Minnesota United head coach Eric Ramsay believed Kelvin Yeboah could use a deep breath in order for the striker to overcome his long scoring drought.

“He really does try to turn over every stone to get himself in a good position,” Ramsay said Tuesday. “It’s striking a balance between that and also relaxing a little bit.”

Yeboah wasn’t stressing when he calmly flicked on a Julian Gressel cross in the 10th minute.

The Loons defense didn’t pass its stress test in the second half, falling behind 2-1, but two goals from United left wing back Anthony Markanich saved United in a 3-2 win over St. Louis City in the U.S. Open Cup round of 16 on Wednesday at Allianz Field.

MNUFC beat St. Louis in MLS play on Saturday to send City to its 10th straight match without a win and squashed hopes of ending the skid Wednesday.

The Loons’ draw for its quarterfinal matchups will be Thursday morning.

Markanich scored the equalizer in the 86th minute and the game-winner in the 88th minute. Both were assisted by Joaquin Pereyra.

Markanich has now scored in three of his last four games, including MLS finishes against Inter Miami and Austin.

Yeboah had seen playing time diminish in recent MLS games, but used the national tournament to snap a scoring drought that stretched over eight injury-interrupted matches and more than 560 minutes since his brace in the 2-2 draw with L.A. Galaxy on March 22.

The Loons gave up that lead within 10 minutes of the second half.

After an initial save from Wessel Speel, St. Louis sent an ensuing cross to a wide-open Marcel Hartel in the 6-yard box. He easily converted the equalizer in the 56th minute without a Loons center back challenging him. Speel raised his arms in the air, with little he could do.

Nine minutes later, Joao Klauss beat Loons center back Morris Duggan for a header goal at the back post.

The Loons made two halftime changes at center back, taking off Carlos Harvey and Nico Romero and bringing in Michael Boxall and DJ Taylor.

MNUFC made two attacking changes — Robin Lod and Pereyra — in the 64th minute. The sub moved Sang Bin Jeong to right wing back and he was beat on the cross that led St. Louis’ go-ahead goal.

While growing up in rural Minnesota, Ramsey County commissioner Tara Jebens-Singh had a classmate die by suicide at age 13. In college, she knew a student who was asked to leave school because he was struggling — and then took his life.

“Unfortunately, moments after returning home, he accessed a family gun,” she said.

For those struggling with suicidal ideation, creating distance and time between them and a weapon is critical, said Jebens-Singh, who joined other county leaders Wednesday at Shoreview Library to remind residents who have firearms in their homes of the message: “Safe gun storage saves lives.”

“Gun locks are not just a tool for gun safety,” she said. “They are a lifesaving step that provides precious time that can make all the difference. Those moments can give a caregiver time to check on the children in the back room, or an individual in crisis time to reach out for help and rethink their options.”

Ramsey County began its Gun Safety Initiative in 2016 as a partnership between the attorney’s office, sheriff’s office and public health, with the goal of educating families about the importance of safe gun storage by providing access to free gun locks at libraries, community centers and other sites across the county. Nearly 10,000 gun locks have been given out.

With kids about to be spending more time at home while on summer break, Ramsey County Attorney John Choi said, now is a critical time to speak out about how “we can prevent the tragedies that occur around gun violence in our community.”

Choi noted last week’s case in St. Anthony, when a 3-year-old boy was hospitalized with a gunshot wound to the head after he reportedly got hold of a gun inside a car and accidentally discharged it.

The boy’s condition is improving and “it looks as though he is going to survive,” St. Anthony Police Chief Jeff Spiess said Wednesday. “He’s been communicative, and has been sitting up.”

The child’s mother was in the car when the boy got hold of a gun belonging to her friend, who was outside of the car, Spiess said. Investigators continue to review video and digital evidence, he said.

‘Grim statistics’

Nearly every day in the U.S. a child gains access to a loaded firearm and unintentionally shoots themself or someone else. In half of unintentional shootings by children, they shoot themselves and in more than 90 percent of the remaining cases, the victim is another child, according to Everytown for Gun Safety.

Households that lock both guns and ammunition are associated with an 85% risk reduction for unintentional gun injury among children compared to those that locked neither, according to the Manhattan-based nonprofit.

“A gun lock can be the difference between life or death if a child accidentally gets hold of a gun, or if an unsecured firearm is easily accessible to a teen experiencing a mental health crisis,” said Amy Caron, director of St. Paul-Ramsey County Public Health.

Last week, the Minnesota Department of Health reported preliminary data showing the number of Minnesota suicides in 2024 — 813 — was the same as in 2023, ending a 20-year upward trend. It marks two years of suicides below the state high of 860 deaths in 2022.

“While these preliminary numbers show the suicides rates per 100,000 residents holding steady, the overall upward trend over the last 20 years is concerning,” Caron said.

Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office Cmdr. Jeremy Bolen shows how a gun lock is used during a news conference at Shoreview Library on May 21, 2025. (Nick Ferraro / Pioneer Press)

Firearm injuries made up 51 percent of suicide deaths last year, a higher percentage than in recent years.

