Fourteen-year-old Patty Barton, or Patty Sue to her dad, has had the ‘typical’ teenage relationship with her parents, she said. There are ups and downs, but she always expected her parents would be there.

That is until November 2024, when her dad suffered a heart attack. A shock to her family of six. Her father, Zach Barton, stayed in the hospital for 11 days and underwent triple bypass surgery.

“After Dad’s heart attack, he and I got a lot closer,” Patty said. “I realized I wasn’t going to take things for granted anymore.”

Patty has been in Girl Scouts since kindergarten and is preparing to receive her Silver Award, one of the highest achievements in Girl Scouting involving a community issue that requires at least 50 hours of volunteer service.

Patty’s project is one she advocated for following her father’s heart attack. When he was in the hospital, she overheard doctors tell him he needed to pick up a low-impact sport, and biking fit the criteria. Her project, a Dero Fixit Bike Repair Station installed in Powers Lake Park near their Woodbury home, is a spot where bikers can stop and fill their tires, fix a flat or adjust about anything on a bike.

“I wanted to do this and dedicate it to my dad because he scared me there for a while, that he wasn’t going to be able to keep his promise to me and walk me down the aisle,” Patty said, tearing up, as her father went to hold her hand.

An unexpected hospital stay

In early November, while doing yard work, Zach Barton felt a sudden pain in his chest. A few days after visiting the emergency room, he experienced a mild heart attack.

The heart attack came as a surprise, he said. He’d always been healthy, eaten better than the average person, exercised regularly, never smoked and wasn’t diabetic, so it wasn’t caused by any of the things people tend to associate with heart attacks, he said.

What he does have is familial hypercholesterolemia, a genetic disorder that causes high cholesterol in the body, which is what ultimately led to the heart attack.

For 11 days, Barton stayed in the hospital, missing Thanksgiving with his family, he said.

“Healing was a slow process for eight weeks,” he said. “I couldn’t lift above 10 pounds. I had to sleep kind of upright and anytime that I coughed, it hurt ever so bad.”

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Patty, who believes herself to be a ‘model Girl Scout,’ someone who is a go-getter, innovator, risk-taker and leader, had her heart set on her Silver Award project for months before the heart attack. Her first few ideas: outdoor classrooms for local schools. However, three separate times, her projects fell through.

When her dad was in the hospital, her priorities changed.

“I had given up hope on my silver,” Patty said. “I was like, ‘I’ve already gotten three rejections, Dad’s in the hospital, this is the last thing I need to be worried about right now.’”

Until she overheard that conversation between her parents and her father’s cardiologist, who recommended a low-impact sport.

“Biking is a form of low-impact exercise,” Patty said.

The Fixit Bike Repair Station

Danny Barton fills his bike tire with air, using his older sister Patty Barton’s Girl Scout Silver Award project, the Fix It Bike Station, Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2025 at Powers Lake in Woodbury. From left, Allie Barton, Danny Barton, Zach Barton and Patty Barton. (Talia McWright/Pioneer Press)

When Patty was younger, she and her family would bike together regularly, and during the early years of the COVID pandemic, they even committed to biking 100 miles together one season, resulting in the grand prize of a family visit to Chuck E Cheese.

Reminiscing on the memories she had of biking with her dad, the idea for the Fixit station came to Patty, as she’d seen one at a national park many years ago. She presented the idea to her troop leader (her mom, Joanna) and explained why exactly her idea was important.

“This bike Fixit station is there to help the community and to make sure that other girls can continue biking with their dads,” Patty said.

The repair station includes ‘all the tools necessary to perform basic bike repairs and maintenance,’ according to Dero. Tools attached to the station can change a flat tire, adjust brakes and derailleurs, fill tires with air, assist in changing seat levels and more. The station also includes a QR code that can be scanned to explain use and provides a map of all other Fixit stations in the state.

While there is one other FixIt station in Woodbury, Patty said, it’s all the way in Carver Lake Park, on the opposite side of town.

“I am hoping that there will be more of these in Woodbury because Woodbury is extending their trails,” Patty said. “I am hoping that there will be more of these because I’ve been in a sticky situation where I don’t have a bike pump on me or I’ve thrown a chain while mountain biking.”

A stronger father-daughter bond

After being released from the hospital on Dec. 1, 2024, Zach Barton said all four of his children were by his side, every step of the way.

“Any time that I would call, or if they were within 10 feet of me, and they saw that I was in pain, they’d come and squeeze my arm and latch onto my arm until I finished coughing, bring me my heart pillow, bring me water, bring me whatever it was, and say, ‘Dad, are you okay? Is there anything else that you need?’”

Patty, whose birthday is Dec. 19, said she was happy that her dad was able to be there to see her turn one year older, and that the two could continue their tradition of hanging Christmas lights together. Except this time, when her dad tried to leave the house, she would yell at him to go back inside and rest. It was out of love, she said, as his close friends were there to help hang the lights while he watched in support.

Now the family takes turns going on daily bike rides with their dad, something Patty said she’ll never again overlook.

“I’m trying to prioritize health, I’m trying to prioritize diet, so it gives me the best chance for longevity,” Zach Barton said. “All four of these amazing kids and my wonderful wife are there helping me.”

