20 May 2024

Scott Miller, Scott Duffus set Minnesota River paddling record

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ORTONVILLE — Luck and skill were on their side as long-distance paddling enthusiasts Scott Miller and Scott Duffus sped down the length of the Minnesota River in 63 hours and five minutes.

“We got awfully lucky with the water levels and the weather,” Miller said.

The two paddlers launched their Wenonah Jensen 18 racing canoe below the dam at Ortonville at 5:27 p.m. Thursday, May 9, for their 317-mile sprint to the Mendota Bridge in Fort Snelling State Park. They arrived on the morning of May 12.

Scott Duffus, in the bow, paddles as he and paddling partner Scott Miller make their way down the Minnesota River under blue skies and fair conditions on May 10, 2024.Contributed / Scott Miller

Their time averages just over five miles per hour, including the time used to take two short sleep breaks and a few 5- and 10-minute stops along the way for food, water and to change clothes.

Fast waters, mild temperatures and even a tailwind at opportune times helped the two set the bar high for anyone who takes on the challenge. Their goal is to establish a registry, as do long-distance runners, that will allow other paddlers to set records for runs down Minnesota rivers or to match the time others set.

Both are experienced and passionate long-distance paddlers.

Miller, 48, was part of the team that made it into the Guinness Book of World Records for paddling the Mississippi River in 16 days, 20 hours and 16 minutes in May 2023. Duffus, 67, was part of the support team for that run. He and Miller have also paddled in long-distance paddle races, including the arduous Missouri River 340, which covers that many miles.

Miller conceded that he was not in as good a physical shape for the Minnesota River run as he was last year for the Mississippi River, but experience counts. He and Duffus were both prepared to deal with the sleep deprivation and hallucinations that are part of a multi-day marathon of this type.

Thanks to their experience, they also had the advantage of putting all of the other important pieces together: The right mindset and gear, and knowledge of how to best meet nutrition and hydration needs.

A support crew followed them along the route and provided pop-up shelters when the two paddlers took their two stops for sleep. They took a four-hour break around New Ulm on May 10 and a two-hour break near Belle Plaine on May 11.

Miller said Duffus realized on Saturday that he was becoming preoccupied with the hallucinations he was experiencing. He had the good sense to suggest a sleep break before they made the final dash to the finish line, according to Miller.

Part of their run was magical. Northern lights flashed and shimmered above them on May 10.

The true beauty of the adventure was the river itself, according to Miller. They were able to appreciate the epic sweep of it by making such a quick run. From a narrow channel at the start to flooded woodlands on the lower reaches, it never disappointed.

They paddled through the darkness on Marsh and Lac qui Parle lakes before an audience of thousands of pelicans.

They needed to portage around the Granite Falls dam. They put in below the U.S. 212 bridge and rode the churning waters of the rapids that follow.

“The stretch from Granite Falls to Morton is just spectacular,” Miller said. Towering granite outcrops and mature woodlands bursting in spring greenery gave the sense of being in the wild. “It was just sublime, absolutely sublime.”

For more

To view photos and a video of their adventure, check out their Facebook page at Minnesota Speed Record . They will be posting information in the future on a registry they hope to set up.

Miller is now in the process of organizing this year’s Mississippi River Weekend, which features races and fun activities June 9 in Champlin with a 150-mile race starting June 7 in Brainerd. Check out TwoPaddles.org for information.

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20 May 2024

‘Not Afraid to Look’ sculpture arrives in Park Rapids to be a part of this summer’s sculpture trail

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PARK RAPIDS, Minn. — After a 1,275-mile journey from Santa Fe, New Mexico, the “Not Afraid to Look” statue has arrived at its new home in Park Rapids.

“Not Afraid to Look” is one of 12 new sculptures in this year’s sculpture trail, which includes a variety of sculptures throughout the town and on the nearby Heartland Trail.

The replica was installed on the corner of U.S. 71 and Second Street W. on Friday morning as part of the city’s sculpture trail.

