St. Louis County authorities on Wednesday identified a man who died after becoming trapped under a snow groomer.

On Tuesday, Timothy Peterson, 67, was pronounced dead at the scene on the 6800 block of Carlson Road, in the Twig area, according to the St. Louis County Sheriff’s Office. The call was placed shortly after 3 p.m.

Authorities described the tracked vehicle as an “older piece of equipment” that was privately owned and was being used to plow the driveway of a private property. No further details were immediately made available about the circumstances of the incident, though the sheriff’s office said foul play was not suspected.

The Midwest Medical Examiner’s Office was also called to the scene and is assisting the sheriff’s office in the investigation.

Related Articles

Google behind proposed Hermantown data center

A look at the Twin Cities’ largest snowfall of the season

Apostle Island ice caves likely closed for season after storm

Here’s why the Apostle Islands ice caves closed a day after opening

Authorities identify 2 deputies, man they fatally shot in Duluth

Indiana’s runaway 77-47 win over the Gophers in the penultimate Big Ten regular-season game on Wednesday actually helps both teams’ postseason positioning.

The Hoosiers needed the home win to help them get off the NCAA Tournament bubble and into the field, while Minnesota could benefit from Indiana going to March Madness because it could open up one of the few conference spots for the U to make the College Basketball Crown tournament.

The Big Ten is projected to get roughly 10 teams into the NCAA Tournament, with the next two teams in the NET ranking pegged for the Crown. The Net has Minnesota at 13th Big Ten team (69), behind Washington (61) and Southern Cal (63).

Gophers coach Niko Medved is intrigued in the potential opportunity in the Crown, a second-year tournament to be held in Las Vegas in early April. But he seemed reticent about a spot in the next option, the National Invitational Tournament (NIT).

“It just depends on how it’s set up: Who you would play? And when you would play? What that looks like?” Medved told the Pioneer Press on Monday. “I just think we have to decide. I’m not saying I would or I wouldn’t. We would be interested in any postseason, but I have a pretty good feel about how the Crown would be set up. I think that one would make sense.”

The Gophers’ final regular-season game is Saturday against Northwestern (11-16, 5-13) at Williams Arena, followed by the Big Ten tournament in Chicago next week. Minnesota (14-16, 7-12) has secured a first-round bye in the conference tourney.

At Assembly Hall on Wednesday, the Hoosiers (18-12, 9-10 Big Ten) played with urgency over their postseason fate. They had an early a 14-2 run to take 20-6 lead.

Cade Tyson — the Gophers’ best bet for all-Big Ten honors next week — got hot with a pair of 3-pointers and two 3-point plays to help keep Minnesota in the game at 26-22. But Indiana closed the half with an 8-0 lead to make it 43-28 at the break.

The Gophers’ 2-3 zone defense was a key piece in winning three of the previous four games, but the Hoosiers unlocked it. Sam Alexis was on the receiving end with 23 points on 9 of 11 shooting.

Back on Dec. 3, Minnesota beat the then-22nd-ranked Hoosiers in the Big Ten opener at The Barn, but on the road Wednesday, the U lost its ninth straight game at Indiana since 2012.

Related Articles

How Niko Medved embraces change to give Gophers best chance to win

Men’s basketball: Gophers upset UCLA

Gophers succumb to big run in loss to No. 3 Michigan

Gophers’ Grayson Grove was humbled by Dawson Garcia, but it helped

Gophers’ hot shooting leads to blowout of Rutgers

By HANNAH FINGERHUT, KONSTANTIN TOROPIN and REBECCA BOONE

WEST DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The last two names of the six U.S. soldiers killed in a Kuwait attack were released Wednesday by the Pentagon, and they are from California and Iowa.

Related Articles

Elon Musk’s proposed Tesla tunnel loop met with opposition by Nashville metro council

What to know about how GLP-1 medications might fight addiction

Lou Holtz, college football staple who coached Notre Dame to 1988 national title, dies at 89

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg says at consumer protection trial that he resisted censoring platforms

Google settles with Epic Games with offer to lower its app store commissions

The soldiers identified Wednesday were Chief Warrant Officer 3 Robert Marzan, 54, of Sacramento and Maj. Jeffrey O’Brien, 45, of Indianola, Iowa.

The Pentagon said Marzan was at the scene when a drone strike hit the command center in Kuwait and is “believed to be the individual who perished at the scene,” according to the statement. A medical examiner will confirm identification, the Pentagon said.

Four soldiers were previously identified by the Pentagon on Tuesday.

