Today in History: October 13, Hedge fund billionaire sentenced in insider-trading case

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Today is Monday, Oct. 13, the 286th day of 2025. There are 79 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On Oct. 13, 2011, Raj Rajaratnam (rahj rah-juh-RUHT’-nuhm), the hedge fund billionaire at the center of one of the biggest insider-trading cases in U.S. history, was sentenced by a federal judge in New York to 11 years behind bars. He was released early, in 2019.

Also on this date:

In 1792, the cornerstone of the executive mansion, later known as the White House, was laid by President George Washington during a ceremony in the District of Columbia.

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Today in History: October 12, First woman lights Olympic flame

In 1932, President Herbert Hoover and Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes laid the cornerstone for the U.S. Supreme Court building in Washington.

In 1943, Italy declared war on Germany, its one-time Axis partner.

In 1960, the Pittsburgh Pirates won the World Series, defeating the New York Yankees in Game 7, 10-9, on a home run hit by Bill Mazeroski.

In 1972, a Uruguayan chartered flight carrying 45 people crashed in the Andes. In order to stay alive, survivors resorted to feeding off the remains of some of the dead; 16 people were rescued more than two months later.

In 1999, in Boulder, Colorado, the JonBenet Ramsey grand jury was dismissed after 13 months of work with prosecutors saying there wasn’t enough evidence to charge anyone in the 6-year-old beauty queen’s slaying.

In 2010, 33 men were rescued from a collapsed Chilean mine after being lifted one by one in capsules 69 days after they were trapped 2,300 feet (700 meters) underground.

In 2016, Bob Dylan was named winner of the Nobel prize in literature.

In 2021, Hollywood’s Captain Kirk, 90-year-old William Shatner, blasted into space aboard a ship built by Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin company; the “Star Trek” actor and three fellow passengers reached an altitude of 66.5 miles (107 kilometers) during a flight lasting just over 10 minutes.

Today’s Birthdays:

Gospel singer Shirley Caesar is 87.
Singer-musician Paul Simon is 84.
Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones is 83.
Singer-musician Sammy Hagar is 78.
Model Beverly Johnson is 73.
Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., is 67.
Singer/TV personality Marie Osmond is 66.
NBA coach Doc Rivers is 64.
Actor T’Keyah Crystal Keymah (tuh-KEE’-ah KRYS’-tal kee-MAH’) is 63.
Football Hall of Famer Jerry Rice is 63.
Comedian and actor Matt Walsh is 61.
Baseball Hall of Famer Trevor Hoffman is 58.
Actor Kate Walsh is 58.
Actor Tisha Campbell is 57.
Olympic silver medal figure skater Nancy Kerrigan is 56.
Actor Sacha Baron Cohen is 54.
Olympic gold medal swimmer and TV personality Summer Sanders is 53.
Football Hall of Famer Brian Dawkins is 52.
Basketball Hall of Famer Paul Pierce is 48.
Singer Ashanti is 45.
Olympic gold medal swimmer Ian Thorpe is 43.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., is 36.
First daughter Tiffany Trump is 32.
Actor Caleb McLaughlin is 24.

Men’s hockey: Tommies future bright despite weekend sweep

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There’s a growing sense of anticipation for University of St. Thomas men’s hockey fans, excitement that suffering a series sweep Sunday against future conference rival North Dakota dampened only mildly.

The 10th-ranked River Hawks broke a first-period tie and cruised to a 5-2 victory over the No. 19 Tommies on Sunday at Grand Casino Arena. St. Thomas, a current Central Collegiate Hockey Association member that will join UND in the stronger National Collegiate Hockey Conference next season, suffered a 6-2 loss to the same foe Friday night in Grand Forks, N.D.

Still, with the first game in their $175 million Lee and Penny Anderson Arena scheduled for October 24 against Providence, St. Thomas backers are happily anxious despite early-season setbacks against one of college hockey’s blue bloods. The River Hawks have won eight national championships and made 22 Frozen Four appearances.

“Four years into the journey of a lifetime, we’re ready for the next chapter … on a national stage, intoned a serious-voiced announcer during a pregame hype video played on the massive arena’s video boards.

