity to an international crisis,” she told the Star Tribune.

By Friday, news of the controversy was spread-ing online, drawing both criticism and support from around the country.

“Demetriou’s comments

constitute a straightforward case of racist hate-speech,” wrote one commenter on a philosophy blog called Daily Nous.

But Justin Weinberg , the blog’s author and an associate professor of philosophy at the University of South Carolina, defended Demetriou. “[His] comments are clearly pro-tected as extramural speech under a widely accepted understanding of academic freedom,” he wrote. And even though they disagree, he added, “He is a smart and interesting philosopher with a distinctive take on ethics and politics who is completely open to reasonable discussion about these matters.”

Demetriou acknowledged that his original post was “a rant,” much like many posts on Facebook. “No short post on such a complex topic, let alone a rant, could sur-vive much scrutiny,” he wrote in an e-mail. At the same time, Demetriou, who says he’s the grandson of Greek immigrants, added: “I don’t see such outbursts as immoral, inappropriate or even ill-advised in the context of Facebook. People need a space to vent with their friends, frenemies, and acquaintances.”

As to the response on his campus, he wrote, “I have no problem with disagree-ment, teach-ins, rallies, etc. ... Unfortunately, I’m not there to defend myself.”

But once his sabbatical ends, he added, “I welcome debating any of these points when I return.”

Maura Lerner • 612-673-7384

Professor’s Facebook rant roils campus in Morrisø PROFESSOR from B1

Arrest is all in a day’s work for St. Paul’s police chief ø CHIEF from B1

Education director Bob Ebsen , left, and Mike Jungbauer, a volun-teer from Linwood Township, moved an anesthetized wolf.

“I am persuaded that the leftist immigration and refugee policy agenda … is an existential threat to the US and other advanced western nations.” Prof. Daniel Demetriou

“[S]ome members of our community have found these communications both personally and professionally distressing.” Chancellor Michelle Behr

Chicago police officials said last week that they did not recover any weapons on Robertson, although they did find a small amount of drugs and cash at the scene.

The day before Robertson died, his family filed a fed-eral lawsuit alleging exces-sive force and a violation of his Fourth Amendment right against unlawful search. Doug-las Hopson, a Chicago-based attorney working with Rob-ertson’s family, said that he intends to bring a wrongful-death suit against Tankson and the train agency.

Cook County State’s Attor-ney Kim Foxx, whose office is charging the case, took over as the county’s top prosecutor last fall after her predecessor drew sharp criticism for her prosecutorial decisions in sev-eral high-profile police shoot-ings, including that of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald, who was shot 16 times in October 2014. More than a year passed before officer Jason Van Dyke was charged with first-degree murder in the shooting. He awaits trial.

Foxx has now charged two police officers with mur-der since taking office three months ago. A spokeswoman for the office declined further comment on Friday afternoon.

On Friday, Robertson’s fam-ily and friends expressed cau-tious relief over prosecutors’ decision to charge Tankson.

“I feel weirdly optimistic

that we will get justice,” said Chad Robertson’s sister, Nina Robertson.

The family was “broken” by his death, said Nina Robert-son, who has marched in sev-eral protests following other high-profile police shootings of black men. “And I never in a billion years thought that it could happen to me or my family.”

She described her brother as an outgoing man who made friends easily, and a gifted drawer. A native of the North Side, he had grown up playing football at Farview Park, where their mother had worked for years. He left behind two young children.

She said that when the fam-ily first arrived at the hospital, doctors gave them a frank diag-nosis: that there was a possibil-ity that he would never regain feeling in his arms and legs. At the time, his wound was still considered nonlife-threaten-ing, she said. “Once I saw he was alive, I thought, ‘Oh, it’s only up from here,’ ” she said.

Train station encounterFamily members said they

pieced together Robertson’s final moments after speaking with his two travel compan-ions, at least one of whom was later called to testify before a grand jury weighing criminal charges against the officers, Hopson said.