They died Sunday when a drone hit a command center in Port Shuaiba, Kuwait, just a day after the U.S. and Israel launched its military campaign against Iran. Iran responded by launching missiles and drones against Israel and several Gulf Arab states that host U.S. armed forces.

The other soldiers identified Tuesday by the Pentagon were: Sgt. Declan Coady, 20, of West Des Moines, Iowa,; Sgt. 1st Class Nicole Amor, 39, of White Bear Lake, Minnesota; Capt. Cody Khork, 35, of Winter Haven, Florida; and Sgt. 1st Class Noah Tietjens, 42, of Bellevue, Nebraska.

“Sadly, there will likely be more, before it ends. That’s the way it is,” President Donald Trump said of the deaths. Trump will attend the dignified transfers of the soldiers when they arrive in the U.S., the White House said Wednesday. The ritual honors service members killed in action.

A mother of two who loved gardening

This undated photo provided by Joey Amor shows Nicole Amor, left, and Joey Amor smiling for a photo. (Joey Amor via AP)

Amor was just days away from returning to her husband and children.

“She was almost home,” her husband, Joey Amor, said Tuesday. “You don’t go to Kuwait thinking something’s going to happen, and for her to be one of the first — it hurts.”

Amor was an avid gardener who enjoyed making salsa from the peppers and tomatoes she grew with her son, a high school senior. She enjoyed rollerblading and bicycling with her fourth-grade daughter.

A week before the drone attack, Amor was moved off-base to a shipping container-style building that had no defenses, her husband said.

“They were in fear that the base they were on was going to get attacked and they felt it was safer in smaller groups in separate places,” he said.

Childhood friend Natalie Caruso wrote on Facebook that she was “absolutely heartbroken” about Amor’s death.

“Nicole was always up for an adventure and she had such a contagious laugh!” Caruso wrote Wednesday.

‘He loved being a soldier’

This photo provided by Andrew Coady shows his son, Declan Coady, posing for a photo on the day of his graduation at U.S. Army Training Center at Fort Sill, Okla., March 15, 2024. (Andrew Coady via AP)

Coady recently told his father he had been recommended for a promotion from specialist to sergeant, a rank he received posthumously.

He was among the youngest people in his class, trained to troubleshoot military computer systems, but he impressed his instructors, Andrew Coady said Tuesday.

“He trained hard, he worked hard, his physical fitness was important to him. He loved being a soldier,” Coady said. “He was also one of the most kindest people you would ever meet, and he would do anything and everything for anyone.”

Coady, an Eagle Scout, was close to his family and often called, even if for only a few minutes. He was studying cybersecurity at Drake University in Des Moines, and he wanted to become an officer.

“I still don’t fully think it’s real,” his sister Keira Coady said. “I just remember all of our conversations about what he was going to do when he came back.”

A calling to serve his country

Andrew Coady and his daughter Keira, right, talk about his son, Sgt. Declan Coady, 20, of West Des Moines, Iowa, outside their home, Tuesday, March 3, 2026, in West Des Moines, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

Khork was very patriotic and wanted to serve in the military from childhood, his family said in a statement Tuesday.

He enlisted in the Army Reserve and joined Florida Southern College’s ROTC program.

“That commitment helped shape the course of his life and reflected the deep sense of duty that was always at the core of who he was,” his mother, Donna Burhans; father, James Khork; and stepmother, Stacey Khork; said in a statement.

Khork, who loved history, had a degree in political science.

His family described him as “the life of the party, known for his infectious spirit, generous heart, and deep care for those who served alongside him and for everyone blessed to know him.”

Abbas Jaffer posted Monday on Facebook about his friend of 16 years.

“My best friend, best man, and brother gave his life defending our country overseas,” Jaffer said.

A loving father and husband

This combination of images provided by the U.S. Army taken on May 16, 2025 shows, from top left, Sgt. Declan Coady, 20, of Des Moines, Iowa, Sgt. 1st Class Nicole Amor, 39, of White Bear Lake, Minn., Capt. Cody Khork, 35, of Lakeland, Fla., and Sgt. 1st Class Noah Tietjens, 42, of Bellevue, Neb. (Sgt. Brent Newton/U.S. Army via AP)

Tietjens, who came from a military family, previously served alongside his father in Kuwait. When he returned home in February 2010, he reunited with his overjoyed wife in a local church’s gym.

“I thought he was going to be the last person in, because he hates all this (hoopla),” his wife, Michelle Tietjens, told the Lincoln Journal Star at the time.

Tietjens’ cousin Kaylyn Golike asked for prayers, especially for Tietjens’ 12-year-old son, wife and parents, as they navigate “unimaginable loss.”

