Lee Stecklein scored twice as the Minnesota Frost staved off elimination and put the Ottawa Charge’s playoff hopes on ice with a 3-0 win Wednesday night.

The Charge needed just one point to secure their first playoff appearance. Ottawa earning the single point would have ended the defending champion Frost’s playoff chances.

It will come down to the final regular season games Saturday.

Ottawa will need a regulation win or overtime win against the Toronto Sceptres on Saturday, or Minnesota to lose its final game against Boston on Saturday in order to clinch a playoff berth. The Charge hold the tiebreaker should the two teams be tied in points.

Leading 1-0, the Frost extended their lead at 5:38 of the third period when Stecklein beat Gwyneth Philips with a wrister from the point. Stecklein added an empty-net goal with 34 seconds remaining for her second goal of the season.

Philips, who stopped 30 shots, and Nicole Hensley, who had a 24-save shutout, were solid in the second with both making a number of big saves.

The Charge got into penalty trouble late in the period, but Philips was able to hold the Frost off. With 1:17 remaining in the second Kendall Coyne Schofield beat Philips through the legs on a partial-screen to give Minnesota a 1-0 lead.

The Charge failed to capitalize on the power play going 0-for-3.

Stecklein’s first goal on a point shot in the third provided the Frost some much-needed insurance.

The regular season wraps up Saturday with the Frost at Boston and the Charge at Toronto.

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CLEVELAND — Pablo López threw 89 pitches on Wednesday, but it was the last ball to leave his hand that the starting pitcher would like back the most.

Locked in a scoreless game, López fielded a slow tapper and slung the ball well past first baseman Ty France, allowing Guardians star José Ramírez to score all the way from second. That play ended Lopez’s night.

The inning further unraveled when 39-year-old Carlos Santana took off from first and catcher Ryan Jeffers’ attempted throw to second hit reliever Brock Stewart on his non-throwing elbow. Santana advanced to third on a wild pitch and, after a walk to Gabriel Arias, Bo Naylor launched a three-run home run to put the Twins in a 4-0 hole.

The Twins added a couple of late runs Wednesday but fell, 4-2, at Progressive Field, in a game that got away after six innings of a pitchers’ duel.

López cruised through the first six innings, allowing just two hits, a pair of doubles to batters he stranded. He had little run support to speak of, though, because while López was dealing for the Twins, so, too, was Guardians starter Luis Ortiz.

Trevor Larnach got the only Twins hit through the first five innings and he was quickly wiped off the basepaths by a double play.

Byron Buxton, who hit an infield single and advanced to third on a stolen base — the 100th of his career — and error, represented the Twins’ first runner in scoring position, and that didn’t happen until the sixth.

The Twins, who scored just a lone run a day earlier, got on the board in the eighth with a solo home run from Brooks Lee. They scored a run an inning later, too, off Cleveland closer Emmanuel Close, but that was the closest they’d get.

Cleveland Guardians’ Jose Ramirez, right, scores as Minnesota Twins catcher Ryan Jeffers takes the throw in the seventh inning of a baseball game in Cleveland, Wednesday, April 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
Minnesota Twins’ Carlos Correa lies on the ground after falling over while backing away from a pitch in the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Cleveland Guardians in Cleveland, Wednesday, April 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

Conditions of Gov. Tim Walz’s order for state employees to return to the office at least half-time are loosening as the state continues negotiating a new contract with thousands of employees.

Under a recent revision to the remote work rule, workers will now be exempt if they live more than 50 miles from their main work site. When Walz first issued the order in late March, the distance was 75 miles.

Around 60% of state employees currently work in person and did so throughout the pandemic, according to the governor’s office. The state has about 50,000 employees.

Employees working remotely will have to report to the office at least 50% of the time starting June 1, if Walz doesn’t change his order.

The change to the distance part of the rule comes as the state negotiates a new contract with the Minnesota Association of Professional Employees, which represents about 18,000 state workers.

In a statement, Megan Dayton, the union’s president, said they were aware of the threshold change but that they still oppose the return to office order.

“We view this as a cosmetic adjustment to an inherently flawed policy that continues to disrupt state operations, require unnecessary costs and destabilize the workforce without addressing any clear operational need,” she wrote.

Dayton didn’t offer further comment as contract negotiations with the state are ongoing, though she added MAPE will continue to advocate for a “telework policy that reflects modern workforce realities and respects the expertise and needs of public employees.”

State employee unions said Walz’s return-to-office order in late March took them by “total surprise.” They argued it meant significant disruptions to the lives of families, who may have to find new day care arrangements or ways to balance in-office work with taking kids to and from school.