Coach Rico Blasi currently wants nothing to do with a wider point of view. The Tommies’ lost weekend on the scoreboard was his main concern.

“I’m absolutely not looking at the big picture,” the Tommies’ fifth-year boss said after his 1-2 team surrendered two power-play goals in front of a half-full lower bowl. “We’re focused on today and getting better. This stings right now, and I want it to sting. There’s no moral victories.”

So thoughts of the pomp and circumstance surrounding the new building and the NCAA Division I program’s continued rise from the Division III level just four years ago aren’t creeping in?

“Not a chance,” said the stone-faced boss, whose club visits Air Force in Colorado Springs this weekend. “We’re in the development business, and it’s (the players’) job to get better. We can’t be thinking about two weeks down the road. That’s a long ways away.”

North Dakota (2-0) opened Sunday’s scoring in the seventh minute. Defenseman Jake Livanavage walked the puck down from center point and passed into the right circle. Cole Reschny ripped a one-time shot home past the blocker of goaltender Carsen Musser and into the net’s far side.

The Tommies’ Lucas Wahlin, a Woodbury native, scored his third goal of the season five minutes into the second period. The star wing shot from low on the left wing and with goaltender Gibson Homer on his knees on the opposite side of the slot. The Arizona State transfer (25 saves) landed there after denying a Lucas Van Vielt one-timer, a rip set up by a Wahlin cross-ice pass.

The River Hawks moved ahead, 2-1, seven minutes into the period when Abram Wiebe threw an off-balance shot at the net from high on the left sideboards. The hope-and-a-prayer attempt sailed through a mix of players, over Musser’s glove and inside the far post.

 

“Overall, he has been solid,” Blasi said of Musser, a Colorado College transfer who finished with 18 saves. “I think he’d probably want a couple back tonight.”

North Dakota went up, 3-1, during the third period’s fifth minute and on a power-play goal.

The man advantage was created when Alex Gaffney was assessed a kneeing penalty despite clearly hitting Reschny with his hip when the latter was attempting to turn up ice from behind his own net. Ellis Rickwood scored from the doorstep on the rebound of a sharp-angle Livanavage shot.

The Tommies cut their deficit to 3-2 two minutes later, Ryan O’Neill scoring on a redirection at the right post off Jake Braccini’s whip of a pass from the far wing. North Dakota, however, needed only 31 seconds to go up, 4-2. Rickwood, high in the right circle spotted a wide-open Zellers gliding down the opposite side of the slot. Zellers, a Maple Grove product, had ample time and space to fire home a wrist shot.

Livanavage closed the scoring for UND, which improved to 2-6 in its last eight games in the arena, where the NCHC postseason tournament is annually staged. The River Hawks replaced 10th-year coach Brad Berry earlier this year with longtime assistant Dane Jackson.

St. Thomas defenseman Chase Cheslock, while appropriately somber after the loss, said playing in an NHL rink was a thrill.

“It’s a privilege,” said the Rogers, Minn., native, whose team has played games at a community rink in Mendota Heights with a 1,000-fan capacity. “You don’t get to play in these buildings often, and you don’t know if you ever will again. You take it all in but when it’s game time, the rink and the puck are the same size.”

No looking forward. Not for at least another week.

Briefly

North Dakota defenseman and captain Bennett Zmolek, a Rochester, Minn., product and the son of former Gopher Doug Zmolek, is easing himself back into regular action after undergoing three hip surgeries in the past six years. Bennett Zmolek, a graduate student in athletic administration and coaching, transferred from Minnesota State Mankato in 2024 but suffered a season-ending injury during his first game last season. … North Dakota defenseman E.J. Emery is that program’s first black player since 1994 and a first-round NHL draft pick in 2024 by the New York Rangers. … St. Thomas assistant coach Cory Laylin, a Gophers player during the late 1980s and early 1990s, is a Tommies assistant coac,h and sons Luc and Casy play forward on the team, although the latter was scratched from Sunday’s lineup. … St. Thomas junior defenseman Mason Poolman is the third son of 31-year North Dakota athletic trainer Mark Poolman to play college hockey. His older brothers, Tucker and Colton, suited up for the Fighting Hawks.

