Weekly Wave: Drab household chore receives flashy payoff
DULUTH — One or two local black bears rummaged through our garbage recently, so hauling our bins to the end of the driveway the night before morning pickup is no longer an option. Until winter hibernation anyway.
Since the garbage trucks rumble past our house shortly after 6 a.m. on Mondays, this week I rolled the bins down our long driveway around 5:30 a.m. It was very dark (stars still twinkling) and very cold (just a tick or two above freezing).
Was I awake? Barely.
Was I grumpy? More than a little.
But as I placed the bin and turned back toward my house, a bright meteor shot across the sky. The dazzling sight lasted a few seconds, drawing a bright yellow-blue line across the north-northwest sky before flaming out. (Astro Bob tells me this fireball was likely part of the Taurid meteor shower.)
It was a fleeting moment, but it lasted long enough to bring a colorful flash of joy to that cold, dark morning.
Isn't that how life works sometimes?
There are surprises and joys to be found all around us if we just stop to look once in awhile. I'm glad that unexpected meteor found me when I needed something to brighten my day.
Tom Olsen encounters a lot of interesting cases as the DNT's crime and courts reporter. The latest involves four men connected to the Hells Angels motorcycle club who were arrested on assault, kidnapping and rape charges.
But defense attorneys have asked a judge to toss those charges "after investigators allegedly eavesdropped on privileged communications."
Tom's story details how the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension is accused of monitoring phone calls and texts.
With the proliferation of cellphones, ubiquitous security cameras and several eyes in the skies, no one has yet to snap a selfie with or be photobombed by a Sasquatch (other than the grainy 1967 Patterson-Gimlin film, of course).
But the truth is out there, according to Bigfoot believers, several of whom gather yearly in Grand Rapids for the annual Minnesota Bigfoot Conference. The event begins with a "Town Hall" where the attendees swap personal Sasquatch stories and the cryptid convention lumbers along from there.
Reporter Jeremy Fugelberg attended the first few hours of the event earlier this month and wrote a story for The Vault. Maybe we can send Jeremy to a Yeti, Loch Ness or Wampus Cat convention next.
With a name like Martin Sleen, you'd expect the Hermantown sophomore to be busy prepping for a fall play or musical.
But Sleen went all "Apocalypse Now" on Duluth Denfeld Wednesday night, rambling for 261 yards and three touchdowns on 25 carries in a 31-19 Hermantown victory. DNT reporter Jamey Malcomb witnessed Sleen's dazzling runs and brought readers up to speed on the Hawks' gridiron hero.
Martin Sheen's Jed Bartlet on "The West Wing" had the nuclear option as the president of the United States; Martin Sleen is the nuclear option for the Hermantown Hawks. (Subscribers-only story)
Here are a few more stories from the past week to check out:
