An off-duty St. Cloud, Minn., police officer was in grave condition Friday after his pickup truck crashed into the back of a Mississippi Valley Transit Authority bus on Monday night in Apple Valley.

Law enforcement reported that alcohol was involved, though St. Cloud Police Chief Jeffrey Oxton disputed whether it contributed to the crash.

The MVTA bus and the Ram pickup driven by Ryan Matthew Ebert, 44, of Big Lake, were traveling northbound on Minnesota 77/Cedar Avenue when the truck collided with the back of the bus and a cable barrier just before 10 p.m. Monday, according to a Minnesota State Patrol report.

Ebert suffered “injuries that are not survivable,” friend Tonya Eggers wrote on a GoFundMe campaign she started for Ebert’s children, who are 17 and 18.

“His family is now navigating a time filled with unexpected and overwhelming challenges,” Eggers wrote. “As a devoted father, Ryan’s greatest priority has always been the well-being of his children.”

Ebert was taken by ambulance to Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis. He was not wearing a seat belt and an airbag  deployed at the time of the crash, the State Patrol said.

The agency said in a report that Ebert’s alcohol use was a factor in the crash.

“It is important that it be known that toxicology from blood samples taken by medical staff upon Ryan’s arrival at the hospital indicate that he had a very small or trace-amount of alcohol in his system, significantly below that which would ever lead to a person being considered impaired or driving under the influence,” St. Cloud Police Chief Jeffrey Oxton said in a written statement issued Friday.

The State Patrol did not have access to Ebert’s medical records, and his family authorized their use and release for the St. Cloud Police Department statement, said Oxton, adding that news coverage of the crash may be misleading.

“Unfortunately, without all the information being known, the preliminary details being disseminated in some media coverage may lead one to assume otherwise,” Oxton said.

The driver of the bus, Phillip Alan Wright, 65, of Apple Valley, wore a seat belt and suffered minor injuries, the State Patrol said.

Ebert has been an officer with the St. Cloud Police Department since 2006, according to state licensing records. He worked as an investigator and a patrol officer, Oxton said.

“Our department is devastated by this news,” the chief said. “For all of us devastated by this tragic accident, it is important that the cause of the accident not be judged prematurely, before the final State Patrol Investigation is complete and all the information is known and available.”

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GRAND FORKS — Banners covered the side of fraternities on University Avenue. They offered encouragement for UND, vulgarities for the University of Minnesota.

When UND players arrived for the rivalry game on Friday night, they walked past a student line that wrapped around Ralph Engelstad Arena.

The chants started during warmups.

College hockey’s greatest rivalry returned to Grand Forks, and UND players ensured the night ended with a standing ovation for the final 90 seconds of the game.

Sophomore defenseman E.J. Emery scored the first two goals of his career, senior forward Dylan James added two more and No. 8 UND beat No. 13 Minnesota 5-2 in front of a raucous crowd of 11,634.

“I don’t know if I’ll experience something like this again — pro hockey or wherever hockey takes me,” James said. “I don’t think there’s a crowd or a fan base that has more passion for their players. I’m grateful to be here and score in front of them.”

UND gradually took over the series opener.

It was tied 2-2 after the first.

UND outshot Minnesota 8-4 during a scoreless second.

Then, the Fighting Hawks outshot the Gophers 11-2 in the third and scored three times.

Emery buried the game-winner at 2:25 into the third, pinching in and finishing a feed from freshman Cole Reschny.

“The whole week, you just have that feeling — the energy of the city,” Emery said. “You’re walking around campus and students are getting fired up for a big series like this. You see it all over Instagram. You really feel it the whole week. Coming in to the game today, you can really feel how special this is. Going out there and playing, it was incredible. There’s not going to be much more that tops playing the Gophers in The Ralph.”

UND continued its strong run against the Gophers in recent years.

UND is now 8-3 in last 11 rivalry games against Minnesota, and 20-3-4 in the last 27 against college hockey teams from the state of Minnesota.

“That’s a lot of fun,” UND first-year coach Dane Jackson said. “It’s such a great crowd. The Ralph was just rocking tonight. Just to be able to compete hard and represent the program in a positive manner makes you proud. We take a lot of pride in trying to live that identity that’s been put before us. The fact that guys competed at such a high level and checked and really battled and had a good mentality made you feel good.”

UND moved to 3-0 this season. Minnesota dropped to 1-3-1.

“When we game-planned, we said, ‘Hey, we’ve got to make they come through five people,’” Jackson said. “We want to make them come 200 feet and not give them those quick-strike chances where they’re coming up the ice and making high-skilled plays. I thought we did a good job bottling them up and re-loading. Guys were continually getting above pucks and taking hard strides back, not cheating for offense. That was part of the success of checking well.”

UND will now try to finish a two-game sweep — a rarity in this rivalry series.

There has only been one sweep in the last nine two-game series between the teams. In 2019, UND won a pair of games on Thanksgiving weekend in Minneapolis.

The last time UND swept the Gophers in The Ralph was January 2009.

“The mental reset now is going to be huge,” Jackson said. “Happy for the guys. We’re excited. It’s a big win. We should be proud of it. But just the idea of saying, ‘Hey, we want to be a mature group, not too high here, let’s learn from the things we did well, figure out the things we can improve and come back with a real business-like attitude.’

“We know how hard it is in this series to get a sweep. We want to make sure we’re playing our best game. If we focus on the process of playing our best game, they’ve got a chance to do it again.”

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It didn’t take long after Paul McCartney took the stage Friday night at U.S. Bank Stadium, that the 83-year-old proved why he can still pull a crowd.

