Year In Review: Most Memorable Moments Of 2018 « WCCO

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — From the spectacle of Super Bowl LII to the nasty and noisy whirlwind of the midterm elections, here’s a look back at 2018 in Minnesota.

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Minnesota’s Super Bowl brought in more money than expected.

The event was set to bring in $338 million. New numbers show it actually brought in $370 million.

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“As health care providers we often meet people at their greatest time of need. And sometimes the best gift you can give is a simple reminder that everything will be alright.”

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Minneapolis police officer Mohamed Noor has been charged in the shooting death of Justine Damond.

Damond, 40, was fatally shot on July 15, 2017 after calling 911 to report a possible sexual assault in the alley behind her south Minneapolis home.

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The National Weather Service says the 14.9 inches of snow that fell on Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport between Friday morning and Sunday evening set a record for largest April snowstorm in the Twin Cities.

The prior record was set back in 1983, when 13.6 inches of snow fell in the metro.

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After two years of investigations, prosecutors say no one will be charged in connection to the death of a Minnesota music icon.

The 57-year-old died of an accidental fentanyl overdose — an opioid painkiller 50 times more powerful than heroin.

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Superior Mayor Jim Paine said the entire city of about 27,000 residents, as well as some neighboring communities, were urged to evacuate — totaling about 40,000 residents.

Fire officials said asphalt fueled the fire, which is extremely hot and hard to extinguish. The inferno was so dangerous that firefighters were kept away for hours.

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The incident even caught the attention of President Donald Trump. He tweeted, “Everybody is with Tomi Lahren, a truly outstanding and respected young woman!”

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Published in the Redwood Falls Gazette, the obituary for Kathleen Dehmlow, 80, of Springfield, Minnesota starts out with standard details of her history. She was born in Wabasso, Minnesota in 1938.

But after mentioning her marriage in 1957 and having two children, things quickly fall apart in the article.

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Tim Nelson, who works nearby at MPR, was one of the first to spot the raccoon.

“I’ve never seen anything like this in my life, it was like watching Spiderman go up the side of the building,” Nelson said.

Soon, crowds gathered outside and online waiting with baited breath for the creature dubbed #MPRRaccoon.

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According to investigators, his mother called authorities that morning, saying her son was acting “destructive” and carrying knives and a baseball bat.

The BCA said Archer did not comply with commands and was holding a hatchet and a handgun-style BB-gun. But his father, Don, believes more could have been done to de-escalate the situation and save his son’s life.

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A corrections officer is dead after being attacked by an inmate at Minnesota Correctional Facility-Stillwater.

Sources tell WCCO that Officer Joseph Gomm was attacked with a hammer by an inmate, who was also confirmed to WCCO as Edward Muhammad Johnson.

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While it’s not uncommon to see a troupe of 20 or so ducklings lining up behind a single hen, 76 of them is another story.

“It was mind blowing,” Cizek told The New York Times. “I didn’t know a duck could care for that many chicks.”

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“It was about 2 a.m., and I was woken up by a huge splash, like something really hard hitting the water,” said Shane Drossard, who lives on the streets of Minneapolis.

After attempting suicide by jumping from the bridge, the woman was in deep despair, Drossard knew.

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With just two days to go before Minnesota’s primary election, domestic abuse allegations surfaced against U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison, a candidate for Minnesota attorney general.

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People flooded the fairgrounds this year for the Great Minnesota Get Together, breaking previous attendance records several days and topping 2 million visitors overall.

The previous overall attendance record was set in 2017 with 1,997,320 visitors. This year, attendance hit 2,046,533.

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Three decades after Jacob Wetterling’s abduction and murder, the Stearns County Sheriff admits the Jacob Wetterling case was badly botched.

Stearns County released more than 40,000 pages of documents; 4,000 pages are being left out because a judge ordered them returned to the FBI.

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Several communities are cleaning up after powerful winds, heavy rains and at least four tornadoes tore through southern Minnesota, leaving more than 70,000 people without power and some schools closed.

The National Weather Service confirmed that tornadoes touched down in Cannon Falls, a community about 30 miles south of the Twin Cities, Granada, a small town just north of the Iowa border, the Waterville/Lake Elysian area, and Morristown, a community just west of Faribault.

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When you think Minnesota sports, you think Mark Rosen. He’s been covering our teams for five decades at WCCO.

“My book said it best, I’ve had the best seat in the house for so many years. I’m thankful for the opportunity and the trust of Minnesota’s die-hard sports fans,” Rosen said.

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Body cameras from a Twin Cities police department captured officers giving high-fives to a young driver after he appeared to successfully give CPR to a stunned squirrel.

As they approached, the officers saw the young man, identified in the video as “good Samaritan,” touching a belly-up squirrel with a gloved hand, pressing a finger on its chest.

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If you like being scared you may have grown up watching “Friday the 13th” movies — the ones where Jason Voorhees wore that infamous hockey mask and terrorized camp counselors at Crystal Lake.

Thanks to a Princeton man, Jason still lives at the bottom of a Minnesota lake.

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Congresswoman-elect Ilhan Omar, the first Somali-American elected to the U.S. Congress, says she wants to make the United States more welcoming to immigrants and refugees.

The 36-year-old Democrat, who herself was a refugee before coming to the United States, appeared on CBS This Morning just hours after winning Minnesota’s 5th District seat in a landslide, with 78 percent of the vote.

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A huge explosion jolted a St. Paul neighborhood, sending 80-year-old John Lundahl to the hospital, and blowing out windows and walls of nearby homes.

A nearby security camera captured the explosion rip the house apart, spewing an enormous fireball. The home was leveled, and others have been evacuated.

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Two police officers are on paid leave after images of a Christmas tree in north Minneapolis’ 4th Precinct station went viral.

Mayor Jacob Frey issued a stern statement after pictures appeared on social media of the tree decorated with items such as empty Takis bags, cans of malt liquor, menthol cigarette boxes and Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen cups. The items are considered derogatory in nature to the black community.