Robertson, they said, had been traveling back home from Memphis, where he and

a friend had attended a funeral, when their bus made a sched-uled hourlong stopover in Chi-cago. He and his companions reportedly ducked into Union Station about 8 p.m. to escape the cold weather, before going back outside to smoke some pot, authorities said.

They were approached about half an hour later by Tankson and his police part-ner, who hasn’t been identi-fied.

The officer told Robertson to put out the “cannabis ciga-rette,” authorities said, which he did, before apologizing and telling Tankson that he wasn’t from Chicago. Robertson and one of his companions then started walking south on Canal Street to a nearby restaurant, while the third member of their group went back to the transit station to retrieve a bag, according to court filings. The officers again approached them, the filings said.

Tankson “did not suspect Robertson [or his compan-ions] of any criminal offense other than possession of can-nabis nor did they witness them committing any other criminal offense,” prosecu-tors said.

Nevertheless, Tankson and his partner started to frisk the pair.

Relatives said Robertson panicked, pulled away from the officer and took off run-ning, heading southeast on Canal Street when the shooting occurred. Tankson reportedly

drew his department-issued Glock .40-caliber handgun, dropped to one knee and fired a single shot at Robertson, who by then was about 75 to 100 feet away, authorities said.

The shot dropped Robert-son in the middle of the street, where he lay motionless, they said.

At least six people witnessed the incident, none of whom saw Robertson “gesture or turn” toward the officers as he fled, according to authorities.

Union supports officerThe union that represents

the train agency’s roughly 500 officers said that it is “stand-ing in full support” of Tankson, who has been with the force for nearly two years.

“While we are confident that any judge or jury will find that Officer Tankson acted within the law and out of fear for his life, we disagree with the State’s Attorney’s deci-sion to charge against Officer Tankson before a complete and through investigation was conducted,” the Amtrak Police Fraternal Order of Police said in a statement.

A union spokeswoman said that Tankson was cooperat-ing with the investigation. A message for comment wasn’t immediately returned on Fri-day afternoon by Tankson’s attorney, William Fahy, who has represented several police officers.

Libor Jany • 612-673-4064

County near Forest Lake since 1991 , leas ing the site from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR).

But last year, the center and its creatures received an evic-tion notice from the state over various lease-related disputes. A main complaint raised safety concerns about an aging office and storage building where a staff member from the center regularly stayed overnight for security purposes.

The center resolved the problems raised by the evic-tion notice and has since been allowed to stay through the end of its lease, which expires March 31. The safety of the animals was never in question, DNR officials said.

“The DNR supports the mission of the science center. We think they do great work,” said Paul Telander , the DNR’s wildlife section manager.

The center was originally a state-owned and federally run wolf research facility. Callahan eventually took it over and turned it into an educational nonprofit .

The move, she said, comes thanks to donations and a dedi-cated cadre of staff and volun-teers.

Enclosures at the new site will house about 70 wolves and the center’s other animals, which include bears, cougars, bobcats, lynx, birds of prey, foxes, raccoons, skunks and

a porcupine. The goal is to raise enough money to one day build a classroom, she said.

Schools including North-west Passage High School in Coon Rapids have also chipped in. In January , stu-dents constructed a wolf den box to donate to the new facil-ity.

Biology teacher Peter Wiec-zorek said he has been bring-ing science students to the center for 13 years. They’ve participated in wolf research projects including reproduc-tive studies related to endan-gered species.

“Our students are wel-comed to join right in and learn by doing instead of just watch-ing,” said Wieczorek, also the director of Northwest Passage.

This is homeTo get ready for the wolf

pups, Northwest Passage stu-dents ventured to the new

facility and installed a fresh wolf den on a recent afternoon.

The hum and whirs of elec-tric drills filled the snowy pen as students including Virjle Wells , a junior, assembled the wooden structure.

“I’m helping out my favorite animal — wolves,” Wells said.

On Friday, the first paws touched down on the slushy ground near the den box as the pups began padding around their new digs.

The pups’ enclosure, Calla-han said, is more than twice as big as the one at the old facil-ity. That means more room to run and socialize — as pups are apt to do .

