NORTH MANKATO – Brooke Nesdahl coined a term that now sits in quotes on Cretin-Derham Hall softball’s shirts.

“Play like it’s 0-2.”

“Because we like to keep that mindset that we’re still down, we’ve still got to play,” sophomore infielder Allie Castro said.

That Nesdahl generated that saying is fitting, considering the mentality she’s always trying to impress on the Raiders’ young squad.

“She’s always keeping us in check, always telling us not to get too high, not to get too down,” Castro said. “Just to stay in the moment.”

That paid off Thursday at Caswell Park.

A 3-0 Cretin-Derham Hall advantage quickly disappeared in the bottom of the fourth inning of the Class 3A semifinals, when St. Francis pitcher Sydney Borchert belted a three-run bomb to put the fifth-seeded Fighting Saints up 4-3.

Such a swing could cause a youth-filled team to wilt. It didn’t nothing of the sort to the top-seeded Raiders, who used a pair of their own homers to rally for a 5-4 semifinal victory. For the first time since 1991, Cretin-Derham Hall is onto the state title game.

Kaiya Anderson, Hannah Yaeger and Nesdahl all tallied multi-hit games for the Raiders, who will meet third-seeded Mankato East at 12 p.m. Friday in North Mankato for the crown. Cretin-Derham Hall is in pursuit of its first softball state title.

“It’s been awhile since CDH has been in the championship, and we’re excited to hopefully bring the hardware home and prove something this year,” Nesdahl said. “I feel it in my bones – this is us, this is our year.”

That was in doubt after Borchert’s homer, which entirely shifted momentum toward St. Francis (19-6). Cretin-Derham Hall then went down in order in the fifth, and things were looking bleak. But then Nesdahl – who surrendered the blast – stepped up to the plate with the bases empty in the sixth, perhaps seeking a touch of revenge.

A couple of pitches into the at-bat, Nesdahl could sense her moment was approaching.

“I just wanted a change in momentum for us to get that energy up,” she said. “I was like, ‘OK, I’m going to do this, let’s go.’ I was just swinging to try to do something, and it happened.”

Her homer knotted the contest.

Then, in the top of the seventh, Castro put the Raiders (20-6) out front with a home run of her own.

“I just really wanted to hit the ball and I just wanted to get on base. I wanted to keep it simple,” Castro said. “I got my pitch, and I got lucky, so I’m really happy.”

It led to an emotional trip around the base path.

“It made me want to go into tears,” Castro said. “Me and my team work so hard, and it happened. So now we’re going to the finals. I’m just so happy.”

The dramatic win comes one year after Cretin-Derham Hall was denied in the semifinals, where it fell 7-6 in 10 innings to … Mankato East. The Cougars won the state title in convincing fashion the following day.

“I think we all really hurt, but I think we left it all on the field. Of course, some people felt like they could’ve done more. But we were close,” Castro said of last year’s loss. “Me and my teammates say it’s the revenge game, because we lost against ‘Kato last year, and we’re coming back.”

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MyTalk 107.1 fill-in host Brittany Arneson and Kendall Mark, a Fox 9 traffic reporter and sidekick on “The Jason Show,” will replace the popular “Lori and Julia” afternoon radio talk show after its hosts retire at the end of the month.

Brittany Arneson, left, and Kendall Mark will replace the popular “Lori & Julia” afternoon radio talk show after its hosts retire at the end of June. (Courtesy of Kendall Mark)

“I did not expect to ever be in this position,” said Arneson, 38. “I don’t think I could have ever dreamed this.”

“Jobs at this level just don’t come up,” said Mark, 34. “You don’t pass over it. It was a really obvious decision for me.”

Longtime friends Lori Barghini and Julia Cobbs were among the first hosts hired when Hubbard Broadcasting launched MyTalk, a talk radio station devoted to women, in 2002. They surprised listeners in March when they announced that they were ending “Lori and Julia.” They made the decision due to Barghini’s desire for more free time as well as the rigors of producing the show for more than 20 years.

Station management offered Arneson, a familiar voice to MyTalk listeners after spending five years as a fill-in host, the job and set up meetings with several possible co-hosts. She quickly hit it off with Mark after the two had lunch .

“It felt like, wow, this person probably should be in my life, even if she doesn’t get this job,” said Arneson, who previously co-hosted the KQRS morning show.

“When we met for lunch, just to hang out, it felt like I’ve known her for my whole life,” Mark said. “It was already going to be her show; luckily for me, I’m joining her.”

