Today is Thursday, March 27, the 86th day of 2025. There are 279 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On March 27, 1912, in Washington D.C., first lady Helen Herron Taft and the wife of Japan’s ambassador to the United States, Viscountess Chinda, planted the first two of 3,000 cherry trees given to the U.S. as a gift by the mayor of Tokyo.

Also on this date:

In 1794, Congress approved the “Act to provide a Naval Armament” of six armed ships, which provided the foundation of the permanent U.S. Navy.

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In 1939, the first NCAA men’s Division I basketball championship game was held, with the University of Oregon defeating Ohio State, 46-33.

In 1964, Alaska was hit by a magnitude 9.2 earthquake (still the strongest on record in North America) and tsunamis that together claimed over 130 lives.

In 1968, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, the first man to orbit the Earth in 1961, died when his MiG-15 jet crashed during a routine training flight near Moscow; he was 34.

In 1973, “The Godfather” won the Academy Award for best picture of 1972, but its star, Marlon Brando, refused to accept his Oscar for best actor and, in what would become one of the Oscars’ most famous moments, sent in his place actor and activist Sacheen Littlefeather, who spoke out about the depiction of Native Americans in Hollywood.

In 1975, construction began on the Trans-Alaska Pipeline; the 800-mile (1,290-kilometer) pipeline was completed just over two years later.

In 1977, in aviation’s deadliest disaster, 583 people were killed when a KLM Boeing 747, attempting to take off in heavy fog, crashed into a Pan Am 747 on an airport runway on the Canary Island of Tenerife.

In 1980, 123 workers died when a North Sea floating oil field platform, the Alexander Kielland, capsized during a storm.

In 2022, Will Smith slapped Chris Rock on stage at the 94th Academy Awards ceremony, winning the Oscar for best actor just minutes later. (Smith later resigned from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and received a 10-year ban from the Oscars.)

Today’s Birthdays:

Actor Michael York is 83.
Film director Quentin Tarantino is 62.
Singer Mariah Carey is 56.
Actor Pauley Perrette is 56.
Actor Nathan Fillion is 54.
Singer Fergie is 50.
Former MLB catcher Buster Posey is 38.
Singer Jessie J is 37.
Actor-singer Halle Bailey is 25.

UNDERWOOD, Minn. — A northwestern Minnesota teacher is facing charges after the 350-pound man allegedly stepped on the back of a sixth-grade student during a lockdown drill.

Jason Rogers, a sixth-grade teacher in the Underwood School District, was charged with malicious punishment of a child, according to court documents. Underwood, in Otter Tail County, is about 11 miles east of Fergus Falls.

A complaint filed March 11 says that Otter Tail County Sheriff’s Office deputies were called to Lake Region Hospital for a report of an assault at the Underwood School on Feb. 10. There, a male sixth-grade student reported that during a lockdown drill at school earlier that day, he was lying on his stomach when Rogers stepped on his back with both feet for approximately 10 seconds, court documents said.

The next day, a detective spoke with Rogers and other students. Rogers said students were instructed to sit down against a wall during the lockdown drill, court documents said. Two students lay on their stomachs next to the door.

Rogers told the detective he told the students lying by the door that he could step on them in their current position and didn’t feel students were taking the drill seriously. According to court documents, Rogers said he stepped on the lower back of the student and heard the student groan, say “ouch” and begin to cry. He then took his foot off the student and asked if he was OK.

Court documents said Rogers was concerned when he got an email the next day excusing the student from school for the rest of the week.

The detective talked with another student who said they saw Rogers step on the student with both feet. Rogers then said he might have stepped on the student with both feet. He admitted to stepping on two other students, one with both feet and another while walking over him, court documents said.

Rogers weighs 350 or more pounds, the court documents said, while the student is considered a healthy sixth-grader.

Malicious punishment of a child is a gross misdemeanor. If convicted, Rogers could face a maximum sentence of one year in jail or be charged $3,000.

Rogers has a court hearing on April 8.

In an email, Underwood School District Superintendent Jeff Wilson said Rogers is on administrative leave from his position as a sixth-grade teacher. He said he was unable to provide additional details, citing the Minnesota Data Practices Act.

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After squeaking into the playoffs last season before going on to win the inaugural PWHL championship, it looks as though the Frost are going to have to follow a similar path if they are to have the chance to defend their title in the postseason.