The governor at the time said bringing employees back to the office would help state agencies boost collaboration and “build strong organizational cultures more easily.”

“We think this is reasonable, it’s certainly within the realm of where most other states go,” Walz said, while speaking with reporters outside the Capitol on Wednesday.

St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter said he had been discussing the change with the governor for weeks before the announcement.

In August, Carter announced that St. Paul would require city employees to return to work in person three days a week starting on April 1.

Many have argued bringing more state workers back to the office will bring a much-needed boost to an ailing downtown St. Paul, which is home to many state government agencies.

The district has struggled recently with high office vacancies following the rise of remote work during the pandemic, something business owners say has hurt their bottom lines.

Business leaders welcomed Walz’s change, with the St. Paul Area Chamber calling it a much needed “shot in the arm.”

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A man has been charged in a high-speed crash that killed a nun last year.

Damien John Brown, 24, of Duluth, is accused of criminal vehicular homicide and operation in the May 2024 collision that led to the death of Sister Arlene Kleemann more than six weeks later.

A criminal complaint alleges that Brown was fleeing from the scene of another collision when he blew through a stop sign in the Central Hillside neighborhood, striking the car Kleemann was riding in at a speed of at least 73 mph.

Kleemann, 80, a longtime educator residing at the St. Scholastica Monastery, suffered several serious injuries and her condition deteriorated until her death in June.

Brown has an extensive history of traffic offenses and reportedly was driving with a revoked license at the time of the crash. He is separately facing a wrongful death lawsuit.

According to court documents:

Brown was speeding east on Fourth Street when his Ford Fusion crashed into a Subaru Forester driven by Elizabeth Strickland at the intersection of Lake Avenue around 6 p.m. May 9.

Witnesses said Strickland had stopped as she headed north, but Brown made no attempt to slow for the four-way stop.

Kleemann, who was in the front passenger seat, was hospitalized for injuries that included a broken leg, multiple broken ribs, a fractured sternum, a fractured vertebrae, a kidney injury and a collapsed lung. She underwent emergency surgery, but “did not respond positively and continued in acute trauma condition.”

Brown, who was bleeding slightly but “seemed OK physically other than being shaken up,” admitted to an officer that he was at fault for the crash.

He stated he was on Interstate 35 when he “brake checked” a truck, which then rear-ended his Fusion, causing him to lose control and swipe a Chevrolet Suburban. He said he pulled over at first, but then panicked because he realized his driving privileges were revoked.

Brown told the officer he exited I-35 at Mesaba Avenue, with the Suburban following him. He turned onto Fourth Street, estimating he reached speeds of 50-55 mph and admitting he drove through the stop sign.

Kleemann was eventually moved to a skilled nursing facility but never made a complete recovery as her condition “gradually retrograded” until her death June 24. A medical examiner cited the cause as “complications of multiple blunt trauma force injuries due to a motor vehicle collision.”

Duluth police investigator Adam Gonnerman later completed an accident reconstruction, determining Brown was traveling approximately 85 mph moments before the crash and that the car was going at least 73 mph when the collision occurred.

Authorities noted the speed limit there is 30 mph and that it is a high-density residential area with significant foot traffic.

Court records show Brown has been convicted at least 13 times for driving without a valid license or after suspension or revocation. He has three speeding offenses on his record in Minnesota and he has been convicted of impaired driving, careless driving, hit-and-run property damage, possession of marijuana in a motor vehicle and failing to use a seat belt.

Brown last week was issued a summons to make an initial appearance in St. Louis County District Court on June 2.

A lawsuit was filed in February by the nun’s sole surviving heir, her 85-year-old brother, George Kleemann, of Illinois. The suit alleges negligence and seeks in excess of $50,000 in damages, a boilerplate figure often used in civil complaints.

Brown has filed a standard answer formally denying the allegations; the suit remains in its preliminary stages.

Kleemann, according to an obituary, was born and raised in Chicago, entering the St. Scholastica Monastery in 1961 and making her first monastic profession two years later. She earned a bachelor’s degree in education and music from St. Scholastica in 1966 and was a teacher and principal at St. James Catholic School in West Duluth.

Kleemann returned to her home parish in Chicago and taught at several schools there for more than 40 years, also earning a master’s degree in pastoral ministry from Loyola University in 1983. Her ministry focused on “teaching children of recent immigrants from around the world and helping their families adjust to a new life.”

Kleemann had returned to Duluth in 2023, according to the obituary.

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