Mark announced her departure from “The Jason Show” Tuesday on air. She has been with the syndicated daytime TV talk show since 2019. “It’s not goodbye,” she told viewers. “It’s see you later.” Later that afternoon, Barghini and Cobbs shared the news with MyTalk listeners.

‘Lori and Julia’ sign off

Both women said they are fully aware of the big shoes they’ll be filling.

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“Everyone knows Lori and Julia,” Mark said. “It’s intimidating. Usually you want to be the person who takes over after the person who takes over, if you know what I mean. They’ve both been so gracious — kind, wonderful and gracious.”

“In the comment sections, people are mourning and I get it,” Arneson said. “They’ve been on air for so many people’s big milestones, including my own. Nobody is going to mourn ‘Lori and Julia’ being done more than me. Thank God I’m going to be busy now each day from 3 to 6.”

The final installment of “Lori and Julia” will air live from the Fillmore Minneapolis on June 27. Arneson and Mark will make their debut July 8. The program typically takes the week of the Fourth of July off.

Millennial moms

The pair said they’re both millennials and new moms; Arneson has a 2-year-old and Mark has a 9-month-old. Mark added that she’s thrilled she no longer has to work hours that require her to get up in the middle of the night.

“It’s going to be fun,” Arneson said. “There’s not another big market that has two women on the air. And I know our audience is a demographic that isn’t represented enough.”

Arneson said she’s been texting Mark constantly and they share several online documents with ideas for their show.

“I think about it all the time. I also should be thinking about it more,” Arneson said with a laugh. “We want to create a show where people feel in on the joke. The idea is that it will be a working and changing show and we’re letting the audience be in on that experiment.”

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MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Michael Bloomberg, the billionaire media magnate and former New York City mayor, has agreed to partner with Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez for their in-dispute attempt to purchase the Minnesota Timberwolves, according to a person with knowledge of the deal.

The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because details of the transaction were not being made public. The news was first reported by The Athletic.

Bloomberg is currently ranked as the 12th-richest person in the world by Forbes on the business news outlet’s list of personal fortunes, with an estimated net worth of $106 billion. The 82-year-old served three terms as mayor of the country’s largest city from 2002-13. He built his wealth through the business and financial information and media company that took his last name.

Lore and Rodriguez agreed more than three years ago to buy the Timberwolves for $1.5 billion from Minnesota native and printing and agriculture mogul Glen Taylor, who halted the sale on March 28 because he said they missed the deadline to make the final payment.

Lore and Rodriguez have said they’ve got the cash to complete the deal and were delayed by the NBA in its approval of the transaction and were thus entitled to an extension. After mediation failed to resolve the conflict, the two sides are headed for an arbitration hearing in keeping with the terms of the contract.

The Lore-Rodriguez group currently owns 36% of the franchise, including the WNBA’s Minnesota Lynx. The final phase was supposed to transfer another 40% and make them controlling owners.

Lore and Rodriguez accused Taylor of having seller’s remorse because the value of the team has soared since the initial agreement, in keeping with rising NBA revenues.

Taylor acknowledged his change of heart last month but said that was because of the good vibes around the organization during a 56-26 season that went down as the second-best in franchise history. The Timberwolves wound up reaching the Western Conference finals, losing to Dallas in five games.

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said last month that the league likely would not have a reason to intervene in the dispute.

Taylor, who bought the team in 1994 for $88 million, set up the deal in phases so he could serve as a mentor to the newcomers as they learned the league, the organization and the Twin Cities community.

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MADISON, Wis. — With a “Shawshank Redemption”-style stone exterior and high castle-like guard towers, Wisconsin’s oldest prison, built in the 1850s, has long been a target for closure amid concerns about deterioration, extended lockdowns and staffing shortfalls.

The charges brought Wednesday against Randall Hepp, the warden at the maximum-security Waupun Correctional Institution, and eight of his staffers in the deaths of two inmates are only fueling calls for action.

The Waupun Correctional Institution is seen Wednesday, June 5, 2024, in Waupan, Wis. Waupun Correctional Institution Warden Randall Hepp was jailed Wednesday hours before a scheduled news conference where officials planned to discuss the findings of investigations into multiple deaths at the facility. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)

“That place is a disaster,” said Lonnie Story, an attorney for families of three people who died in the prison within the past year, as well as inmates who filed a class-action lawsuit. “The building needs to be torn down or turned into a museum or whatever they need to do with it.”

State lawmakers say they’re optimistic the charges will spark change after years of inaction.