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In the spring, Patty will receive her Silver Girl Scout Award for her Fixit bike station project, which she paid for using money she’d saved from selling Girl Scout cookies. The station itself cost $2,200, a couple of years’ worth of cookie sales. The city paid for the concrete pad and installation, her father said.

“I think she did an amazing job. I think it was worth Gold,” 10-year-old brother and Boy Scout Danny Barton said. “If I were a Girl Scout, I don’t think I could do a better solo project.”

Recently, Patty was sent a Facebook post from a Woodbury resident who’d snapped a picture of the station and captioned it, ‘Thank you to whoever did this. I got a flat and I really appreciate it.’ The post brought a smile to her face; it wasn’t just helpful for her family, but for her broader community too.

The video went viral on social media shortly after veteran receiver Adam Thielen learned that the Vikings had acquired him in a trade with the Carolina Panthers. That meant the local boy from Detroit Lakes was heading back to the Minnesota.

As he celebrated the moment of euphoria with his family, his wife Caitlin immediately took to Instagram, posting a clip of Thielen jumping up and down with their 4-year-old daughter Cora, shouting, “We’re going home! We’re going home! We’re going home!”

The heartwarming exchange has been shared countless times over the past 24 hours.

“That was pretty cool,” Thielen said on Thursday afternoon while standing at a podium and talking to reporters in the Twin Cities. “A memory that I’ll never forget.”

Not long after Thielen was done celebrating with his family, he hopped on a plane, shifting his mindset from getting ready for practice with the Panthers in North Carolina to preparing for a reunion with the Vikings in Minnesota.

As answered questions about the homecoming, smiling form ear to ear, Thielen admitted that he wasn’t sure it was going to happen. He’s pretty active on social media, so he had seen the rumors of the potential move, as well as the reports that negotiations between the Vikings and the Panthers had stalled out.

“I was focusing on what I could control,” Thielen said. “I knew that there was a very realistic possibility that it would not happen.”

The compensation was the sticking point for both sides. How much were the Vikings willing to give up? How much did the Panthers need to make it worth their while?

Eventually, the Vikings came to the table with an offer the Panthers couldn’t refuse, agreeing to a deal that more or less amounted to a pair of picks swaps. It wasn’t worth splitting hairs any longer considering the impact Thielen would make on and off the field.

“I couldn’t be more excited,” Thielen said. “You guys know without me even saying it how much this place means to me.”

As he wandered the familiar hallways at TCO Performance Center, Thielen spotted superstar receiver Justin Jefferson, likening it to how a couple of friends going away to college and reunite back in their hometown like no time had passed.

“That’s how I felt with Justin,” Thielen said. “It was like we’ve never been on a different team.”

As much as Thielen appreciated his time with the Panthers, he couldn’t contain his feelings of joy to be back with the Vikings.

“I’m going to make sure this emotion doesn’t fade away,” Thielen said. “It’s going to be hopefully something that lasts my entire time here.”

The uniqueness of the situation isn’t lost on him. He joked that he didn’t think he’d be standing at a podium and talking to reporters in the Twin Cities until he was announcing his retirement from the NFL.

“This is pretty surreal,” Thielen said. “I’m going to take advantage of every second I’m going to be back in this building.”

Not to mention every second he and his family are back in Minnesota where they belong.

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By REENO HASHIMOTO

TOKYO (AP) — Mount Fuji hasn’t erupted since 1707. But for Volcanic Disaster Preparedness Day, Japanese officials have released computer- and AI-generated videos showing a simulation of a potential violent eruption of the active volcano.

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The videos, released this week, are meant to prepare the 37 million residents in the greater Tokyo metropolitan area for potential disasters.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government’s video warns an eruption could strike “at any moment, without warning,” depicting volcanic ash shrouding central Tokyo, about 100 kilometers (60 miles) away, within hours, paralyzing transportation, disrupting food and power, and causing long-term respiratory problems.

The video ends with the message: “We need to arm ourselves with facts and prepare for disaster in our daily lives.” It shows a family’s pantry stocked with canned food and a first-aid kit.

The Tokyo government said in a statement that there are currently no signs of Fuji erupting. “The simulation is designed to equip residents with accurate knowledge and preparedness measures they can take in case of an emergency,” it explained.

But the videos have caused anxiety and confusion among some residents.

“Are there actually any signs of eruption?” said Shinichiro Kariya, a 57-year-old hospital employee. “Why are we now hearing things like ‘10 centimeters of ash could fall,’ even in Tokyo? I’m wondering why this is happening all of a sudden.”

Hiromi Ooki, who lives in Mishima City, which has prime views of Fuji, said she planned to buy emergency supplies the next day. “Nature’s power is so great that maybe it’s better if it scares us a little,” she said.

Representatives of both the Tokyo Metropolitan Government and Japan’s Cabinet Office Disaster Prevention Division said they had not received complaints from Tokyo residents about the videos.

University of Tokyo professor and risk communication expert Naoya Sekiya said the government has for years modeled scenarios for volcanic eruptions and earthquakes, but added that does not mean Fuji is about to erupt.

