A Milwaukee-area man allegedly had hallucinogenic mushrooms in his van and showed signs of impairment when he slammed into a scissor lift inside a North Shore highway tunnel last week, critically injuring a worker.

Patches Magickbeans, 34, of Hartland, Wis., was charged Monday with three crimes in the crash that left Benjamin John Kidd, 27, of Duluth, with life-threatening injuries.

Authorities said Magickbeans struck the maintenance equipment in the Lafayette Bluff Tunnel along Minnesota 61, about 8 miles north of Two Harbors, just before 4 p.m. Wednesday.

Kidd was thrown to the ground from the lift, which had been extended to the ceiling, while a second worker, Bradley Nicholas Kostiuk, 37, of Duluth, was able to grab a light fixture and pull himself to safety with only minor injuries.

According to a criminal complaint:

Patches Magickbeans, 35, of Hartland, Wis., has been charged with hitting a pair of workmen on a scissor lift inside a highway tunnel on Minnesota’s North Shore. The June 18, 2024, crash one of the men in critical condition. (Forum News Service)

An off-duty police officer was traveling north behind Magickbeans and captured the incident on his dash cam. He told a sheriff’s deputy the van was “swerving and weaving” on the road and then hit a curb and several traffic cones before ramming into the lift.

The van then hit the tunnel wall and rolled several times, landing on its side and trapping Magickbeans inside. The officer reported the driver seemed to show signs of drug impairment and became combative with rescue personnel.

Kostiuk told the deputy he heard the cones getting hit and looked to see a van moving fast in their direction. He then grabbed onto the overhead lighting system, apparently getting clipped on the hip by the falling lift. He managed to pull himself up and tuck his knees to his chest on a rail as he awaited assistance from first responders.

Magickbeans was helped out of the van and continued to show signs of impairment. He was reportedly “saying things did not make sense,” making erratic movements, displaying an “absent look such as not being able to focus on anything or anyone” and “interacting with things in the air that were not there.”

Kidd and Magickbeans were both airlifted to Essentia Health-St. Mary’s Medical Center in Duluth, where the worker remained hospitalized with “critical and life threatening injuries” as of Monday.

The highway was closed in both directions for several hours before the scene was cleared.

In Magickbeans’ van, investigators found two plastic bags with suspected psilocybin mushrooms weighing approximately 90 grams.

When a state trooper met with the defendant Saturday, he indicated he suffered a couple broken ribs and said the last thing he remembered was driving in Cloquet. He said he did not have any alcohol or drugs that day, has no medical conditions and slept 12 hours the night before.

Magickbeans told the trooper he forages for the mushrooms himself and had a small one the day before, along with an edible. However, he said there would not be any controlled substances in his system and that he was unsure why he would have struck the workers.

A blood sample was taken at the hospital under a search warrant following the crash. Results were still pending.

Magickbeans, who has no apparent criminal history, is charged with felony and gross misdemeanor criminal vehicular operation and felony second-degree possession of a controlled substance.

A judge set unconditional bail at $75,000 and also ordered a potential supervised release option. Magickbeans’ next court appearance was scheduled for Aug. 4.

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The Twins may be sputtering through the month of June, but they still believe they have the right man in charge to lead the club. The organization has picked up the team option on manager Rocco Baldelli’s contact for the 2026 season, per a report in The Athletic.

Neither Baldelli, who is in his seventh season leading the Twins, nor a club official confirmed the report when asked about it.

“The entire time I’ve been with the Twins organization, I’ve never commented on anything contractually or anything related to it. I’m going to stay there,” Baldelli said. “I spend all my time and my energy right now thinking about our team and how to get our guys in a great place and how to win games. That’s the way I like to keep it. I don’t really have anything to add on that in any way.”

The Twins entered Tuesday’s game against the Seattle Mariners losers of 10 of their previous 11 games. They’ve slipped under .500 and into fourth place in the American League Central Division during a disastrous month of June in which the team had a 6.81 collective earned-run average.

But still, on Monday, president of baseball and business operations Derek Falvey threw his support behind the manager.

“Rocco is not running away from any of the work,” Falvey said. “My focus has been on how do I support him with that, because I do believe he has got the players’ best interest at heart and he’s trying to figure out how to solve a challenging equation that we’re all trying to navigate through. He’s not alone in that. We’re all side by side with him, as is the staff and as (are) our core players. We’re trying to figure it out together.”