The “Not Afraid to Look” statue is a 4-foot replica of the larger sculpture at the Sacred Stone Camp on the Missouri River, where it was placed during the Standing Rock resistance gathering.

Both the original sculpture and the replica were created by artist Charles Rencountre of Santa Fe.

The corner lot where the sculpture sits is adjacent to the Giiwedinong Treaty and Culture Museum. The sculpture will be moved to a permanent location on the museum’s grounds next spring.

“It’s monumental how the city is supporting this sculpture,” said Sarah Littleredfeather, the Giiwedinong museum’s executive director. “It’s significant because it’s a tribute to the movement at Standing Rock and the protests at the Dakota Access pipeline. I was there, and the original ‘Not Afraid to Look’ is still standing there today.”

About the sculptor

Charles Rencountre said he created the original statue in 2016 on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation.

“I was inspired by the sculpture on a small pipe,” he said. “We are a nomadic people, so artists made small sculptures on their pipes dating back to the 19th and 20th centuries. I made the image large because I think our people need to remember and to see the sculptural heritage they come from.”

The carved pipes were gifted to officials in Washington, D.C., including President Andrew Jackson, during treaty negotiations.

It took about 2 1/2 months to create the replica of the original sculpture, which was built in the Santa Fe Community College art department.

“First, you make the armature using steel and rebar and styrofoam to make the basic shape or skeleton,” he said. “The concrete is mixed in small batches and applied in layers.”

Details like the facial features are added later.

“The original pipe that I took the idea from was only five or six inches tall,” he said. “It’s just a matter of using math to scale to enlarge all of your measurements.”

Rencountre has been a sculptor for more than 40 years.

“I’ve primarily done spiritual types of work,” he said, specifically mentioning Native American pipestone carvings. “I’ve also done large wood and bronze carvings. My work is often connected with Lakota creation stories.”

Rencountre says he’s done a 34 feet by 15 feet concrete sculpture with all kinds of animal and water features, including life-sized grizzly bears, eagles and ravens.

“In my creation story work, I’ve done a lot of bronze, usually depicting our gods as anatomically correct men,” he said. “Also, the white buffalo calf maiden from another one of our creation stories.”

The “Not Afraid to Look” sculpture is special to Rencountre because he says the piece called out to him.

“When I first saw ‘Not Afraid to Look White Man in the Face,’ I was very taken by it,” he said. “I had a dream when I was 17. I went to a big museum, and there were all of these pipes in cases. In the dream, I was trying to get the pipes out of the cases and out of the museum to free them. Based on that vision, I’ve tried to take the imagery that’s on our traditional pipes and make them into large sculptures for public viewing and public enjoyment so our people can remember our northern plains sculpture heritage.”

Journey to Minnesota

Rencountre and his wife, Alicia DaSilva, left Santa Fe on May 13. It took four days to reach Park Rapids. Along the way, many people asked about the sculpture.

“Whenever we stopped, people were very curious,” he said. “It’s the kind of piece that draws attention.”

The statue was painted in Piedmont, South Dakota, in his brother Craig Engel’s auto body shop. The museum contributed money toward the sculpture’s creations, Rencountre matched those funds, and the city of Park Rapids donated $500 towards the project.

“It was a beautiful day to come to Park Rapids for the first time,” he said. “All the trees blossoming, all the green. … Coming from the high desert, it’s refreshing. We’ve been walking around and taking in the town.”

Being part of the Park Rapids sculpture trail came about through Rencountre’s connections with Winona LaDuke and Sarah Littleredfearther, who have both been active in Honor the Earth and were present for the DAPL protests.

Recountre’s aunt, Ethel Lovelace, lives in Motley, Minn, a town of about 700 people in Morrison County, about 140 miles northwest of St. Paul and 60 miles south of Park Rapids.

“As a youngster, I came out to visit her on her dairy farm every year,” he said of his aunt who is now in her 80’s. “I think she’s very proud of the fact that my sculpture is here in Minnesota. It will be in the hands of the Anishinaabe people who are working to accomplish some environmental protection around the water. It belongs here.”

