Matt Poppleton, executive director at YMCA Camp Widjiwagan in Ely since 2017, has been named executive director of the Wild Rivers Conservancy of the St. Croix and Namekagon.

He starts on Monday.

Matt Poppleton (Courtesy of Wild Rivers Conservancy of the St. Croix and Namekagon)

Poppleton, 50, will be the Osceola, Wis.-based organization’s second executive director. He takes over from Deb Ryun, who had been in the position since 2009.

“My first experiences with the St. Croix and Namekagon rivers were through introducing others to this amazing wild and scenic riverway,” Poppleton said Tuesday. “From canoe trips with Wilderness Inquiry, kayak tours with REI and partnering with organizations like Wild Rivers Conservancy, I’ve had a love for this riverway for many years. I am so excited to now be with Wild Rivers Conservancy connecting people to the river and protecting it.”

Prior to joining Widjiwagan, Poppleton served as the outdoors and outreach manager at REI in Bloomington, associate director of operations at Wilderness Inquiry and as the wilderness program director at Widjiwagan.

Poppleton’s experience and values align well with the Wild Rivers Conservancy’s mission, said Loralee DiLorenzo, a board member who served as the chairwoman of the search committee.

“Matt has a passion for the outdoors and a demonstrated record of leading successful outdoor and environmental organizations,” she said.

Poppleton has a master’s degree in nonprofit management from Hamline University in St. Paul and a bachelor’s degree in outdoor recreation/conservation from Northern Michigan University in Marquette, Mich.

He and his wife, Kristen, have two children.

The Wild Rivers Conservancy has more than 1,300 members, an annual budget of $1.4 million, and 13 full-time staff members and 13 part-time staff members. It serves as the nonprofit partner of the St. Croix National Scenic Riverway. It works with the National Park Service and different conservation partners on land conservation, water-quality protection and river corridor and watershed stewardship.

Related Articles

To save spotted owls, US officials plan to kill hundreds of thousands of another owl species

Google falling short of important climate target, cites electricity needs of AI

Volunteers are needed for statewide Minnesota bumble bee survey

What it means for the Supreme Court to block enforcement of the EPA’s ‘good neighbor’ pollution rule

What happened to Minnesota’s Rapidan Dam? Here’s what to know about its flooding and partial failure

Today is Friday, July 5, the 187th day of 2024. There are 179 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On July 5, 1996, Dolly the sheep, the first mammal cloned from an adult somatic cell by scientists at the Roslin Institute at the University of Edinburgh, was born.

Also on this date:

In 1687, Isaac Newton first published his Principia Mathematica, a three-volume work setting out his mathematical principles of natural philosophy.

In 1811, Venezuela became the first South American country to declare independence from Spain.

Related Articles

The ride that inspired ‘Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance’ to be recreated

Today in History: July 4, Declaration of Independence adopted in Philadelphia

Today in History: July 3, Union wins Battle of Gettysburg

Current, former residents of St. Paul’s West Side Flats call for redress for historical displacement

Today in History: July 2, Civil Rights Act signed into law

In 1852, Frederick Douglass delivered his speech “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” at Corinthian Hall in Rochester, New York.

In 1865, the Secret Service Division of the U.S. Treasury Department was founded in Washington, D.C., with the mission of suppressing counterfeit currency.

In 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the National Labor Relations Act.

In 1937, Hormel introduced a canned meat product called Spam; more than 9 billion cans have been sold since.

In 1940, during World War II, Britain and the Vichy government in France broke off diplomatic relations.

In 1943, the Battle of Kursk began during World War II; in the weeks that followed, the Soviets were able to repeatedly repel the Germans, who eventually withdrew in defeat.

In 1946, the modern bikini, designed by Frenchman Louis Reard, was first modeled in Paris.

In 1947, Larry Doby made his debut with the Cleveland Indians, becoming the first Black player in the American League three months after Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in the National League.

In 1954, Elvis Presley recorded his first single, “That’s All Right,” at Sun Studio in Memphis, Tennessee.

In 1971, President Richard Nixon certified the 26th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which lowered the minimum voting age from 21 to 18.

In 1975, Arthur Ashe became the first Black man to win a Wimbledon singles title, defeating Jimmy Connors.

In 1977, Pakistan’s army, led by General Mohammad Zia ul-Haq, seized power from President Zulfikar Ali Bhutto (ZUL’-fih-kahr ah-LEE’ BOO’-toh).

