Ramsey County manager finalists to be interviewed Tuesday

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The Ramsey County manager interviews will be held at 9 a.m. Tuesday at the county courthouse.

After the retirement of former County Manager Ryan O’Conner in February, Ramsey County officials began a search for a new manager, with the effort being led by national search led by GovHR USA/MGT.

Johanna Berg has been serving as the interim county manager.

The county received 54 applications and chose four finalists for the county manager role. The finalists are Anthony Alongi, Ling Becker, Nikki Farago and Jonathan Sage-Martinson. The interviews are open to the public.

For more information about the finalists, go to ramseycounty.us.

“Ramsey County is the most diverse county in the state. We have driven a lot of transformative change during some very challenging years and yet, we know, there is still a lot of work that needs to be done. Work to support employees and the community we serve. The board is excited to meet the finalists and learn how they embody the county’s mission, vision and values and would drive us into our next chapter,” said Board Chair Trista Martinson in a statement.

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Here are the Olympians from Minnesota competing in the Paris Games

Paris Olympics Day 3: Nadal loses in what is likely his final singles match of storied career

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By JENNA FRYER, AP National Writer

PARIS (AP) — On the clay court where he won 14 French Open titles, Rafael Nadal likely bid adieu to Roland Garros on Day 3 of the Paris Olympics.

Nadal was feted Monday by a rowdy crowd as he met Novak Djokovic in the second round of the men’s tennis tournament for a record 60th — and probably final — time.

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The Spaniard wouldn’t say if he plans to retire after the Olympics, but his 6-1, 6-4 loss to Djokovic showed just how diminished his game has become at age 38. The chants of “Ra-fa! Ra-fa!” began as soon as Nadal walked on the court and even helped him win four consecutive games in the second set, including a forehand winner to break to make it 4-all.

After the defeat, the two-time Olympic champion was weary of being asked about his future. He’s still playing at the Olympics, pairing with Carlos Alcaraz in doubles for Spain, and what comes next he does not know.

“I cannot live every single day with the feeling that it’s going to be, or not going to be, my last match. I come here, I try my best, I play. And when I decide to stop playing, or when I decide to keep going, I will let you know. I don’t know,” Nadal said. “If I feel that I am not competitive enough to keep going or physically I am not … ready to keep going, I will stop, and I will let you know.”

Coco cruises

Coco Gauff is making it look easy at the Paris Olympics so far, adding a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Maria Lourdes Carle of Argentina in the second round of singles to her growing collection of lopsided results.

Gauff had more than twice as many unforced errors, 26, as winners, 11. She only put 55% of her first serves in play and wound up with six double-faults and zero aces. And even though it took nearly 1 1/2 hours for the reigning U.S. Open champion and No. 2-ranked Gauff to finish off an opponent who is ranked 85th, has never won a tour-level singles title and owns an 0-2 career record at Grand Slam tournaments, she was satisfied.

“You can’t argue with the scoreline, to be honest,” the 20-year-old American said.

Super swim

Canadian phenom Summer McIntosh claimed her first gold medal with a dominating victory in the 400-meter individual medley. The 17-year-old McIntosh collected her first medal of any color on the opening night of swimming, taking a silver in the 400 freestyle behind Ariarne Titmus — and ahead of Katie Ledecky.

She pushed the pace hard through the first half of the grueling race — the butterfly and backstroke legs — to leave everyone in her wake except American Katie Grimes.

Grimes, who is also swimming the open water event in Paris, held on to claim the silver and the Americans also grabbed the bronze when Emma Weyant touched third.

Another teen rules

David Popovici made the teenagers 2 for 2 on the night when he pulled off a thrilling victory in the men’s 200 freestyle.

The 19-year-old Romanian was among three swimmers who swapped the lead back and forth on the final lap. Popovici mustered everything he had to get to the wall a mere two-hundredths of a second ahead of Britain’s Matthew Richards, with American Luke Hobson just 0.07 back to earn the bronze.

The top four were separated by a mere 0.15 seconds.

Australia wins again

Mollie O’Callaghan and Ariarne Titmus made it a 1-2 finish for Australia in the women’s 200-meter freestyle.

O’Callaghan’s victory denied Titmus her second consecutive gold of these Games. Titmus won the gold on Saturday in the 400-meter freestyle.

Men’s team all-around final

The Japanese men’s gymnastics team claimed Olympic gold with an epic comeback over its top rival.

With China looking poised to claim its first Olympic title in 12 years with one rotation to go, Japan surged ahead to win the men’s team competition after an intense and nail-biting duel.