“We lost a brave soldier this weekend and many hearts are broken,” Golike wrote on Facebook Tuesday.

Tietjens earned a black belt in Philippine Combatives and Taekwondo and was “an instructor who gave his time, discipline, and leadership to others,” the Philippine Martial Arts Alliance said on Facebook.

Army Staff Sgt. Jeff Coleman said Tietjens was his mentor.

“You could call him day or night,” Coleman told KETV. “He always took the time, you know, he made you feel important.”

Boone contributed from Boise, Idaho, and Toropin from Washington. Associated Press reporters Sarah Raza in Sioux Falls, South Dakota; Josh Funk and Margery Beck in Omaha, Nebraska; Jeff Martin in Atlanta; and David Fischer in Miami contributed.

By DARLENE SUPERVILLE

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump ’s White House ballroom project is way too big and should be scaled back, an architect and member of the board of the National Trust for Historic Preservation said Wednesday — one of a number of changes he has suggested for a project he says could permanently alter the nation’s most recognizable historic home.

Related Articles

Colorado governor signals willingness to release Tina Peters from prison amid Trump pressure

Virginia court allows a referendum on Democrat-led redistricting that could flip 4 US House seats

Trump administration widens its anti-fraud efforts with a Medicaid probe in New York

Judge rules companies are entitled to refunds for Trump tariffs overturned by the Supreme Court

Trump says deal on data centers will lower electricity costs, but offers few details

David Scott Parker, a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects whose firm specializes in residential design and historic preservation, shared his views with The Associated Press as a key federal agency, the National Capital Planning Commission, prepared to meet Thursday to vote on whether to approve the 90,000-square-foot project. A separate federal panel, the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, approved the project at its February meeting.

“Everything here feels inflated,” said Parker, who has been an architect for more than 35 years. “The net effect of this is to adversely impact what is the most important historic — the most identifiable historic — house in the entire United States. This is permanent, what it will do to the White House.”

Trump announced last summer he would be add a ballroom to the White House, citing the need for space other than a tent on the lawn to entertain important guests. He demolished the East Wing in October with little warning and underground construction to prepare the site has been underway since then. White House officials have said above-ground construction would not start before April, at the earliest.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation, a private, nonprofit group, asked a federal judge to temporarily halt construction until the White House submitted the construction plans to both federal panels and to Congress for approval, and allowed the public to comment. U.S. District Judge Richard Leon rejected the request last week, and the Trust has said it plans to file an amended lawsuit.

Parker’s architectural analysis was based on renderings and other information the White House submitted to the fine arts commission last month.

President Donald Trump speaks about the new ballroom construction before a Medal of Honor ceremony in the East Room of the White House, Monday, March 2, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

The ballroom itself takes up about 22,000 square feet of the total space, and Parker said that is far larger than needed for the 1,000 guests Trump has said it would accommodate. The industry standard for a ballroom allots 15 square feet per person, Parker said. By that measure, Trump’s ballroom could be 47% smaller — or no bigger than 15,000 square feet, he said.

The proposal includes a 4,000-square-foot, south-facing porch and staircase. Parker said these are unnecessary since they don’t provide guests with direct access to the interior of the building. He said the porch doesn’t comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The White House said Wednesday that the ballroom will comply with the federal law requiring accommodations for people with disabilities, but did not provide further comment on Parker’s critique.

The proposed portico is significantly larger than the portico on the south side of the White House and the south side of the Treasury Department building nearby.

Artist renderings and diagrams of the new White House East Wing and Ballroom, briefly posted on the National Capital Planning Commission’s website ahead of a March 5, hearing, are photographed Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Jon Elswick)

Concerns about the project’s size have followed it from the start. At nearly twice the size of the main White House itself, which is 55,000 square feet, critics have argued the addition would overwhelm the mansion and throw off the symmetry of the complex.

Parker said his other main concern is that the addition would stick out just enough so that it impedes the line of sight along Pennsylvania Avenue between the White House and the Capitol as it was purposely designed hundreds of years ago by Pierre L’Enfant, who was hired by George Washington to lay out the U.S. capital.

“It’s hard to fathom that … one addition could have so many adverse impacts, symbolically, architecturally and historically,” Parker said. “This literally violates the Founding Fathers’ intentions.”

Parker is listed among more than 100 people registered to speak at Thursday’s commission meeting, which is scheduled to be conducted online, according to the agency’s website. Thousands of people submitted comments in advance and many were opposed to Trump’s project.