In today’s broadcast, thousands of Minnesotans could lose health care coverage. Then, Minnesota’s special rescue team helps out in another state for the first time. And, a new opportunity for Native American artists.
—–Executive Producer: Victor Palomino Producer: Katharine DeCelle Anchor: Chantel SinGs Reader scripting: Victor Palomino Fact checking: Joel Glaser, Victor Palomino Editorial support: Emily Krumberger Mixing & mastering: Chris Harwood
Transcript
[sound element: NSS intro theme]
HOST: You're listening to North Star Stories: Voices from Where We Live. Today in Minnesota…
ANCHOR: …thousands of Minnesotans could lose health care coverage. Then, Minnesota's special rescue team helps out in another state for the first time. And, a new opportunity for Native American artists.
I'm Chantel SinGs.
Nearly 140,000 Minnesotans are likely going to lose health care coverage. That's according to a preliminary analysis by the Minnesota Department of Human Services, based on Congressional Budget Office data. The Department says President Trump's Budget Reconciliation Bill that Congress recently passed will hit low-income adults without children the hardest. The legislation also blocks Medicaid coverage for certain immigrants, including refugees, trafficking victims, and people granted protection under the Convention Against Torture.
Ahead, when disaster strikes, a specialized rescue team from Minnesota is dispatched to help survivors. Katharine DeCelle has more on their most recent rescue mission, which sent them to Texas.
Katharine DeCelle: A five-person team made up of Minnesota police, firefighters and paramedics have returned from a two-week deployment in Texas. Their mission search for Texas flood victims.
Brian Plantz: We were there for the purpose of helping to get the families have some closure. We were there with human remains dogs, so we were definitely there for the recovery phase of the operation.
Katharine DeCelle: That's Brian Plantz, the search manager with Minnesota Task Force One, which is one of the state's emergency response teams and managed by the Minnesota Department of Public Safety. The team, plus two canine cadaver dogs, searched for flood victims after extreme rainfall in Central Texas caused the Guadalupe River to rise over 25 feet, leaving behind destruction and hundreds of missing people.
Brian Plantz: The conditions in Texas were unlike anything I expected. The scale and the scope of the river there, and how much it flooded and the piles of debris that it left behind. Some of the piles were 30 by 30 feet and 10 to 12 feet deep of debris that someone could have been trapped in.
Katharine DeCelle: Brian says searching more than 100 miles on foot in the Texas heat was a real challenge,
Brian Plantz: Really making sure that we stayed cool. It feels like heat of about 104. Also keeping an eye on the canines. They are very driven dogs, and they work really, really hard. We had to make sure that they didn't become overheated,
Katharine DeCelle: Despite the uncomfortable working conditions. Minnesota's Task Force One's mission to help recover flood victims was a success.
Brian Plantz: When we first got boots on the ground, we were looking for 100 people that hadn't been accounted for. So between the continued recoveries down there and people they were locating, that number dropped down to three.
Katharine DeCelle: There are 220 members of Minnesota's Task Force One. Most members are full-time firefighters, police officers or paramedics who applied to be a part of the task force. Members must go through rigorous training in a variety of disciplines to be on the team.
Brian Plantz: We do rope rescues, trench rescue, confined space rescue, structure collapses. So, add hazmat into it, and each one of those is 50 to 80 hours of hands on and classroom work. Once you pass all those classes, you become eligible to be rostered on the task force and can be on call to respond to any kind of incident that would happen in the real world.
Katharine DeCelle: The team has previously responded to Minnesota's 35W bridge collapse, the Minnehaha Academy explosion and other rescue efforts in the state. The Texas deployment was Task Force One's first extended mission outside of Minnesota.
Brian Plantz: Part of my task going forward from leading this mission down there will be to train other people on the task force so that we'll be better prepared to go out the door next time.
Katharine DeCelle: For North Star Stories, I'm Katharine DeCelle.
ANCHOR: You are listening to North Star Stories.
The Minnesota Historical Society is searching for Native American Artists for its Artist-in-Residence Program. The artist selected for the six-to-twelve month program will receive financial support, access to the Historical Society's collections, and support to visit regional museums, peer artists, and elders. The program is open to all forms of cultural art, including bow and canoe making. Special consideration will be given to traditional media that is seen as endangered, such as pottery and birch bark biting. Artists can apply until October third. Application information is available on the Minnesota Historical Society's website.
[sound element: NSS outro theme]
HOST: North Star Stories is produced by AMPERS, diverse radio for Minnesota's communities, with support from the McKnight Foundation and the State of Minnesota. Online at ampers dot org.