Winona
Pokemon-in-the-park compromise in Winona
After an angry clash between gamers and veterans in a local park, the Winona City Council is trying to hammer out rules to preserve peace without disrupting the public hunt for Pokemon.
Pokemon Go is a rabidly popular smartphone app that lets people hunt for digital monsters all over the landscape. Every town is peppered with virtual way stations — points on the map where players congregate. In Winona, one of those hot spots is in Veterans Memorial Park. Gamers, settled in the park under tent shelters and in hammocks to play, were confronted recently by a group of angry men who identified themselves as veterans and objected to what they saw as disrespectful loitering in a space they hold as hallowed ground. A video of the confrontation garnered more than 1 million hits on YouTube.
Last Monday, the Winona City Council toned down a proposed ordinance that would have banned Pokemon players from the park. Instead, it is proposing a ban on tents, hammocks, pets, bike riding and skateboarding in the park, as well as sitting on or defacing the memorial. The ordinance had its first reading last week.
Jennifer Brooks
@stribrooks
Duluth
Veterans help victims of summer storms rebuild
A group of veterans has stepped up to help Duluth clean up in the aftermath of this summer's storms.
Twenty volunteers from Team Rubicon, a veteran-led disaster relief group, headed to Duluth with chain saws in tow to help clear the rubble from a series of violent storms that ripped through the Arrowhead region in June and July. For more information about the organization, visit teamrubiconusa.org.
At least 21 Minnesota counties reported damage from summer storms that spawned tornadoes, floods, high winds and damaging hail. As Duluth residents rebuild, teams from the state's office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management are conducting damage assessments in areas that have requested state disaster assistance. Last week, they were in flood-damaged Benton, Mille Lacs, Morrison and Kanabec counties.