In six and a half seasons at the helm of the Twins, Baldelli had a career .527 winning percentage entering Tuesday. He has led the Twins to three division titles.

But the past two have been filled with ups and downs, each featuring a slow start  followed by a long winning streak to pull the team back above .500.

The 2024 season ended with a six-week collapse that saw the Twins miss the postseason after having playoff odds that topped 95 percent at one point and led to the dismissal of four members of Baldelli’s coaching staff.

And this season, once again, Baldelli is tasked with leading the Twins through a challenging stretch.

“You’ve got to continue to prepare, and you’ve got to wear it sometimes when it isn’t going the way you want,” Baldelli said. “But there is always a game tomorrow to focus on and think about. Probably a few nights where I’m not sleeping quite the way I want, but I get to play with my kids. I can’t think about baseball when I’m home playing with my kids.”

Briefly

The Twins will send Joe Ryan to the mound Wednesday for the third game of the Seattle series. Ryan, who has a 3.06 ERA, gave up three runs in 5 1/3 innings his last time out. He will be opposed by George Kirby.

By MARK THIESSEN

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A cargo ship that had been delivering new vehicles to Mexico sank in the North Pacific Ocean, weeks after crew members abandoned ship when they couldn’t extinguish an onboard fire that left the carrier dead in the water.

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The Morning Midas sank Monday in international water off Alaska’s Aleutian Islands chain, the ship’s management company, London-based Zodiac Maritime, said in a statement.

“There is no visible pollution,” said Petty Officer Cameron Snell, an Alaska-based U.S. Coast Guard spokesperson. “Right now we also have vessels on scene to respond to any pollution.”

Fire damage compounded by bad weather and water seepage caused the carrier to sink in waters about 16,404 feet deep and about 415 miles from land, the statement said.

The ship was loaded with about 3,000 new vehicles intended for a major Pacific port in Mexico. It was not immediately clear if any of the cars were removed before it sank, and Zodiac Maritime did not immediately respond to messages Tuesday.

A salvage crew arrived days after the fire disabled the vehicle.

Two salvage tugs containing pollution control equipment will remain on scene to monitor for any signs of pollution or debris, the company said. The crew members of those two ships were not injured when the Morning Midas sank.

Zodiac Maritime said it is also sending another specialized pollution response vessel to the location as an added precaution.

The Coast Guard said it received a distress alert June 3 about a fire aboard the Morning Midas, which then was roughly 300 miles southwest of Adak Island.

There were 22 crew members onboard the Morning Midas. All evacuated to a lifeboat and were rescued by a nearby merchant marine vessel. There were no injuries.

Among the cars were about 70 fully electric and about 680 hybrid vehicles. A large plume of smoke was initially seen at the ship’s stern coming from the deck loaded with electric vehicles, the Coast Guard and Zodiac Maritime said at the time.

Adak is about 1,200 miles west of Anchorage, Alaska’s largest city.

The 600-foot Morning Midas was built in 2006 and sails under a Liberian flag. The car and truck carrier left Yantai, China, on May 26 en route to Mexico, according to the industry site marinetraffic.com.

A Dutch safety board in a recent report called for improving emergency response on North Sea shipping routes after a deadly 2023 fire aboard a freighter that was carrying 3,000 automobiles, including nearly 500 electric vehicles, from Germany to Singapore.

One person was killed and others injured in the fire, which burned out of control for a week. That ship was eventually towed to a Netherlands port for salvage.

Valley Outreach in Stillwater recently underwent a makeover paid for with a grant from Bayport-based Fred C. & Katherine B. Andersen Foundation.

An open house is planned for 5 to 7 p.m. Wednesday at the social-service agency and food shelf, located at 1901 Curve Crest Blvd. W., to celebrate the remodel, which includes fresh paint, new awnings, better signage, new lights, modern sliding doors, and more accessible entrances, said Jess Hauser, director of communications for Valley Outreach.

“These improvements to our building’s exterior will make Valley Outreach a safer, more welcoming and accessible place for all who walk through our doors,” Hauser said. “The building is critical to our mission, and we’re committed to being a good caretaker for years to come.”

The amount of the one-time grant was not disclosed, but Hauser said it was designated for the building’s renovation and is separate from the nonprofit organization’s operating budget, meaning it could not be used to buy food or expand programming.

The open house is free and will include food, live music, tours, kids’ activities, raffles, prizes and a sidewalk sale.

For more information, go to valleyoutreachmn.org/.

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