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MINNEAPOLIS — A pair of Minnesota Vikings players are being recognized for their strong play in the month of October.

Pass rusher Danielle Hunter and wide receiver Jordan Addison were named NFC Defensive Player of the Month and NFL Offensive Rookie of the Month, respectively.

Hunter leads the league with 10 sacks, and half of those came in October. He also had 18 tackles and forced two fumbles. He is already just half a sack shy of last year's total and well on his way to surpassing his career high of 14.5.

The 29-year-old Hunter has been the subject of trade rumors for a while now, but the Vikings gave him a reworked contract last offseason and held onto him at the trade deadline this year. His performance this season is all the more impressive when considering his would-be pass-rushing partner, Marcus Davenport, has played a majority of snaps in only two games due to injury.

Hunter is scheduled to be a free agent this offseason and will likely be seeking a longer-term deal. It remains to be seen if he and the Vikings will come to an agreement, but after a few injury-plagued years, Hunter has proven he's still one of the league's premier pass rushers.

Addison, meanwhile, exploded in October, showing why he was a first-round pick — and why the three teams who took receivers just before him may have erred. The rookie had 23 catches for 297 yards and five touchdowns last month. In the last three games, Addison was asked to step up with star Justin Jefferson on injured reserve. He did so impressively, snagging 17 catches for 233 yards and four touchdowns.

Addison has played well all season, in fact. He's second in the league in receiving touchdowns behind only Tyreek Hill, who is having an MVP-caliber season for the Miami Dolphins. If Addison keeps this up, he'll be an Offensive Rookie of the Year candidate at season's end.

Hunter and Addison didn't just rack up empty stats last month. After going 0-3 in September, the Vikings went 4-1 in October, losing to only the reigning Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs. With starting quarterback Kirk Cousins expected to miss the rest of the season with an Achilles injury, Hunter, Addison and the rest of the Vikings will need to step up if they hope to continue their winning ways.

The Vikings play the Falcons in Atlanta on Sunday.

St. Paul, MN - Today, the Minnesota House of Representatives passed House File 24, a priority bill for the House DFL Caucus, which funds the replacement of lead service lines throughout the state. The bill, authored by State Representative Sydney Jordan (DFL - Minneapolis), invests $240 million while unlocking additional federal dollars for this endeavor.

The legislation passed on a bipartisan vote of 123-0.

“No amount of exposure to lead is safe,” said Rep. Jordan. “This is an issue impacting every corner of our state, and it’s an issue where the solution is far less expensive than the cost of doing nothing. With federal funds at the ready, now is the time to act and begin the comprehensive process of replacing our lead pipes, creating a healthier Minnesota.”

The bill creates a grant program administered by the Public Facilities Authority, with the goal to replace all lead lines in public drinking water systems by 2033. In addition to the $240 million allocated from the state’s general fund, the bill unlocks funds from the federal Infrastructure Investment & Jobs Act passed in late 2021, providing $43.3 million per year for five years to help Minnesota homeowners get the lead out of their drinking water.

“All Minnesotans should have access to clean, safe drinking water,” said Speaker Hortman. “Exposure to lead causes health problems, especially for children. This bill is an important investment in public health. I’m grateful to Representative Sydney Jordan for her tireless efforts on this legislation.”

Lead exposure is particularly harmful to children, causing reduced IQ, affecting language development and attention span, and increasing aggression and impulsivity. When a person swallows or breathes in lead particles, the body stores the toxin in the blood, bones, and tissues where it accumulates over time. In addition, prolonged exposure for both children and adults can damage the brain and nervous system, reduce fertility, and increase the risk of high blood pressure, heart disease, kidney disease and cancer.

Eligible recipients for grant funds include public water suppliers of a community water system, municipalities, suppliers of other residential drinking water systems, and any applicant eligible for loans and grants under the federal Safe Drinking Water Act. Private wells are not covered by this grant program.

The eligible uses of these funds include removing and replacing lead water lines, construction related to removal and replacement, providing information to residents on the benefits of removing lead lines, and repaying debt incurred for these uses. Grant money can be used to pay for 100% of the cost of replacing privately owned lead lines, and up to 50% of those lines that are publicly owned.

More information on the bill can be found here. Video of today’s floor debate can be found on the House Public Information YouTube page.