Daiki Hashimoto, of Japan, gets hugged by teammates after performing on the horizontal bar during the men’s artistic gymnastics team finals round at Bercy Arena at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Monday, July 29, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

The Japanese overtook their rivals on the final rotation, after China’s Su Weide fell twice off the horizontal bar. Japan won with a small margin of 0.532 points.

The Americans, meanwhile, earned bronze for their first medal since 2008.

After qualifying in fifth place, the U.S. men ended a 16-year drought to the delight of the dozens of fans waving American flags who chanted “USA! USA!” throughout the evening.

The Americans posted a total of 257.793 points to edge Britain for the bronze.

U.S. women’s water polo loses

The U.S. women’s water polo team was handed a rare loss at the Olympics, falling 13-11 to Bea Ortiz and Spain in a rematch of the final at the Tokyo Games.

The U.S. is going for its fourth consecutive gold medal. No team — men or women — has won four straight water polo titles at the Olympics. It was the program’s second loss at the Olympics since it dropped the 2008 final. It went 5-0-1 in London, 6-0 in Rio de Janeiro and 6-1 in Tokyo.

After its 10-9 loss to Hungary in group play in 2021, the U.S. ripped off four straight wins by a combined score of 63-26. That included a dominant 14-5 victory over Spain in the final.

China dominates diving

China passed the one-time powerhouse United States for the top spot in gold medals in diving when Lian Junjie and Yang Hao breezed to victory in synchronized 10-meter platform. It was the 49th gold medal in China’s history.

China came into the Paris Games favored in all eight events and essentially a sure thing to take down the American record for most golds. The Big Red Machine is now 2 for 2 at these Olympics as it looks to become the first country to sweep all eight events since the program was doubled at the 2000 Sydney Games.

China’s Lian Junjie and Yang Hao celebrate on the podium after winning the gold medal in the men’s synchronised 10m platform diving final at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Monday, July 29, 2024, in Saint-Denis, France. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

Since that expansion, China has won 40 of 50 golds, including seven of eight at each of the last two Summer Games.

There hasn’t been a diving sweep since the U.S. claimed gold in all four events at the 1952 Helsinki Games.

Canada Soccer appeals penalty

Canada appealed being docked six points by FIFA in a drone-spying scandal at the women’s soccer tournament, and a verdict is expected hours before the team plays its last group-stage game Wednesday.

FIFA punished Olympic defending champion Canada on Saturday — and banned coach Bev Priestman and two assistant coaches for one year — for allegations of using a drone to spy on New Zealand’s practices.

The expected legal move by the Canadian soccer federation and Olympic body was formally registered Monday by the Court of Arbitration for Sport in a fast-track case.

CAS said it aims to have an appeal hearing Tuesday with its panel of three judges giving a verdict by midday Wednesday. The coaches’ bans are not part of this case.

Canada plays Colombia in Nice on Wednesday night and needs to know where it stands before the game starts.

Triathlon swimming canceled, again

Concerns about the water quality in the Seine River led officials to call off the swimming portion of an Olympic triathlon training session for a second straight day.

Organizers overseeing the event at the Paris Games are optimistic that triathletes will be able to swim in the city’s famed waterway when the competition starts Tuesday.

The sport’s governing body, World Triathlon, its medical team and city officials are banking on sunny weather and higher temperatures to bring levels of E. coli and other bacteria below the necessary limits to stage the swim portion of the race, which also includes biking and running.

World Triathlon made the decision to cancel the swim workout early Monday following a meeting over water quality in the Seine, which is closely linked to the weather. Rain deluged Friday’s opening ceremony and showers persisted Saturday.

Amid bumper crop of wild mushrooms, Midwest sees surge in calls to poison control centers

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The soggy summer across much of the Midwest has produced a bumper crop of wild mushrooms — and a surge in calls to poison control centers.

At the Minnesota Regional Poison Center, calls from April through July more than tripled over the same period last year, said Samantha Lee, the center’s director. The center took 90 calls for potential exposures over that period, compared with 26 calls for the same months in 2023. Exposures include people who have had actual or suspected contact with potentially poisonous mushrooms and who may or may not develop symptoms, she said.

The cases can include kids who didn’t know what they were doing and foragers who make mistakes, she said. But those numbers don’t include people who are merely curious about whether the mushrooms popping out of their yards are good to eat.

“Fortunately the majority of the time these tend to be mild symptoms,” Lee said. “A lot of these are mushrooms that were in the yard or nearby parks. Many of these cause upset stomachs, vomiting and diarrhea, but every year we do get some cases with serious outcomes.”

The situation appears to be similar throughout wetter areas of the country this spring and summer. Kait Brown, clinical managing director of America’s Poison Centers, said calls were up 26% across all states and territories for April through June.