In 1980, Bjorn Borg became the first male player to win five consecutive Wimbledon singles titles.

In 1994, Amazon was founded by Jeff Bezos as an online marketplace for books.

In 2011, a jury in Orlando, Florida, found Casey Anthony, 25, not guilty of murder, manslaughter and child abuse in the 2008 disappearance and death of her 2-year-old daughter, Caylee.

In 2013, Pope Francis cleared two of the 20th Century’s most influential popes to become saints in the Roman Catholic church, approving a miracle needed to canonize Pope John Paul II and waiving Vatican rules to honor Pope John XXIII.

Today’s Birthdays:

Julie Nixon Eisenhower is 76.
Rock star Huey Lewis is 74.
Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher Rich “Goose” Gossage is 73.
NFL Hall of Fame receiver James Lofton is 68.
Cartoonist Bill Watterson (Calvin and Hobbes) is 66.
Singer-songwriter Marc Cohn is 65.
Actor Edie Falco is 61.
Actor Jillian Armenante is 60.
Actor Kathryn Erbe (er-BEE’) is 59.
Actor Michael Stuhlbarg (STOOL’-bahrg) is 56.
Rapper RZA (RIH’-zuh) is 55.
Author Gary Shteyngart is 52.
R&B singer Joe is 51.
Rapper Royce da 5’9” is 47.
International Tennis Hall of Famer Amelie Mauresmo is 45.
Actor Ryan Hansen is 43.
Country musician Dave Haywood (Lady A) is 42.
Actor Danay Garcia is 40.
Soccer player Megan Rapinoe is 39.
Actor Jason Dolley is 33.
Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher and designated hitter Shohei Ohtani is 30.

The Minnesota Lynx fell to the Connecticut Sun 78-73 at Target Center on Thursday night, taking a loss in consecutive games for the first time this season.

Alanna Smith led the way for the Lynx with 14 points, followed by Kayla McBride’s 13 points, eight rebounds and four assists. Courtney Williams and Bridget Carleton each had 12 points.

Minnesota’s Napheesa Collier finished with nine points and six rebounds in 25 minutes before exiting the game with a left foot injury. Olivia Époupa also left the game with a left thigh injury.

“Win the next one,” coach Cheryl Reeve said of her message to the team postgame. “Flush it, move on, win the next one. That’s all our focus is.”

DeWanna Bonner had a game-high 24 points for Connecticut, while Alyssa Thomas notched a triple-double with 13 points, 14 assists and 10-rebounds.

The Sun dominated early, jumping out to a 10-2 lead while forcing four Lynx turnovers. Kayla McBride broke Minnesota’s scoring drought but Connecticut pushed the score to 20-9 with three minutes left in the first quarter.

Then came Collier, Époupa, and Dorka Juhász, who combined for all of the Lynx’s eight points, three rebounds, and three steals over the last 2:08 to guide the 8-0 run to end the quarter.

Nearly two scoreless minutes went by to start the second quarter before Connecticut’s Brionna Jones hit one of her two free throws. But a Juhász layup and a Smith 3-pointer gave Minnesota its first lead of the game at 22-21. The Lynx ended the second on an 8-2 run capped off by Williams’ fadeaway shot at the halftime buzzer as Minnesota led 40-36.

“Basketball is a game of runs,” Smith said of the interchanging leads. “If one team goes on a run, the other team also has to withstand the run.”

The Lynx led by double digits early in the second half but made multiple mistakes on both ends while going on a 4:00 scoring drought. That, along with DiJonai Carrington’s consecutive made 3s, allowed the Sun to even the game at 48-all.

Thomas took over for the Suns, scoring nine points herself to lead the 16-5 run for a 64-58 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

Collier exited the game towards the end of the third and did not return.

“That’s an MVP caliber player, of course we’d rather have her on the court with us,” McBride said of Collier’s exit. “Just her dominance and presence on both ends of the floor. … I think we needed her at that moment in the third quarter.”

Minnesota tied the game during the fourth before Bonner hit a 3 off Thomas’ 11th assist.

“You can’t [contain her passing],” Reeve said of Thomas’ impact on the game. “She’s smart, she knows how to get assists. She knows where the ball needs to go. You can take it up and you can pressure her and she’ll beat you in a different way.”

