Blog Archive: May 2018
May 31
Summer’s here, and the open road is calling. Where does yours lead? A quaint little cabin by the lake? Grandma’s house, to drop off the kids? Down to the Cities to see a concert? The 100 days from Memorial Day through Labor Day are most people’s best opportunity for a road trip. Unfortunately, they’re also the most dangerous. In fact, they’re referred to as the 100 deadliest days on Minnesota’s roads. Because even though that period only accounts for about a quarter of the year, over a third of traffic deaths tend to occur during it...
May 24
As teenagers, we were all warned about peer pressure. Adults told us never to just go along with the crowd. But sometimes, the crowd is right – like the 92 percent of Minnesotans who wear their seat belts. If you’re part of the 8 percent that doesn’t, it’s time to take a good long look at the reason why. Perhaps you think that not wearing your seat belt hurts no one besides you. But in a crash, anything inside the vehicle that isn’t strapped down turns into a projectile. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a purse, a bag of groceries, or you; it can fly around the cabin and hurt the other people inside...
May 21
Child abduction, sexual assault, murder: These are things most of us don’t want to think about. And the idea of these and other crimes happening in our own communities can make our minds recoil. Fortunately, there are passionate people in our state who devote their lives to thinking about – and, more importantly, doing something about – violence, crime and victimization. For 30 years, the Minnesota Office of Justice Programs (OJP) has gathered crime victims, victim service providers and advocates, law enforcement, court and corrections personnel, and other professionals...
May 17
None of us can see the future, so it’s impossible to know if and when an emergency will occur. But simply hoping a disaster won’t happen won’t help you survive and recover when it does. Hope is good, but it’s not a plan. So when something happens like the April 26 fire at the Husky Refinery in Superior, Wisconsin, you need to be ready. There are two refineries in the Twin Cities area—one in St. Paul Park, and another on the border of Rosemount and Inver Grove Heights. Minnesota is also home to two nuclear generating plants as well as many other types of facilities that use...
May 14
What a difference an hour makes. Caroline has lived in her house in St. Paul’s east side for over 30 years. But Caroline admits that never once, in all that time, did it occur to her to install smoke alarms. Not until the Red Cross hung a flyer on her door about their Sound the Alarm program, anyway. But 60 minutes after volunteers from the Red Cross and the State Fire Marshal Division crossed her threshold, Caroline had five strategically placed smoke alarms, a fire escape plan, and much more knowledge than she had before about fire prevention...
May 10
The snow blower is finally starting to gather dust in the garage. Your down parka has resumed its place at the back of your closet. Yes, winter is finally over, as evidenced by the warm temperatures, low humidity and comfortable breezes. And although these weather conditions are ideal for spring picnics and walks, they’re also perfect for wildfires. In fact, did you know we’ve already had several Red Flag Warnings this year? A Red Flag Warning means there are weather conditions occurring now or soon that are perfect for fires...
May 7
It seems as if not a day goes by that you don’t hear about the opioid crisis in the news. Addiction to painkillers and heroin is very much top-of-mind right now. But that doesn’t mean that other drugs – like methamphetamine – have gone away. Unfortunately, meth is still very much a problem. Meth labs—the places where criminals cook this powerful central nervous system stimulant – aren’t as pervasive as they were a decade ago, but it’s not because meth use itself is down. It turns out meth is relatively cheap to buy from traffickers from Mexico or the southwest U.S. In fact, 2017 was a record year for meth...
May 3
Sure, you can ride your motorcycle. You have an endorsement on your driver’s license for it and everything. But can you complete the iron cross? What about tight turns in confined spaces? Are you good at formation riding? If want to take your riding skills beyond basic, the Minnesota Motorcycle Safety Center has just the thing. They offer the MN Advanced Rider Course at five training sites: Brooklyn Park, Roseau, White Bear Lake, Willmar and Virginia. The all-day course costs $75 and will help you sharpen your hazard-avoidance skills...