He opened with his trademark violin-shaped Hofner bass strapped across his chest, barking out the lyrics to the Beatles’ “Help,” a song mainly written by John Lennon. While he maintains that Dick Clark-like eternal boyishness, McCartney’s voice has definitely weakened since we last saw him, at a two-night stand at Target Center in 2016.

But after tearing through his solo smash “Coming Up” and two more Beatles songs, “Got to Get You Into My Life” and “Drive My Car,” McCartney’s voice started to warm up. Even if he sometimes yelped, McCartney remains a compelling performer.

“Well, we got some old songs, some new songs and some in-between songs for you,” he announced to the sold-out crowd. One of the new ones, 2018’s rowdy rocker “Come On to Me,” paved the way for a ferocious “Let Me Roll It” that ended with a nod to Jimi Hendrix’s “Foxy Lady.” He switched to an electric guitar for the Wings album cut that’s been a staple of his shows since its 1974 release.

McCartney kicked off a run of songs at the piano with a lively take on “Let ‘Em In.” Another “new” one followed, 2011’s “My Valentine,” a love song he wrote for his third wife, Nancy Shevell, who was in the crowd Friday night. (For those wondering why the track was accompanied by Natalie Portman and Johnny Depp performing the song in sign language, it’s footage from its original music video.)

Between numbers, McCartney often chatted up the fans. At one point, he read off a pair of signs from the audience: “100 shows since 1976” and “Paul, sign my butt,” which earned a chuckle from the Cute Beatle. But he also got serious, too. After “Blackbird,” McCartney told a story about a Beatles concert in Florida when the band refused to play a racially segregated concert and convinced the promoter to allow for an integrated audience.

He followed with a solo acoustic take on “Here Today,” a song he wrote after Lennon’s assassination in 1980. While touching, it also featured his worst vocals of the evening. But he perked up yet again for 2023’s “Now and Then,” the final Beatles single that McCartney and Ringo Starr produced using tracks recorded by Lennon in 1977 and George Harrison in 1995.

Throughout the show, McCartney continued to swap instruments, pulling out a mandolin for 2007’s sunny “Dance Tonight” and a ukulele for a new arrangement of George Harrison’s late-period Beatles classic “Something.”

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Speaking of late-period Beatles, McCartney drew heavily from that era in the last stretch of the concert, which ran more than two hours and 40 minutes. He wrapped the main set with “Get Back,” “Let it Be” and “Hey Jude” as well as Wings’ two biggest hits, “Band on the Run” and “Hey Jude.”

He kicked off the encore with “I’ve Got a Feeling,” which he performed as a virtual duet with Lennon, using footage from the Beatles’ final concert in 1969, which was held on the roof of the band’s Apple Corps building. From there, he played “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise),” “Helter Skelter,” “Golden Slumbers” and “Carry That Weight.”

To wrap things up, McCartney ended with — what else? — “The End.” It felt even more poignant than usual given that this will likely stand as McCartney’s final performance in the Twin Cities. Thanks for the memories, Paul.

Legendary Gophers running back David Cobb took to social media on Friday to troll ex-Nebraska Cornhuskers Ameer Abdullah and Josh Mitchell.

“Nebraska has lost to MN 5 straight times & counting,” Cobb wrote on X. “I didn’t know that.”

Oh, he knew, and make it six.

Behind a dominant pass rush and a rejuvenated running game, Minnesota ran over No. 25 Nebraska 24-6 on Friday at Huntington Bank Stadium.

The Gophers (5-2, 3-1 Big Ten) remained unbeaten against Nebraska since 2018 and head coach P.J. Fleck knocked off a ranked opponent. The Gophers’ previous ranked win came at No. 24 Illinois last November.

The Cornhuskers (5-2, 2-2) was coming off two straight wins, but was playing its second road game across six days and weren’t as physical as Minnesota.

Minnesota strained the Nebraska defense with a 14-play, 98-yard drive that sucked nearly nine minutes off the clock. After the 10th play, Nebraska coach Matt Rhule called a timeout, much to the delight of the U offense and sideline.

To cap the drive off, Drake Lindsey threw a pinpoint touchdown pass to Le’Meke Brockington for a 20-yard score.

Minnesota amassed nine sacks, a new program record since 1977 — when the stat was first kept. Defensive coordinator Danny Collins’ unit has had it in them, after putting up seven in the Rutgers win Sept. 27.

The Gophers running game was stuck in the much for weeks, but Running back Darius Taylor got loose with 145 yards on 21 carries and his first rushing touchdown

The Gophers led 7-6 at the half on the back of five sacks of Raiola. Edge rushers Anthony Smith and Karter Menz each had two, with tackle Devon Eastern contributing one.

But for a third straight Big Ten home game, the Gophers fell 3-0. Nebraska put together a 12-play, 70-yard drive but had to settle for a 33-yard field goal. The lead was short-lived.

Less than two minutes later, Gophers running back Darius Taylor broke free for a 71-yard gain to Nebraska’s 1-yard line. Before that enormous gain, Taylor’s season long was all of 18 yards.

On the next play, Drake Lindsey scored on a tush push to take a 7-3 lead. The Cornhuskers put together a nine-play, 69-yard drive but a targeting call on left tackle Elijah Pritchett set back a drive that had reached the red zone and Nebraska had to settle for a 30-yard field to make it 7-6 at the break.

During the first quarter, Taylor eclipsed 2,000 career yards and was the third fastest to do it in program history. He did it in 22 games, behind Laurence Maroney (21) and Darrell Thomson (18) and one quicker than Mo Ibrahim (23).

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