Callahan’s 17-year-old daughter, Megan Callahan-

Beckel , walked the enclosure and chirped greetings to the pups, whom she helped name and bottle feed.

“This is crazy,” Callahan-Beckel said, sitting in the enclosure. “My babies are actually here.”

Hours after the move, Cal-lahan and her team watched the wolves zigzag around their new space and heard a welcome sound. The pups had started howling.

In the days and weeks to come, she said, they will be lis-tening for more howls — those aroooos that declare, “This is home.”

Hannah Covington • 612-673-4751

Packing up the pack for center’s moveø WOLVES from B1

Photos by LEILA NAVIDI • leila.navidi@startribune.comPeggy Callahan, executive director of the center, administered a second round of anesthetic to the wolves waking up in the van before transport. The wolf pups were among the first animals to make the move to the center’s new, 165-acre home.

Source: maps4news.com HERE

Lexi

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W. Broadway Av.

SouthRd.

WildlifeScienceCenter

COLUMBUS

TwinCities

Columbus

Amtrak cop charged in Mpls. man’s deathø CHARGES from B1

ZSW [C M Y K] B5 Saturday, Feb. 18, 2017

S AT U R DAY, F E B R U A RY 1 8 , 2 0 1 7 M I N N E S O TA S TA R T R I B U N E • B5

Yesterday High Low Precipitation

Yesterday’s snapshot (*estimate)

24 hrs to 6 p.m. yest. 18 43 43Seasonal 4410 4508 5333

Sunrise: 7:09 am Sunset: 5:45 pmMoonrise: 12:48 am Moonset: 11:09 am

Yesterday’s high / low: 89 in Edinburg, TX / -2 in Watertown, NY

Temperature forecasts are the highs for the day; weather patterns are for conditions at noon.

Total daylight: 10 hours, 36 minutes

2017 2016 Avg.Heating degree days

Friday, Feb. 17 63° 30°

Average 30° 14°

Record 2017: 63° 1936: -20°

This day last year 29° 14°

Today’s air quality: Moderate

53: Acceptable; may affect some people

UV index: Low

2: Minimal risk; no protection required from the sun

24 hours-6 p.m. yesterday 0.00”

Yesterday’s record 0.32” in 2014

Month to yesterday 0.03”

Month record 3.25” in 1922

Above / below average -0.37”

Year to yesterday 1.01”

Above / below average -0.29”

Snowfall (at MSP airport)

24 hrs to 6 p.m. yesterday 0.0”

Season to yest. (normal) 26.8” (38.4”)

Today’s Cold Index: Moderate

3: Moderate risk of getting a cold, based on AccuWeather.com and today’s weather.