In mid-February, the Minnesota Twins made it clear that they were disappointed in Jordan Balazovic. News had just broken that someone had injured the star pitching prospect at a Fort Myers bar. The Twins had taken Balazovic in the 5th round of the 2016 draft, and the Canadian hurler had quickly ascended through the minor league ranks. However, he owned a 7.39 ERA in Triple-A last year, the first time he had struggled at any level. Still, Balazovic pitched well late in the season and had the opportunity to make the major-league roster out of spring training.

Now doctors had wired his mouth, and he was eating out of a straw.

In late February, Balazovic revealed that someone had sucker-punched him at the Fort Myers bar and that it was completely unprovoked. He was back in Minnesota’s good graces and looking to build off a strong September, when he had a 3.43 ERA. He had battled back and knee injuries after COVID wiped out the 2020 season. Perhaps he could return to form after recovering from the jaw injury.

But Balazovic faced a daunting challenge. He sits 95 with his fastball, but he’s 6’5”, 215 lbs. and probably could throw harder if he added weight. He also didn’t have a clear pathway to the starting rotation. The Twins had a full rotation, and Bailey Ober and Louie Varland were big-league ready depth in St. Paul.

With the exception of his 2017 season in rookie ball, the Twins mostly used Balazovic as a starter in the minors. In seven seasons, Balazovic, 24, has pitched in 106 games, making 82 starts. But he made 79 of those starts before this season. Balazovic pitched in 14 Triple-A games this year but only made three starts.

The St. Paul Saints piggybacked him, meaning he’d come in as a long reliever after another starter pitched. They also used an opener, having a reliever pitch one inning before he made a truncated start. Minnesota called Balazovic up on June 18, and he pitched 3? innings without giving up a run. “It’s been a long road,” he said after the game.

But the Twins put him on a good path. Balazovic has starter potential. He primarily throws a fastball and a curveball, but he also has a slider and a changeup. However, there wasn’t a clear pathway for him to start this year, and he’s almost 25. There’s no sense in keeping a star prospect in the minors when he’s about to enter his prime. While there is more value in developing a starter, Minnesota needs relief help immediately. Plus, any prospect who sticks in the majors is a success story.

Jhoan Durán is an excellent example of this philosophy. Most fans were upset when the Twins traded Eduardo Escobar to the Arizona Diamondbacks for three prospects in 2018. They moved him at the trade deadline of a disappointing season. Minnesota had surprisingly won 85 games in 2017 and made the Wild Card game. But they lost 84 games the following year, and Derek Falvey and Thad Levine replaced Paul Molitor with Rocco Baldelli in the offseason.

However, the trade continued to look less lopsided as time passed. Now Durán is a steal.

The Twins initially used Balazovic as a long reliever, which makes sense. He’s stretched out to be a starter and throws four pitches. But lately, they’ve been using him in higher-leverage situations. He has the stuff to be a reliable reliever, especially if he can bump his fastball up a couple of miles per hour. Instead of being starter depth in the minors, toiling away in St. Paul while Minnesota has bullpen needs.

Given that Jorge López has struggled since the first month of the season, they’re relying on Griffin Jax to set up Durán. Brock Stewart and Caleb Thielbar have been steady veterans, but they’re injured. Jovani Moran can get players out when he stays in the strike zone. However, he’s had some control issues. So Balazovic not only fills a need from a depth perspective. He could also become Minnesota’s setup man or at least another high-leverage reliever.

Better for the Twins to fill a hole in their bullpen than try to fit Balazovic into the starter’s mix. Instead of making every great pitching prospect a starter, they should try to find a place for the older ones in the majors. It would have been fun to see Durán as a starter, given his velocity and mind-bending off-speed stuff. But now they have an elite reliever who can pitch multiple innings. Balazovic doesn’t need to turn into Durán to help the Twins. He just has to bridge the gap to him.

Tom Schreier

Tom Schreier is the founder and proprietor of Zone Coverage. He created Zone Coverage with the goal of mixing new age media with old-school journalism. His goal was to create an economically sustainable platform for sports content for Minnesota fans. Prior to Zone Coverage, Tom wrote for Bleacher Report and Yahoo! Sports before joining 105 The Ticket in 2014.

Travis Gienger is a talented gourd-grower, and he’s used to earning accolades for his colossal pumpkins. Since 2020, he’s won three of the past four World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off competitions—and this year’s entry topped them all. Weighing in at 2,749 pounds, Gienger’s gourd has set a new world record for the heaviest pumpkin.

