A court reverses the conviction of a pipeline protester in Northern Minnesota. Then, Minnesota attracts athletes from around the globe for the USA Wheelchair Softball World Series. And, a new renewable energy project gets the green light.
—–Executive Producer: Victor Palomino Producer: Katharine DeCelle Anchor: Chantel SinGs Reader scripting: Victor Palomino, Joel Glaser Fact checking: Joel Glaser, Victor Palomino Editorial support: Emily Krumberger Mixing & mastering: Chris Harwood
Transcript
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HOST: You're listening to North Star Stories: Voices from Where We Live, a daily newscast about what it means to live in Minnesota.
ANCHOR: In today's broadcast, a court reverses the conviction of a pipeline protester in Northern Minnesota. Then, Minnesota attracts athletes from around the globe for an international competition. And, a new renewable energy project gets the green light.
I'm Chantel SinGs.
The Minnesota Court of Appeals has overturned the felony conviction of an Enbridge Line 3 protester, citing misconduct by the prosecutor. That's according to a report from AMPERS member station KAXE. In 2023, a jury convicted the protestor of obstruction of justice. She attached herself to a bamboo structure during a protest at Enbridge's Swatara pumping station in Central Minnesota back in 2021. The accused was sentenced to one year of unsupervised probation. But recently, the appeals court ruled she did not get a fair trial, pointing to at least five instances of serious misconduct by the Aitkin County prosecutor at the time. The case now heads back to the district court for a new trial.
Up next, athletes from all over the world gathered at the Mall of America to compete in the USA Wheelchair Softball World Series. Katharine DeCell takes us to the tournament.
Jeff Downs: The best way to picture this game is close your eyes. You are coming up to the plate. It's the bottom of the ninth. You got a runner on third. It's a tie game. It's you versus the pitcher. At no point did you say that you're in a wheelchair or you're going to have to run or pushed to first base. It's the same desire. It's the same game. It's that same athletic competitiveness. We just do it a little differently.
Katharine DeCelle: That's Jeff Downs, tournament director for the 2025 National Wheelchair Softball World Series. This summer, Minnesota hosted the tournament in the parking lot of the Mall of America, with more than 300 athletes competing from states all across the US.
Jeff Downs: We had set up five fields in the north parking lot of Mall of America, and we played almost 60 games in two and a half days, despite the weather and lightning strikes.
Katharine DeCelle: Wheelchair softball originated in the Midwest in 1976 and was created by athletes with spinal cord injuries who wanted to enjoy the game. It's very similar to typical softball, except it's played on a hard surface, such as a parking lot. Another big difference is that most players don't wear gloves, so they can easily move their wheelchairs to make plays.
Jeff Downs: The only people that wear gloves is typically the first baseman to try and snag those balls coming in at them hot. We use a 16-inch softball. It's a little softer than the standard ball. It's still gonna hurt you. You get a line drive shot at you.
Katharine DeCelle: Anyone with a physical disability that is in a wheelchair can play. The teams are set up with athletes classified based on their abilities with a range from zero to 4.5.
Jeff Downs: As the coach puts their lineup together, they can only have a maximum of 28 points on the field at one time. The quadriplegic is going to play in that lower zero to one, maybe, classification, a amputee could be up in the four, five.
Katharine DeCelle: Jeff says the sport is growing in popularity, with new players joining every year.
Jeff Downs: There is no residency rule, which means you can pick up a player. You can fly somebody in. This weekend, we had four people come over from the Netherlands as free agents, just saying, hey, who can I play with?
Katharine DeCelle: Jason Miller has been playing wheelchair softball for 23 years.
Jason Miller: A buddy of mine was like, hey, you need to come out and try softball. I got hooked immediately. I was like, this might be the coolest thing I've ever done in my life.
Katharine DeCelle: In 2024 Jason and his team beat out the competition and took home the World Series title.
Jason Miller: The team I'm on right now, we're called the Courage Rolling Twins. This is our 11th year together. We won it last year.
Katharine DeCelle: Jason says winning is great, but for him, it's not the most important thing about the sport.
Jason Miller: I love the guys I play with. I love the guys who coach us. It's just my second family and it's dope as hell.
Katharine DeCelle: You can learn more at WheelchairSoftball.org. For North Star Stories, I'm Katharine DeCelle.
ANCHOR: You are listening to North Star Stories.
The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission has approved a site permit for the Snowshoe Energy Storage Project, the state's first stand-alone battery storage facility. Located in Olmsted County between Byron and Rochester, the 150-megawatt project will store excess electricity for up to four hours and release it during high-demand periods. Officials say it will help smooth energy fluctuations and support more renewable power on the grid. The Battery Energy Storage Systems must coordinate with local governments and emergency responders on water main plans, emergency equipment, and training, all at the company's expense. The facility is expected to be online by late 2027.
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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.