Average Record Actual ForecastT W I N C I T I E S T E M P S

M Tu W Th F Sa Su M Tu W Th F Sa

Thief River Falls

International Falls

BemidjiGrand MaraisDetroit

Lakes

Brainerd Duluth

St. Cloud

Alexandria

Twin CitiesRedwood Falls

WorthingtonRochester

Mankato

Albuquerque 60/32/pc 60/39/c 53/35/c

Anchorage 31/24/sn 30/18/pc 28/13/c

Atlanta 70/41/pc 64/50/c 73/50/s

Austin 77/46/pc 87/63/pc 82/56/t

Baltimore 51/20/pc 65/47/pc 68/39/s

Billings 55/39/pc 53/36/pc 54/34/c

Birmingham 68/35/pc 63/48/sh 75/51/s

Bismarck 51/26/s 45/31/pc 48/36/pc

Boise 51/35/pc 52/37/sh 47/40/sn

Boston 41/24/s 45/38/pc 49/31/s

Brownsville 85/61/s 90/70/pc 86/69/pc

Buffalo 38/19/pc 55/34/pc 44/31/s

Cedar Rapids 71/29/pc 59/34/s 64/49/s

Charleston, SC 74/38/s 75/53/c 74/50/s

Charlotte 68/38/s 70/46/c 74/45/s

Cheyenne 59/40/pc 57/32/pc 61/32/pc

Chicago 67/27/s 62/36/s 61/42/s

Cincinnati 66/37/s 64/48/pc 65/43/pc

Cleveland 54/25/pc 63/42/s 54/34/s

Dallas 71/46/pc 79/60/pc 76/60/c

Denver 66/25/pc 64/38/pc 64/34/pc

Des Moines 75/40/pc 63/44/s 69/55/pc

Detroit 47/29/pc 62/37/s 55/34/s

Eau Claire 53/24/s 48/29/pc 53/40/s

Fairbanks 17/-10/pc 13/-6/s 11/-13/c

Fargo 53/34/s 47/34/pc 52/46/s

Fort Myers 79/49/s 83/66/c 85/62/pc

Galveston 68/57/t 76/67/pc 77/65/c

Green Bay 52/28/pc 48/32/pc 50/33/s

Honolulu 83/71/pc 83/67/sh 77/67/pc

Houston 67/46/t 84/65/pc 80/65/c

Indianapolis 66/41/s 63/46/c 63/44/s

Jacksonville 74/34/pc 74/54/t 75/50/c

Kansas City 74/44/s 69/48/pc 71/57/pc

Las Cruces 63/39/pc 62/39/c 56/35/r

Las Vegas 64/53/r 54/47/r 63/50/c

Los Angeles 61/57/r 62/51/sh 65/53/pc

Louisville 70/44/s 61/50/r 67/46/pc

Madison 60/25/s 55/32/s 59/41/s

Memphis 69/40/s 65/51/c 76/59/s

Miami 77/57/pc 83/69/pc 86/68/pc

Milwaukee 64/28/s 56/37/s 44/40/s

Nashville 71/38/s 62/47/sh 68/46/s

New Orleans 59/44/sh 75/59/pc 79/64/pc

New York 41/26/s 58/45/s 59/37/s

Okla. City 72/38/pc 66/51/c 71/52/c

Omaha 75/34/s 62/42/s 66/55/pc

Albert Lea 59/29/pc 54/35/pc 57/49/s

Alexandria 53/29/s 47/34/pc 52/46/s

Bemidji 59/25/s 43/27/s 44/39/pc

Brainerd 56/22/pc 48/29/s 50/40/s

Detroit Lakes 52/30/s 42/33/pc 48/44/s

Duluth 52/23/pc 46/29/pc 43/34/pc

Fergus Falls 52/34/pc 47/34/pc 52/47/s

Grand Marais 45/23/sn 44/29/s 39/30/pc

Hibbing 53/15/s 43/21/s 45/31/pc

I’ntl Falls 58/28/s 45/22/s 43/33/pc

Mankato 63/33/s 55/37/pc 60/49/pc

Moorhead 52/34/s 47/33/pc 51/46/s

Redwood Falls 67/31/pc 56/36/pc 62/50/s

Rochester 47/30/pc 49/30/pc 54/45/s

St Cloud 59/28/pc 52/32/pc 53/45/pc

Worthington 58/38/s 57/38/pc 61/52/pc

U.S. FRI TODAY SUN

CITY FRI TODAY SUN

U.S. FRI TODAY SUN

WORLD FRI TODAY SUN

WORLD FRI TODAY SUN

Orlando 77/48/s 81/64/t 82/59/pc

Philadelphia 45/26/pc 63/47/s 64/38/s

Phoenix 75/56/c 64/51/t 64/50/r

Pittsburgh 53/18/pc 66/44/pc 62/35/pc

Portland, ME 38/12/pc 40/32/pc 44/27/pc