20 May 2024

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, supreme leader’s protege, dies at 63 in helicopter crash

by | posted in: Politics | 0

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, a hard-line protege of the country’s supreme leader who helped oversee the mass executions of thousands in 1988 and later led the country as it enriched uranium near weapons-grade levels, launched a major attack on Israel and experienced mass protests, has died. He was 63.

Raisi’s death, along with the foreign minister and other officials in a helicopter crash Sunday in northwestern Iran, came as Iran struggles with internal dissent and its relations with the wider world. A cleric first, Raisi once kissed the Quran, the Islamic holy book, before the United Nations and spoke more like a preacher than a statesman when addressing the world.

Raisi, who lost a presidential election to the relatively moderate incumbent Hassan Rouhani in 2017, came to power four years later in a vote carefully managed by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to clear any major opposition candidate.

His election came at a time when relations between Tehran and Washington were particularly tense following U.S. President Donald Trump’s 2018 decision to unilaterally withdraw America from a nuclear deal aimed at limiting Iran’s uranium enrichment in exchange for sanctions relief.

While Raisi said he wanted to rejoin the deal with world powers, his new administration instead pushed back against international inspections of nuclear facilities, in part over an alleged sabotage campaign that Tehran blamed on Israel. Talks to restore the accord remained stalled in his government’s first months.

“Sanctions are the U.S.’ new way of war with the nations of the world,” Raisi told the United Nations in September 2021. “The policy of ‘maximum oppression’ is still on. We want nothing more than what is rightfully ours.”

Mass protests swept the country in 2022 after the death of Mahsa Amini, a woman who had been detained over her allegedly loose headscarf, or hijab. The monthslong security crackdown that followed the demonstrations killed more than 500 people and more than 22,000 others were detained.

In March, a United Nations investigative panel found that Iran was responsible for the “physical violence” that led to Amini’s death.

Then came the current Israel-Hamas war, in which Iran-backed militants targeted Israel. Tehran launched an extraordinary attack itself on Israel in April that used hundreds of drones, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles. Israel, the U.S. and its allies shot down the incoming fire, but it showed just how intense the yearslong shadow war between Iran and Israel was.

Born in Mashhad on Dec. 14, 1960, Raisi was born into a family that traces its lineage to Islam’s Prophet Muhammad, as signaled by the black turban he would later wear. His father died when he was 5. He went on to the seminary in the Shiite holy city of Qom and later described himself as an ayatollah, a high-ranking Shiite cleric.

In 1988, at the end of Iran’s long war with Iraq, Raisi served on what would become known as “death commissions,” which handed down death sentences for political prisoners, militants and others. International rights groups estimate that as many as 5,000 people were executed.

After Iran’s then-Supreme Leader Ruhollah Khomeini accepted a U.N.-brokered cease-fire, members of the Iranian opposition group Mujahedeen-e-Khalq, heavily armed by Iraq’s Saddam Hussein, stormed across the Iranian border in a surprise attack. Iran ultimately blunted their assault, but the attack set the stage for the sham retrials.

Some who appeared were asked to identify themselves. Those who responded “mujahedeen” were sent to their deaths.

Raisi was defiant when asked at a news conference after his election about the executions.

“I am proud of being a defender of human rights and of people’s security and comfort as a prosecutor wherever I was,” said Raisi, who also served as Iran’s attorney general for a time.

In 2016, Khamenei appointed Raisi to run the Imam Reza charity foundation, which manages a conglomerate of businesses and endowments in Iran. It is one of many bonyads, or charitable foundations, fueled by donations or assets seized after Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution.

These foundations offer no public accounting of their spending and answer only to Iran’s supreme leader. The Imam Reza charity, known as “Astan-e Quds-e Razavi” in Farsi, is believed to be one of the biggest. Analysts estimate its worth at tens of billions of dollars as it owns almost half the land in Mashhad, Iran’s second-largest city.

