Four Americans were inducted into the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame in a ceremony Thursday night in Minneapolis.
The new members are pioneering women's hockey standout Karyn Bye Dietz, 1984 U.S. Olympic coach Lou Vairo, ex-University of Wisconsin coach Jeff Sauer, and former Detroit Red Wings defenseman Brian Rafalski.
Bye Dietz, a native of River Falls, Wis., was on the U.S. women's national team from 1992-2002 and played in the 1998 and 2002 Winter Olympics.
There are now 162 individual and three teams in the U.S. Hall of Fame, located in Eveleth, Minn.
Philadelphia Flyers president Paul Holmgren and NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly received the Lester Patrick Award for contributions to U.S. hockey, and Bob O'Connor won the hall's builders award for contributions to USA Hockey.
Horse racing audit out
A financial audit of the Minnesota Racing Commission has determined that internal controls over its financial operations are generally adequate, though the state legislative auditor cited some problems with oversight and administration.
The auditor's office released a report Thursday after reviewing the commission's financial operations for the 2013 and 2014 fiscal years. It found that the commission made errors in processing breeders' fund payments and made some payments late; did not adequately monitor card club revenue to verify the proper taxes were collected; and inaccurately allocated or recorded some revenues in the state's accounting system.
In a response, MRC executive director Tom DiPasquale said the commission is correcting the errors and changing some procedures to improve accuracy and oversight.