Portland, OR 57/38/c 49/38/r 49/39/r

Raleigh 66/32/pc 74/48/pc 73/46/s

Rapid City, SD 65/39/pc 62/36/pc 64/41/pc

Sacramento 58/52/r 60/45/sh 57/53/r

St. Louis 75/50/s 70/48/pc 73/56/s

Salt Lake City 53/32/c 56/40/c 49/34/r

San Antonio 77/48/pc 85/64/pc 81/57/t

San Diego 64/58/sh 64/55/sh 64/55/pc

San Francisco 59/54/r 58/48/c 59/57/r

San Juan 86/73/pc 86/73/s 86/72/s

Seattle 56/42/pc 50/39/r 50/40/r

Sioux City 66/33/pc 61/38/s 67/55/pc

Spokane 42/34/pc 39/31/r 40/31/c

Tampa 74/50/pc 77/65/t 80/61/s

Tucson 72/50/pc 65/46/t 60/45/r

Wash., DC 51/28/pc 66/51/pc 68/44/s

Acapulco 87/70/pc 87/67/pc 87/68/pc

Addis Ababa 78/52/pc 73/53/sh 73/49/t

Amsterdam 47/42/sh 48/40/c 48/43/c

Athens 57/34/s 60/48/pc 61/52/sh

Auckland 70/62/r 75/65/sh 76/66/sh

Baghdad 53/41/pc 57/33/s 59/35/s

Bangkok 93/70/s 94/71/s 94/73/s

Barbados 84/76/pc 84/77/s 84/76/pc

Beijing City 41/27/s 46/30/pc 55/28/c

Belgrade 39/25/pc 41/32/r 42/30/c

Berlin 43/33/sh 41/35/c 44/39/pc

Bermuda 64/55/sh 67/64/pc 69/64/pc

Brussels 48/39/c 48/39/c 48/42/c

Buenos Aires 90/70/pc 82/63/t 84/69/s

Cairo 61/44/pc 64/46/s 67/46/s

Calgary 50/37/pc 40/28/sf 45/24/pc

Cancun 82/64/c 85/72/pc 85/74/s

Caracas 75/63/pc 74/68/pc 75/69/pc

Copenhagen 43/37/r 42/38/c 44/39/r

Dublin 54/40/sh 53/44/c 53/48/c

Edmonton 43/30/pc 36/27/pc 36/26/c

Frankfurt 48/30/sh 48/33/c 48/38/pc

Geneva 50/32/sh 47/33/pc 51/34/pc

Guadalajara 76/43/pc 77/48/pc 67/42/sh

Havana 80/66/pc 85/65/pc 85/66/s

Helsinki 36/34/sn 40/34/c 41/32/sh

Hong Kong 74/60/c 75/61/s 72/64/c

Jerusalem 47/33/s 50/35/s 54/36/s

Johannesburg 78/60/c 79/59/c 79/60/pc

Kabul 50/34/r 43/37/r 46/21/sn

Kingston 85/73/pc 84/74/pc 84/73/pc

Kuwait City 64/52/pc 57/36/s 60/39/s

Lima 84/72/pc 85/72/pc 84/71/pc

London 55/43/pc 53/42/c 53/46/pc

Madrid 60/32/s 56/40/pc 57/35/sh

Manila 83/73/c 87/75/sh 85/74/sh

Mazatlan 79/54/s 75/61/pc 73/57/r

Mexico City 72/54/s 77/44/s 75/48/pc

Mogadishu 95/79/pc 88/78/s 89/76/t

Montreal 27/17/pc 42/31/pc 40/21/c

Moscow 32/21/sn 36/30/sf 34/32/sf

Mumbai 100/71/pc 97/77/pc 96/75/pc

Nairobi 84/60/pc 83/58/pc 81/58/r

Nassau 81/64/pc 83/68/pc 84/65/pc

New Delhi 80/61/pc 85/60/pc 87/62/pc

Oslo 39/21/pc 35/32/sh 45/33/pc

Ottawa 27/12/pc 43/28/pc 39/21/pc

Paris 54/37/c 51/33/pc 53/42/c

Prague 45/33/sh 41/32/c 43/34/pc

Quebec City 28/16/pc 32/30/c 39/19/c

Quito 67/47/sh 69/52/sh 69/52/sh

Reykjavik 45/41/r 44/41/pc 44/36/c

Rio de Janeiro 93/77/s 92/76/s 93/77/s

Riyadh 66/51/s 58/37/s 55/43/pc

Rome 59/37/pc 59/39/pc 57/37/pc

Santiago 79/55/s 84/54/s 88/58/s

San Jose 84/61/pc 84/64/pc 84/64/pc

Seoul 55/22/pc 37/23/s 45/25/r

Shanghai 58/45/c 56/44/s 66/54/pc

Singapore 88/77/c 84/77/c 86/76/sh

Stockholm 46/32/sn 39/34/c 43/33/c

Sydney 81/73/t 80/63/t 77/62/sh

Tehran 48/28/pc 40/26/sn 45/28/s