At Raisi’s appointment to the foundation, Khamenei called him a “trustworthy person with high-profile experience.” That led to analyst speculation that Khamenei could be grooming Raisi as a possible candidate to be Iran’s third-ever supreme leader, a Shiite cleric who has final say on all state matters and serves as the country’s commander-in-chief.

Though Raisi lost his 2017 campaign, he still garnered nearly 16 million votes. Khamenei installed him as the head of Iran’s internationally criticized judiciary, long known for its closed-door trials of human rights activists and those with Western ties. The U.S. Treasury in 2019 sanctioned Raisi “for his administrative oversight over the executions of individuals who were juveniles at the time of their crime and the torture and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment of prisoners in Iran, including amputations.”

By 2021, Raisi became the dominant figure in the election after a panel under Khamenei disqualified candidates who posed the greatest challenge to his protege. He swept nearly 62% of the 28.9 million votes in that election. Millions stayed home and others voided ballots, resulting in the lowest turnout by percentage in the Islamic Republic’s history.

Raisi is survived by his wife and two daughters.

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20 May 2024

Dane Mizutani: Timberwolves lifer Karl-Anthony Towns deserves every bit of his moment in the spotlight

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The celebration began as soon as Karl-Anthony Towns pulled down the rebound in the final seconds of Game 7 on Sunday night at Ball Arena. For the first time in exactly 20 years, the Timberwolves were headed back to the Western Conference finals.

It was only right that it was Towns with the ball in his hands as time expired. It had to be him. There was no other way for this euphoric moment to play out.

The man that has been scapegoated incessantly throughout his career — sometimes fairly,  sometimes unfairly — proved once and for all that the Timberwolves can absolutely win an NBA championship with him as a key piece of the puzzle.

In the most important game of his life, Towns played the most impressive game of his life, putting the Timberwolves on his back for prolonged stretches in a 98-90 win over the defending NBA champion Denver Nuggets.

When the Timberwolves needed a lifeline in the early stages of this heavyweight fight, Towns was there to make sure things didn’t spiral out of control. When the Timberwolves needed somebody to slow down superstar big man Nikola Jokic at crucial junctures, Towns was more than up for the challenge. When the Timberwolves needed a bucket in the closing minutes, Towns was there for an emphatic putback slam that put an exclamation point on a night the state of Minnesota won’t soon forget.

In total, Towns finished with 23 points on 8-of-14 shooting, and he added 12 rebounds for good measure. He was a powerhouse on the offensive end, taking advantage of the matchup whenever there was a smaller defender on him. He was a pest on the defensive end, making life extremely tough on Jokic anytime he tried to create going toward the basket.

Never mind that Towns has posted dozens of games throughout his career that might have looked better in the final box score. He has never played better than he did in Game 7 when the Timberwolves needed him most.

It’s easy to feel good for Towns given everything he has had to endure since the Timberwolves made him the face of the franchise nearly a decade ago. He has grown up in the Twin Cities — literally and figuratively — since being selected with the No. 1 pick in the 2015 draft. No matter how much has changed in Minnesota in that span, Towns has been a constant throughout it all.

He has been the butt of the joke at seemingly every turn and has continued to carry himself with class regardless. He has suffered unimaginable personal loss and has continued to wear his heart on his sleeve.

He has been everything the Timberwolves could ever want in a face of the franchise off the court, and with his incredible performance in Game 7, everything the Timberwolves could ever want in a face of the franchise on the court, as well.

Sure, the Timberwolves got some help from Anthony Edwards, who shook off a very slow start on his way to 16 points, as well as Jaden McDaniels, who stepped up as a secondary scorer when nobody else wanted to be. They also got a solid showing from Rudy Gobert in the paint, a gutty effort from Mike Conley despite not being 100 percent, and a offensive explosion from Naz Reid down the stretch.

That said, Towns was the straw that stirs the drink for the Timberwolves, and the comeback win wouldn’t have been possible without him.

It’s time to give the man his flowers. He’s a Timberwolves lifer and deserves every bit of his moment in the spotlight.

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