“These grim statistics are why gun locks and safely secured firearms are an important part of the work to prevent suicides, accidental deaths and injuries and gun violence,” Caron said.

The Gun Safety Initiative is critical in helping prevent suicides, said Sue Abderholden, executive director of NAMI Minnesota (National Alliance on Mental Illness).

“If you own a gun, please use a gun lock. Please use safe storage practices,” she said.

She said it is important for people to know about a law went into effect last year in Minnesota called an “Extreme Risk Protection Order” (called “red flag” laws in other states), which are temporary court orders that remove guns from people who are suicidal or who may hurt others.

There are two types of ERPOs: emergency and longterm. If a judicial officer grants an emergency ERPO, it goes into effect right away and lasts 14 days. A long-term ERPO, which can only be granted after a hearing, lasts between six months and one year.

Abderholden said people also need to know about the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, which connects someone with a trained counselor 24/7 by calling or texting 988.

“We’re also lucky that in Minnesota we have mobile mental health crisis teams serving all ages,” she said. “These are tools that we can use to prevent suicide. Please use them.”

FYI

Information about pick-up sites for free gun locks can be found at bit.ly/RamseyCogunlocks.

A pair of St. Paul parks will be renamed to reflect their sacred significance to the Dakota people.

The City Council on Wednesday voted to change the names of Bruce Vento Nature Sanctuary and Indian Mounds Regional Park to Wakáŋ Tipi and Wic̣aḣapi, respectively. Taken from the Dakota language, Wakáŋ Tipi translates to “dwelling place of the sacred,” while Wic̣aḣapi means “cemetery.”

During a news conference before the vote, Mayor Melvin Carter voiced his support for the new names, which were recommended by Minnesota’s Tribal Historic Preservation Offices and endorsed by the St. Paul Parks and Recreation Commission.

Mayor Melvin Carter talks at a press conference outside his office at City Hall in St. Paul on Wednesday, May 21, 2025. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)

“These names are not just words,” Carter said. “They’re acts of remembrance and resistance, honoring the Dakota people’s enduring presence and spiritual connection to this land. This action today is not about rewriting history, it’s about acknowledging that the land we stand on has always had Dakota names, Dakota meaning and Dakota caretakers.”

Cultural landscape

The two adjoining sites will exist as a newly designated cultural landscape called Imniżaska, which is a Dakota phrase meaning “white cliffs” and has long been used by Dakota speakers to refer to the area that is now St. Paul.

The city’s Parks and Recreation department, which will install updated signage at the sites in coming months, has been working with the Native-led nonprofit Wakáŋ Tipi Awanyankapi for several years to redesign its programming at the two parks to better reflect their spiritual significance in Dakota culture.

Maggie Lorenz, executive director of Wakáŋ Tipi Awanyankapi, said Wednesday that renaming the sites builds on “the work that generations of Dakota people have done … to hold onto our culture, to preserve our history and to advocate for our sacred places.”

Maggie Lorenz, Executive Director of Waḳaƞ Ṭípi Awaƞyaƞkapi, speaks at a news conference outside the mayor’s office at City Hall in St. Paul on Wednesday, May 21, 2025. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)

Last October, the city announced a co-management agreement for the 27-acre Wakáŋ Tipi area with Lorenz’s organization, whose 7,500-square-foot Wakáŋ Tipi Center will house an exhibit hall, classrooms, ceremonial spaces and other facilities dedicated to preserving Dakota culture when it opens in the fall.

Formerly named for the late U.S. Rep. Bruce Vento, an ardent environmentalist who helped spearhead the transformation of what was a polluted former rail yard into green space, the nature sanctuary is home to Wakáŋ Tipi cave, which is revered in Dakota culture as an ancient gathering place for Native American nations.

Vento’s widow, Susan Vento, was consulted as part of the renaming process, according to city officials. Susan Vento did not return a message seeking comment.

Carter said he believes the new name honors Bruce Vento’s legacy, adding that the congressman, who died in 2000, “was a supporter of tribal sovereignty, a supporter of treaty rights, and a champion for our environment.”

The name of the trail system that begins at Wakáŋ Tipi will remain the Bruce Vento Regional Trail.

Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan talks at a ness conference, joined by St. Paul mayor Melvin Carter, right, at City Hall in St. Paul on Wednesday, May 21, 2025. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)

Six burial mounds

The former Mounds Park, located on the bluffs overlooking Wakáŋ Tipi, contains six Native American burial mounds — the only such mounds known to exist within the urban Twin Cities.

Estimated to be up to 2,400 years old, the mounds are among the oldest human-made structures in Minnesota and are venerated by Dakota, Ho-Chunk and Ioway people as a burial place of their ancestors.

The city’s parks department in recent years has updated its signage around the mounds to educate visitors on its long history as a cemetery and to encourage them to treat it as such.

Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, who spoke alongside Carter and Lorenz before Wednesday’s council vote, said renaming the sites “acknowledges that Dakota and Native people have always been here, are still here, and will remain here into the future.”

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By SOPHIA TAREEN, Associated Press

CHICAGO (AP) — Survivors of clergy sexual abuse amplified calls Tuesday for a global zero-tolerance policy from the new pope’s American hometown and raised questions about Leo XIV’s history of dealing with accused priests from Chicago to Australia.

The Archdiocese of Chicago responded by defending Leo’s record and saying he had “consistently expressed his compassion for survivors of this crime and sin.”

The cases span Robert Prevost’s previous posts. They include leading a Catholic religious order, bishop and as head of the Vatican’s office for bishops, where he was made cardinal.

The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP, called out alleged abuse by Chicago priests and other clergy in Peru, Colombia, Canada and Australia where it contended the new pope should have done more.

Along with a worldwide zero-tolerance law for accused priests, SNAP has called for a global truth commission, survivor reparations and church transparency measures.

“It is our hope that Pope Leo does the right thing,” Shaun Dougherty, SNAP president, told reporters in Chicago. “It is our gut, in our experience, that says that he will need the pressure.”

Associated Press requests for comment to the Vatican media office Tuesday and its diplomatic representative to the United States didn’t receive immediate replies.

Clergy sexual abuse scandal has plagued the Catholic Church

No one has accused the new pope of any act of abuse himself or knowingly keeping confirmed abusers in public ministry, which has been the biggest scandal plaguing the Catholic Church recently.

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Instead, victims’ advocates said he should have involved authorities earlier, been vocal about accused priests and worked to strip them of their titles. SNAP has been gathering evidence of how the church has covered for abusers and provided internal communications referencing cases, including in Chicago.

“This is the underground story of Prevost, this is the side of him and his management and decisions that we’re finally able to bring to light,” said Peter Isely with SNAP.

Some cases span the time when Prevost was based in Chicago as the Midwest regional leader of the Order of St. Augustine, a job he took in 1999. Three years later, he became worldwide leader of the Augustinians.

One priest who faced dozens of abuse allegations left the church in 1993 before landing a job as a Shedd Aquarium tour guide on a recommendation from a top Augustinian official. The priest worked at the popular tourist and school field trip destination in Chicago for nearly a decade before Shedd officials learned about the abuse claims.

“Had Shedd Aquarium received any information regarding the kind of allegations that have been brought to our attention, we would not have hired this individual,” a 2003 letter from the aquarium said.

Advocates said Prevost inherited the case when he became Augustinian provincial leader and should have stepped in earlier, considering the priest’s new job working directly with children.

Survivors of abuse want a global zero-tolerance policy

Survivors have demanded the church adopt a global policy that a priest be permanently removed from ministry for a single act of sexual abuse that is either admitted to or established according to church law. That has been the policy in the U.S. church since the height of the U.S. scandal in 2002, but the Vatican hasn’t imposed it worldwide.

SNAP also cited a case in the Diocese of Chiclayo, Peru, which then-Bishop Prevost led from 2014 to 2023. Three women came forward in 2022 to accuse two priests of sexual abuse.

The diocese forwarded information about the case to a Vatican office, which closed the case without a finding. However, the diocese later reopened the investigation after Prevost left for a Vatican post.

Critics said Prevost failed to investigate sufficiently.

The Vatican and Prevost’s successor determined Prevost acted correctly as far as church law is concerned. The Vatican noted he imposed preliminary restrictions on the accused priest pending investigation by Peruvian authorities, who concluded that the statute of limitations had expired.

Archdiocese defends pope’s record, saying he followed church regulations

The Archdiocese of Chicago issued a detailed, five-point statement responding to SNAP’s press conference and defending the pope’s record, saying that in the various cases cited, Prevost acted in accordance with the church’s regulations at the time.

It noted that the Vatican had ascertained that Prevost acted correctly in Chiclayo because “the accused was removed from ministry, the persons bringing the allegations were offered victim assistance, the charges were reported to civil authorities and they were investigated at the diocesan level and reported” to the Vatican as required, the statement said.

As a bishop in Peru and then prefect at the Vatican, Prevost was intimately involved in an investigation into an influential Catholic movement in Peru, Sodalitium Christianae Vitae, which was suppressed earlier this year by Pope Francis because of alleged abuses.

As a result, Prevost made plenty of enemies in the movement who have shared the allegations against him on social media in what some in the Vatican say was a campaign to try to discredit him.

SNAP also cited Prevost’s role from 2023 to 2025 leading the Dicastery for Bishops. It cited cases of accused bishops from Canada, Colombia and Australia who resigned amid abuse allegations but were allowed to retain their status as bishops.

While Prevost’s office would have handled investigations of accused bishops, the final decisions would have been those of Leo’s predecessor, Pope Francis, because the pontiff has ultimate authority over bishops.

Associated Press writers Peter Smith in Pittsburgh and Nicole Winfield in Rome contributed to this report.