“There are probably a couple areas in the country that are experiencing large case volumes that could be related to different weather patterns,” Brown said. However, she said her office doesn’t have state-by-state data to pinpoint exactly where.

The Minnesota poison center issued a warning this month that wild mushrooms can be hard for untrained people to identify. Common ones that typically cause milder symptoms include the little brown mushrooms that grow in yards and the small white mushrooms that can form “fairy rings,” Brown said. But some deadly species also grow in the area, including one popularly known as the “death angel” or “destroying angel.” They can cause liver failure.

Foraging for edible wild mushrooms has become increasingly popular in recent years, even before the pandemic, said Peter Martignacco, president of the Minnesota Mycological Society.

“The metro area of Minneapolis-St. Paul itself is having a huge year for mushrooms due to the previous few years of severe drought followed by this year’s extremely wet and cool spring, with consistent moisture thereafter,” said Tim Clemens, a professional forager and teacher who consults for the Minnesota poison center.

The best way to learn what’s safe is to go out with an experienced mushroom hunter, said Martignacco, whose group organizes frequent forays throughout the state. Although there are good guide books, identification apps can be inaccurate and there are guide books generated by artificial intelligence that are “notoriously useless,” Clemens said. The misleading information can cause people to make very serious mistakes, he added.

“I’m not sure what motivates them to eat something when you don’t know what it is, but some people do that,” he said.

Bally Sports North to return to Comcast on Thursday

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NEW YORK — Come Thursday, Comcast subscribers who have been without Twins baseball for the past three months will have access to Bally Sports North once again.

Twins games have been inaccessible to Comcast subscribers since the beginning of May. But on Monday, Diamond Sports Group and Comcast announced they have reached a new carriage agreement to distribute Diamond’s regional sports networks, including Bally Sports North.

“We are pleased that Minnesota Twins baseball on Bally Sports North will again be available to Comcast and Midco subscribers throughout Twins Territory,” Twins spokesman Dustin Morse said. “We appreciate Comcast and Diamond Sports Group working to reach a deal that restores television access on this important carrier. We thank Twins fans for their patience, and we look forward to the shared excitement of our postseason push these next two months.”

Starting on Thursday, subscribers to Comcast Xfinity’s Ultimate TV package will gain access to BSN and will once again be able to stream content through the Bally Sports app.

A Comcast sportsperson said viewership information shows that a majority of their customers who are watching the RSNs already have that level of service, which would mean there is no change for them.

The channel was previously available under the Popular TV plan, a smaller, less expensive package. The Ultimate TV Package is an extra $20 per month, though Comcast is offering a three-month promotion for customers who had not been at that level at no additional charge, which would take Twins fans through the end of the regular season.

The Twins currently have a one-year deal with Bally Sports North, which will expire after this season.

Trade deadline nears

The trade deadline — set for 5 p.m. CDT Tuesday — is rapidly approaching, and the Twins have yet to make a move, despite a busy past few days across the league.

Star shortstop Carlos Correa said earlier this month that he’d already been offering his two cents to manager Rocco Baldelli as the second-place Twins seek ways to improve their roster as they make a bid for a playoff spot.

“I feel like our lineup is really good, especially when we’re healthy,” Correa said. “I think we’re a top-three lineup in baseball. Definitely, everybody needs pitching.”

The rotation is the top need. But the Twins, who slashed their payroll last offseason, are not likely to take on much salary in a potential trade, which could limit their options.

“If (president of baseball operations) Derek (Falvey) and (general manager) Thad (Levine) add someone to this team or subtract someone from this team to make us a better team, then we’re going to war with that group of guys,” catcher Ryan Jeffers said. “You’ve just got to trust that the interest of the team, the overall interest to make us a better team, a more competitive team in October is what Derek and Thad are going after.”

Miranda OK

Jose Miranda was out on the field taking balls from infield coach Tony Diaz before Monday night’s game. The infielder was not in the lineup, but it was a positive sign after he took a 95 mph to the head a day earlier and immediately exited the game.

Miranda passed preliminary concussion tests on Sunday and on Monday, Baldelli said he was “doing really well.” The Twins planned to have him get back on his feet and put him through a workout on Monday to see how he reacted and came out of it.

“I think it’s probably the best possible outcome after watching him get hit the way that he did,” Baldelli said.

Briefly

The Twins promoted top prospect Walker Jenkins from Class-A Fort Myers to Class-A Advanced Cedar Rapids. The 19-year-old, whom the Twins drafted fifth overall last year, was hitting .274 with a .817 OPS this season at Fort Myers. … Rookie David Festa, who is from nearby New Jersey, will start for the Twins on Tuesday. Festa said he expected lots of friends and family members to be in attendance.

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