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Two men shot near St. Paul fast food restaurants Saturday night

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Two men were shot and injured in a parking lot near a strip of St. Paul fast food restaurants on Saturday night.

Shortly after 10:30 p.m., St. Paul police were called to a parking lot in the 1800 block of Suburban Avenue, where they found a man with gunshot wounds to his torso. The area includes both a Wendy’s and a McDonald’s restaurant. The shooting appears to have occurred in a parking lot and not inside a business, according to Alyssa Arcand, a St. Paul police spokesperson.

Another man with gunshot injuries to his head was found near White Bear Avenue and Old Hudson Road.

Both men were taken to Regions Hospital by St. Paul Fire Department medics, police said. Updates on their condition were not available Sunday.

Investigators were working Sunday to determine the circumstances surrounding the shooting, but they believe the two men were part of the same incident. No arrests have been made and the incident is an open and active investigation.

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Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer helps to make the U’s music education rock

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On Saturday, Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith met with students, alumni and guests to launch the first-ever scholarship with the University of Minnesota’s School of Music, in partnership with the Chad Smith Foundation.

It’s called the Curtis and Joan Smith Scholarship, named for Smith’s parents, who are university alumni. The scholarship is designed to help support young Minnesota musicians pursuing a degree at the university.

“It’s an opportunity for us to celebrate, obviously, my mom and dad, but also where we started our lives and grew up,” Smith said. “I love music. I’m so passionate about it. And I’m so fortunate I found it at a young age.”

Born in St. Paul, Smith was raised with a love for the U and music. As alumni, Curtis and Joan Smith graduated in 1957 and 1948,  respectively, where Curtis attended through the G.I. Bill after serving in the military.

“My father passed in 2001, but my mother is 98 years old; she couldn’t be here, but she’s really excited about the legacy that we’re continuing in her alma mater and my father’s alma mater,” Smith said. “It means a lot to her and to us.”

The Chad Smith Foundation, founded in August by Smith and his nephew Lewis Smith, seeks to connect young people to music through education and resources. This scholarship is seen as a first step in this pursuit.

“We strongly believe that the best time to have music as a role in your life is as early as possible. We’re dedicated to reaching the next generation and inspiring them to hear, see and feel music being played,” Lewis Smith said. “We want to give them access to instruments to an educational curriculum to fuel that inspiration. If they want to make it a career, maybe through the University of Minnesota, we have scholarships in place to give them the support they need to make it.”

The scholarship debuted during homecoming weekend, with an accompanying performance by Smith at a fundraising luncheon with the music school’s rock band and later at the halftime show of the Gophers football game against the Purdue Boilermakers.

The Gophers later won the game, 27-20, with a comeback in the second half of the game at Huntington Bank Stadium.

During the launch, Smith played “Californication” and “Can’t Stop” with the School of Music’s first-ever rock band, Skwirl. The band was formed in the spring by Del Lyren, the school’s undergraduate adviser and enrollment manager. The six students performed with Smith playing drums for the familiar songs.

Tia Bersie, a musical therapy student in the band, said the experience was completely unexpected.

“It’s just a really cool opportunity that felt, like, it was kind of thrown at us really suddenly. We were not expecting to get to go do something with the Chad Smith,” Bersie said.

Ava Danberg, another student and lead singer of the performance, said the recognition from an artist like Smith was validating as a student musician.

“We all have really busy schedules, but we all try to take time out of our week to practice together. So, just the fact that he took time out of his schedule to come and see us was such a cool opportunity,” Danberg said.

Another group at the luncheon was Minnesota’s branch of the School of Rock, a music program designed for students of all ages and skill levels to learn in a performance-based setting. Founded in 1998 as a single school in Philadelphia, School of Rock has expanded to over 385 locations and 16 different countries.

“It ties into our foundation because we just want the next generation to be able to have the opportunity and exposure to music and equipment and education and teachers and places to play,” Smith said.

Throughout the event, the importance of introducing young people to music was emphasized by Smith and his foundation. The drummer took time to meet with every guest present, taking pictures individually, as well as group photos with the School of Rock students.

“Music is, I just think it’s the greatest thing. It’s the universal language,” Smith said. “Everybody loves it and is connected to music. There are so many great things about it that just make the world go round.”

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