Playing their first home game since Feb. 23, the Frost fell to the first-place Montreal Victoire 4-1 on Wednesday night before an announced crowd of 6,330 at Xcel Energy Center.

With four games to play in the regular season, the fourth-place Frost are in a battle for a spot in the playoffs. They hold a two-point lead over the Ottawa Charge, but the Charge have played one less game.

A regulation win by the Charge over Boston on Saturday would have the Frost on the outside looking in when they play Toronto at Xcel on Sunday afternoon.

“These are crucial points coming to the end of the year, we know that,” said Frost coach Ken Klee. “(Montreal) found a way to bury pucks. I think we would have liked to create more chances. But I certainly liked that we kept them to 17 shots.

“But at the end of the day it’s about points, and we’ve got to figure out ways to get points.”

Following a 2-1 loss to Toronto on Feb. 23, the Frost were down to their final 10 games of the regular season. Klee said he was looking at it as two five-game series, and if the Frost could win each “series” 3-2 they would be a solid bet for the playoffs.

The Frost went 2-3 in the first five, creating added pressure for the team to finish strong. They would need to end the regular season with four straight wins to meet Klee’s goal of finishing 6-4 over the last 10 games.

It might take four wins in order for the Frost to be comfortable with their position.

“I don’t think we’re ever going to be comfortable, that’s just the way our league is,” Klee said. “There’s only six teams, and it’s super tight. Everyone is beating everyone. It makes it a fun time of year to be playing hockey, because we know there’s points on the line every night.

“And now we’re down to the nitty gritty. I’m not trying to put a label on it. Obviously, Sunday we need to come out and get points. That’s what we’re focusing on.”

Montreal became the first team in the league to clinch a playoff spot with Wednesday’s win. The Victoire scored the only goal of the first period, with Victoire captain Marie-Philip Poulin beating Frost goaltender Maddie Rooney on a wrist shot from the left-wing circle at 5:50 for her 16th goal of the season.

Laura Stacey gave Montreal a 2-0 lead 24 seconds into the second period, beating Rooney on a rebound from just off the crease. Kelly Pannek got the Frost on the board at 4:09, scoring on a backhander from the slot after a centering pass from Grace Zumwinkle.

The Frost had a great chance to tie the game at 7:49 of the third period, but Victoire goaltender Elaine Chuli slid across the crease to make a brilliant glove save on Michela Cava’s redirect of a Taylor Heise pass that appeared headed into the net.

“No one on our bench could believe it,” Stacey said of her teammate’s save.

Seventeen seconds later, Poulin scored her second goal of the game to give the Victoire a 3-1 lead.

With Montreal on a 5-on-3 power play, Stacey scored her second goal of the game at 14:40.

The Frost continue to be plagued by not being able to put the puck in the net with regularity. That will have to change in a hurry.

“I think the belief is in our locker room,” Zumwinkle said. “The last two games haven’t been our best, and that’s unacceptable. When we’re at practice we have to bring that swagger and act like we are scoring goals.

“I think that is going to be a point of emphasis for us, and hopefully we can show that out on Sunday.”

RED WING, Minn. — The Minnesota Department of Corrections determined that the Red Wing youth correctional facility violated four standards around the time a 16-year-old resident died by suicide in October.

The Department of Corrections investigation, completed in January, found that the Minnesota Correctional Facility-Red Wing failed to complete well-being checks in a timely matter, had no documentation to account for the 16-year-old’s location and did not seek permission to administer medication to the minor.

Additionally, the DOC found that a staff member working that day was supposed to be terminated in 2023 due to not cooperating with background study requirements.

The 16-year-old from Shakopee died by suicide on Oct. 19, according to the Southern Minnesota Regional Medical Examiner’s Office.

According to the death review investigation, the facility conducted the required well-being checks on the resident every 30 minutes from 9:53 p.m. Oct. 18 through 2:13 a.m. Oct. 19.

However, camera footage revealed that the checks lasted approximately one second, “which does not allow a reasonable person to ensure the safety and well-being of residents,” the review said. As a corrective action, the DOC ordered that the facility retrain its employees on well-being check requirements.

The review also found that the 16-year-old was not accounted for from approximately 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. Oct. 18. The facility was required to submit a plan identifying how staff would ensure that residents are accounted for at all times.

The review also discovered that on Oct. 18, staff did not have documented attempts to seek permission from the minor’s parents or guardian to administer medication.

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Meet the St. Paul-based team trying to get ahead of school shootings and workplace violence