Nicknamed “Michael Jordan,” the pumpkin took the crown during the annual championship in Half Moon Bay, California, this week, reports Heidi Raschke of Minnesota Public Radio (MPR). It easily beat out last year’s champion—Gienger’s own 2,560-pounder, which set a new North American record and which he later turned into the world’s largest jack o’lantern.

“I was not expecting that. It was quite the feeling,” says Gienger, a 43-year-old landscape and horticulture teacher at Anoka Technical College, to the Associated Press (AP). He has been growing pumpkins since he was a teenager, following in the footsteps of his father.

Gienger grows his pumpkins in his backyard, “right outside in Minnesota, with all the weather and storms and all that,” he tells the Star Tribune’s Alex Chhith. To cultivate his 2023 behemoth, “I pretty much just upped what I was doing before and used better fertilizer and biology,” he adds. He also used a new type of seed called a 2365 Wolf, which is known for producing big squash.

This year’s prize-winning pumpkin earned its nickname thanks to its perfectly round appearance, similar to a basketball, when it was ten days old, writes MPR. While it didn’t maintain that spherical look by any means, it makes up for its less-than-perfect shape with its impressive stature. The gargantuan gourd could produce at least 687 pies, per the AP.

Previously, an Italian man held the world record for the heaviest pumpkin thanks to a 2021 squash that weighed just over 2,703 pounds, according to Guinness World Records. In recent years, Europe has generated some of the largest gourds, and Gienger tells the Star Tribune he’s glad to bring the title back to the United States.

Gienger won $30,000, in addition to a ring and a jacket, for his latest championship title, per the contest website. “They gave me a jacket. It’s like for the Masters, but probably more important,” he jokes to MPR.

The Michael Jordan pumpkin, along with several runner-ups, will be on display this week during Half Moon Bay’s Art and Pumpkin Festival.

“I put in the work so that I can put a smile on people’s faces, and it’s just so nice coming out here to see everyone in this town,” he says to the AP.

Still, Gienger isn’t resting on his laurels. He’s already thinking about next year’s pumpkin. He tells the Star Tribune that earlier this year, one of his pumpkins weighed more than 2,200 pounds and was growing 43 pounds a day before tragically splitting in August.

“I felt like I could have had a bigger one,” he adds. “I might have to grow that seed again next year.”

St. Paul, MN - Today, the Minnesota House passed House File 5, providing universal school meals. The bill, authored by Rep. Sydney Jordan (DFL - Minneapolis), would guarantee breakfast and lunch to Minnesota’s students, reducing costs for families. The bill passed on a vote of 70-58.

“Minnesota is a state that values education and wants to see every child succeed, but that is not possible when 1 in 6 students are trying to learn on an empty stomach,” said Rep. Jordan. “Today’s vote brings us a step closer to providing the food security families need and the education our students deserve.”

Nationally, students qualify for free meals if their family income is less than 130 percent of the federal poverty guidelines, and for reduced price meals if family income is between 130 percent and 185 percent of the FPG. While free and reduced lunch programs already exist, many Minnesota families don't qualify, leaving 1 in 4 food-insecure students behind.

“It’s hard to learn when you’re hungry. DFLers are acting today to help make sure Minnesota’s children aren’t hungry at school, but that they are ready to learn,” said Speaker Melissa Hortman. “When kids come to school in the morning, all of them should be able to go to the cafeteria and get breakfast to start off the day, and at lunch, everyone should get a meal as well. DFLers are working to ensure our children have every opportunity to succeed.”

This bill would replace the current state funding for school meals with a requirement that the state pay the difference between the federally determined average cost of a school meal and the actual federal reimbursement rate for that meal for all school meals served to students.

“How can we possibly expect a child to succeed when they have an empty stomach in the classroom? With this bill to provide school breakfast and lunch for all students, regardless of background, we are building one of the best states for children and families in the nation,” said Majority Leader Long. “This bill also reduces costs for families and saves them hundreds of dollars on groceries annually.”

As a part of the federal government’s response to the pandemic, the USDA provided free meals to all students, regardless of income, through the end of the 2021-2022 school year. While federal support did not continue into the current school year, several states, including California, Nevada, Vermont, and Massachusetts have continued funding free meals for all of their students out of their state budgets.

Children who experience food insecurity early in life are twice as likely to be identified for special education services and repeat a grade. Food insecurity can also lead to increased school absences, lower reading and math test scores, and increased erratic behavior.

The companion bill is currently moving through the legislative process in the Minnesota Senate, and Governor Walz has expressed support for the bill. Video of today’s floor debate can be found on the House Public Information YouTube channel.