“There’s no particular significance to the timing,” Sekiya said.

Japan is highly vulnerable to natural disasters because of its climate and topography and is known for its meticulous disaster planning which spans earthquakes, typhoons, floods, mudslides and volcanic eruptions.

The Japan Meteorological Agency last August issued its first-ever “megaquake advisory” after a powerful quake struck off the southeastern coast of the southern main island of Kyushu.

Of the world’s roughly 1,500 active volcanoes, 111 are in Japan, which lies on the Pacific “Ring of Fire.”

Fuji, Japan’s tallest peak, used to erupt about every 30 years, but it has been dormant since the 18th century.

Video journalist Ayaka McGill contributed to this report.

By GABRIELA AOUN ANGUEIRA

Four days after starting his second administration, President Donald Trump floated the idea of “ getting rid of ” the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which manages federal disaster response. But at a Thursday meeting, the 12-person review council he appointed to propose changes to FEMA seemed more focused on reforms than total dismantlement.

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FEMA must be “reformed into an agency that is supporting our local and state officials that are there on the ground and responsive to the individuals that are necessary to help people be healed and whole through these situations,” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said, who co-chairs the council. But, she added, FEMA “as it exists today needs to be eliminated.”

However, the meeting in Oklahoma City offered hints of what types of reforms the council might present to Trump in its final report. Members mainly focused on conventional and oft-cited opportunities for change, such as getting money faster to states and survivors and enhancing the capacity of local emergency managers.

But some moves by the administration in the last several months have already undermined those goals, as mitigation programs are cut and the FEMA workforce is reduced. Experts also caution that no matter what the council proposes, changes to FEMA’s authority and operations require Congressional action.

A Republican-dominated council

President Donald Trump created the FEMA Review Council through a January executive order instructing the group to solicit feedback from a “broad range of stakeholders” and to deliver a report to Trump on recommended changes within 180 days of its first meeting, though that deadline has lapsed.

The 12-person council is co-chaired Noem and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and vice-chaired by former Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant. It is made up of elected officials, emergency managers and other leaders mostly from Republican states.

Trump “believes we should be in a disaster-response portfolio and footprint,” Noem said at Thursday’s meeting, “but the long-term mitigation should not be something that the federal government is continuing to be involved in to the extent that it has been in the past.”

Noem attended virtually, citing efforts toward “bringing some peace to the streets of Washington, D.C.”

Members on Thursday presented some findings collected in listening sessions conducted in multiple states and with Native tribes. Much of the discussion touched on the need to get money to states more quickly and with more flexibility. Trump and Noem have both supported the idea of giving states federal block grants quickly after a disaster instead of the current reimbursement model.

Members have spent “hours, maybe even days, exploring ways to accelerate local recovery through direct funding for public and individual assistance,” Guthrie said.

Making plans beforehand

Several members emphasized improving preparedness and mitigation before disasters hit.

“Mitigation saves lives, it protects property, it reduces cost of future disasters,” said Guthrie, but added that more responsibility should fall on individuals and state and local governments to invest in mitigation.

States like Texas and Florida have robust, well-funded emergency management agencies prepared for major disasters. Members acknowledged that if other state and local governments were to take on more responsibility in disasters, they still needed training support.

Methods for governments to unlock recovery dollars without relying on federal funds also came up, such as parametric insurance, which provides a rapid payout of a previously agreed-upon amount when a triggering event occurs.

The meeting focused less on individual survivor support, but Bryant brought up the need to reform — and protect — the National Flood Insurance Program, calling it “vital.” That program was created by Congress more than 50 years ago because many private insurers stopped offering policies in high-risk areas.

The rhetoric around FEMA is evolving

The conversation signaled a departure from some of the more aggressive rhetoric Trump and Noem have used in the past to describe their plans for FEMA. As recently as June, Trump suggested “ phasing out ” the agency after the 2025 hurricane season.

Michael Coen, who held FEMA posts under three presidential administrations, said after three council meetings, recommendations remain vague.

“Council members provided their perspective but have not identified the challenge they are trying to solve or offered a new way forward,” Coen said.

Coen also cautioned that any significant changes must go through Congress. Lawmakers in July introduced a bipartisan reform bill in the House. The so-called FEMA Act echoes some of the council’s priorities, but also proposes returning FEMA to a Cabinet-level agency.

“Most current proposed FEMA legislation strengthens FEMA,” said Coen.

Actions sometimes contradict words

Some of the administration’s actions so far contradict council members’ emphasis on expediency, mitigation and preparedness.

Noem now requires that she personally approve any DHS expenditure over $100,000. That policy led to delays in the Texas response, according to several reports, though Noem and acting administrator David Richardson have refuted those claims.

The administration halted a multibillion-dollar program for climate resilience projects, and Trump stopped approving hazard mitigation funding requests for major disasters. FEMA abruptly canceled or moved online some local preparedness trainings this spring, though many later resumed.

On Monday, more than 180 current and former FEMA staff sent an opposition letter to the FEMA Review Council and Congress, warning that the agency is so diminished that a major climate event could lead to catastrophe.

At least some of the staff were put on paid administrative leave until further notice on Tuesday.