After losing back-to-back games for the first time this season, and three of four overall, Reeve and Minnesota look to increase the physicality going into Saturday’s game against the Washington Mystics.

“I think we’ll learn from that, you know, two games where we couldn’t respond to a team’s physicality,” Reeve said. “There’s not any sort of magic thing you could do, just get a little tougher.”

Related Articles

Lynx offense stalls late in loss to Liberty

Lynx rally for ‘ugly duckling’ victory in Chicago

Last-place Wings end Lynx’s six-game winning streak in Dallas

Lynx beat New York to win their first WNBA Commissioner’s Cup

Alanna Smith, Napheesa Collier keep Lynx hot in win over Mercury

Within a six-day span starting on June 28, the Saints lost utility man Will Holland to a fractured fibula, utility man Tony Kemp was released and starting shortstop Brooks Lee was called up to the Twins.

All that on the heels of losing infielder Michael Helman to a left hamstring strain on June 17.

In short, manager Toby Gardenhire has been woefully short of available players in recent games, with four losses in the past six games leading up to Thursday night’s game against the Gwinnett Stripers at CHS Field being the result of going short-handed.

“We went through a couple weeks where we had a healthy team — and we won,” Gardenhire said, referring to a recent 11-game winning streak. “But it didn’t last very long. We’re pretty shorthanded right now and we’re just trying to get through it.”

Reinforcements arrived on Thursday.

Second baseman Payton Eeles, who was signed as a minor league free agent on May 7, was called up from High Class-A Cedar Rapids. Relief pitchers Matt Bowman and Diego Castillo also rejoined the team after signing minor-league contracts.

Gardenhire said a team needs at least 12 position players to play at the optimal level. The addition of Eeles gives the Saints 11. Five starting pitchers is ideal, but that would be
considered a luxury for the Saints at this point.

“We’ve had four the last couple weeks and that cuts it pretty thin,” Gardenhire said. “So you have bullpen games. We’ve done a good job with them, because we have a good bullpen. But we’ve had there weeks in a row with bullpen games, so guys start to wear down a little bit. All of a sudden your bullpen isn’t as good as it was before.”

Gardernhire said he’s on the phone with Twins director of player development Drew MacPhail on a daily basis discussing the personnel wants and needs at the various levels of the organization. The needs of the Twins obviously take precedent, but it is becoming increasing difficult to fill in behind players called up to the major leagues.

“The tough thing we have right now is that every level is kind of short-handed,” Gardenhire said. “We’ve had a lot of injuries. A lot of different stuff has happened, to where everyone is kind of searching.”

The 24-year-old Eeles, who played collegiately at Coastal Carolina, started at second base Thursday night and got an infield single in his first at-bat. The Saints are the fourth team he has played for this season, having started the season playing for an independent team in Maryland.

“I’ve worn a lot of uniforms this year already,” he said. “It’s been a crazy two-and-a-half months.”

Thursday was another crazy night for Saints starter Louie Varland. He struggled in the first inning, throwing 42 pitches before Gardenhire made the unusual move of sending Varland out to left field with two outs and the bases loaded and having left fielder Chris Williams come in to pitch.

Williams got the last out of the inning, keeping the Saints’ deficit at 1-0.

Gardenhire sent Varland back to the mound for the top of the second, but, much to his displeasure, the umpires determined that Williams had to face a minimum of three batters
because he didn’t leave the game.

Williams surrendered a walk and a single before Varland returned to the mound. Varland gave up a three-run home run on the first pitch he threw.

The pitching moves also cost the Saints their designated hitter. Varland, hitting seventh in the order, struck out without swinging the bat in the second inning. Varland left the game after
pitching a scoreless third inning.

The Stripers scored six runs in the fourth inning off of Saints reliever Nick Wittgren in the fourth inning. They took a 10-0 lead into the top of the sixth inning and the game was not finished at press time.

Related Articles

Louie Varland focuses on regaining consistency with Saints so he can return to Twins

Bullpen falters, Saints lose game late to Iowa Cubs

Hot-hitting DaShawn Keirsey Jr. collects 3 hits in St. Paul Saints’ 8-2 rout of Iowa Cubs

Keirsey saves Saints from being no-hit

Wallner homers again, but Saints lost 11-9 at Iowa Cubs to snap road winning streak