Tel Aviv 57/40/pc 61/44/s 66/44/s

Tokyo 66/43/pc 46/34/r 50/36/s

Toronto 32/19/pc 48/31/s 44/27/s

Vancouver 50/41/sh 45/36/r 46/37/r

Vienna 41/25/sn 43/30/sn 44/31/pc

Vientiane 88/60/s 87/63/s 87/66/s

Warsaw 37/27/sh 39/33/c 38/32/c

Winnipeg 41/27/pc 35/25/s 37/34/c

39/29

45/22

43/2744/29

48/29 46/2947/34

52/32

49/3057/38

56/36

42/33

55/37

52/35

LastFeb 18

Mar 5First

NewFeb 26

Mar 12Full

©2017; forecasts and graphics provided by

12 am 32

3 am 32

6 am 31

9 am 38

Noon 52

3 pm 62

6 pm 57

9 pm* 49

SUN • 2/19 MON • 2/20 TUE • 2/21 WED • 2/22 THU • 2/23 FRI • 2/24

High Clouds. Very mild Another record high. Showers overnight

Record warmth again? Showers & rumbles

Sun returning. Feeling like April

Hazy sun. Last very warm day

Breezy. Rain/snow mix develops

Windy. Rain changes to wet snow

Precip: 0% • Wind: WSW 5 Precip: 20% • Wind: SE 5-15

7a: 36° • noon: 47° • 5p: 52°

Precip: 80% • Wind: SSE 10-20 Precip: 10% • Wind: SW 5-15 Precip: 10% • Wind: WSW 5-15 Precip: 40% • Wind: NE 10-20 Precip: 40% • Wind: NNW 15-25

52° 58° 58° 56° 54° 43° 35°35° 46° 44° 40° 35° 32° 20°

WEATHERwith Paul Douglas

A R O U N D M I N N E S O TA

N AT I O N A L O U T L O O K

U.S. & WORLD CITIES • s-sunny • pc-partly cloudy • c-cloudy • sh-showers • t-thunderstorms • r-rain • sf-snow flurries • sn-snow • i-ice

S U N A N D M O O N T O D AY

Video forecasts: startribune.com/weather

Paul’s blog: startribune.com/pauldouglas

Paul on Twitter: @pdouglasweather

H E A LT H R E P O R T

TWIN CITIES TODAY

By Todd Nelson, filling in for Douglas:Does anyone else think this weather is a bit strange?

Golf courses are open, grills are being fired and brave souls are wearing shorts. What the heck?

February 2017 in the Twin Cities is off to a very warm start. In fact, the temperature is running nearly 7 degrees above average. In the Twin Cities, we typically see about five sub-zero nights in February, and we haven’t seen one yet. At this rate, I don’t think we’ll go below zero at all this month.

After widespread record warmth across the Upper Mid-west on Friday, we have another chance to see record warmth over the weekend and into early next week. Interestingly, the same storm that is flooding parts of Southern California will bring scattered showers and rare February rumbles to a neighborhood near you on Monday.

Enjoy this mild weather while you can. Long-range forecast models suggest accumulating snow is possible across parts of the Upper Midwest late next week. Talk about weather whip-lash. Stay tuned for more on that. Happy grilling!

Golf clubs this weekend, then shovels late week?

ZSW [C M Y K] B6 Saturday, Feb. 18, 2017

B6 • S TA R T R I B U N E M I N N E S O TA S AT U R DAY, F E B R U A RY 1 8 , 2 0 1 7

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