“It really made me kind of feel sick yesterday when I saw the complaint,” said Mark Born, a former county jail officer who now serves as co-chair of the state Legislature’s budget committee. “It definitely has put the Department of Corrections on notice.”

State Rep. Michael Schraa, chair of the Assembly committee that oversees prisons, said he was shocked when he heard about the charges. He plans to use his legislative authority to issue subpoenas and call public hearings to gather more details.

“It just gave me a more resolute determination to get to the bottom of this and to put protocols in place so it doesn’t happen again,” Schraa said. “There’s a lot more appetite now to do something with a new prison.”

Ongoing concerns

Republicans and Democrats alike have been calling for years to close both the prison in Waupun and another built in the 1800s in Green Bay. But concerns over job losses in the communities and the cost of building a new prison — perhaps as high as $1 billion — have been stumbling blocks.

Democratic Gov. Tony Evers has rebuffed Republican calls for closure, saying that can’t be done without broader criminal justice reform and a plan for housing the roughly 1,700 inmates who would be displaced.

Democrats last year proposed prison reforms that didn’t call for hiring more guards or building new facilities. Meanwhile, Republican calls to close one or both of the prisons have floundered.

The focus has been on Waupun over the past year after four inmates died. Families of three of them have filed federal wrongful death lawsuits against the state.

Inmates also have filed a class-action lawsuit alleging that they can’t access health care, with guards telling them their illnesses are “all in your head” and they should “pray” for cures. They also argue that they’re allowed only one shower per week, receive no educational programming, aren’t allowed in-person visits with their families and the prison is infested with rats and roaches.

The state Corrections Department is investigating the prison’s operations, and the governor last year asked the U.S. Justice Department to look into contraband smuggling at the facility.

“We are operating the oldest prison in the state of Wisconsin in a dangerous and reckless manner,” Dodge County Sheriff Dale Schmidt said Wednesday when he announced the charges against the warden and eight others.

Deaths inside

All the charges are related to the deaths of inmates Cameron Williams in October and Donald Maier in February.

Williams told an inmate advocate three days before he died that he needed to go to the hospital, but no action was taken, according to a criminal complaint. He died of a stroke sometime Oct. 29, but his body wasn’t discovered until late the next morning, at least 12 hours later, according to the complaint.

Williams’ mother, Raven Anderson, filed a federal lawsuit in May alleging that her son started pleading for medical help about a week and a half before his death but that guards ignored him. Williams was throwing up blood and “crying and begging” to go to the emergency room for head pain, the lawsuit alleged.

Gwendolyn Vick, a nurse who was charged with abuse in connection with Williams’ death, told investigators that staff referred to Williams as a “frequent flyer” because he demanded medical care frequently in hopes of getting a trip to a hospital.

“He was a typical kind of inmate that we spend a lot of time dealing with at Waupun,” she told investigators.

Maier had severe mental health problems but either refused or wasn’t given his medication in the eight days before his death, according to a separate complaint.

An inmate told investigators that Maier flooded his cell, resulting in guards turning off Maier’s water. Guards also didn’t bring him food in the four days before his death, the complaint said.

Warden blames understaffing

Waupun Correctional Institution, the first prison to open in Wisconsin, has suffered from understaffing that resulted in a lockdown in March 2023. Nearly half of the jobs at Waupun, 43%, were vacant at the end of May, according to agency data.

This booking photo provided by the Dodge County, Wis., Sheriff’s Office shows Randall Hepp, Wednesday, June 5, 2024. Hepp, warden of a maximum-security Wisconsin prison, and eight members of his staff were charged Wednesday following investigations into the deaths of four inmates over the past year, including one that wasn’t discovered until at least 12 hours after the man died. (Dodge County Sheriff’s Office via AP)

During an interview with investigators, Hepp blamed Maier’s death at least in part on the staffing shortage, according to a criminal complaint.

When asked by investigators whether his staff understood policies on turning off inmates’ water, Hepp said that policies are emailed out because of employee shortages and that he doesn’t think anyone reads them. Asked if guards track inmates’ meals, the warden said he didn’t think any jail does and asked if that was even possible.

Hepp added that guards have a “just get by” attitude when dealing with inmates, like Maier, whose movement is restricted. Guards move between positions so often to fill vacant posts that they don’t put in much effort with restricted inmates, he said.

“This is the inevitable outcome of a long-term staffing deficit in this type of environment,” Hepp said. “This is what you are going to get.”

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