Home Care In Webster, MN

RICE COUNTY, Minn. (FOX 9) - A contested rule violation in amateur baseball this summer earned a postseason ban for a championship-contending team south of the metro.

The Webster Sox, in rural Rice County, are having a season to remember. But there will be no playoffs and no opportunity for the club to play for the Minnesota Town Ball title. The players are crushed. They insist the alleged rule violation was just an attempt to have some fun and in no way gave them a competitive advantage.

The Sox are currently on a 10-game winning streak as they wind down their regular season this week. Club management said it is the best season in their 72-year history.

"It's been a lot of fun. It's been tons of fun to play with these guys," said shortstop Peter Grassl. "I mean, I believe that we are a very good team, and we would definitely make a deep run."

But Grassl and the rest of the Sox will not compete for an amateur state crown this summer. And that is for the alleged rule violation earlier this season that the club believes has been taken completely out of context by the league’s governing body, the Minnesota Baseball Association (MBA).

"Had no positive impact on anybody, didn't stand in the league standings, didn't have a negative impact, wasn't any type of competitive advantage, and no malicious intent," explained Sox General Manager Mike Prochaska.

Team management tells FOX 9 that during a game with Owatonna, which both teams treated as an exhibition or scrimmage to get in some practice for league action, Webster’s players convinced their 54-year-old manager, Todd Klehn, to take an at-bat late in the game.

No harm, no foul. Only a little fun, they thought. In fact, he struck out on three pitches.

But it turns out the manager is not a formally registered player with the state. The MBA requires all players who compete for Town Ball teams to fill out a contract and submit it to the state for formal rostering.

So, when word of the at-bat made its way to the MBA, the association took a closer look at the circumstances and determined it was a game between two league teams. Furthermore, Webster had used an illegal player. The punishment was a total ban on playoff baseball in 2023.

"We belong in the postseason," exclaimed Prochaska. "That is in the best interests of baseball. I think banning team players that had no impact on this is not right. That's not in the best sense or interest of baseball."

MBA President Mark Forsman told FOX 9’s Paul Blume that the rules are the rules and that the formal registering of players is critical to ensure a fair play. Adding, that the rules are what makes amateur Town Ball so special.

Upon learning of their punishment, Webster hired an attorney. But their last-ditch appeal was denied by the MBA.

"It does suck," said Grassl. "It is frustrating. It's not great. It's tough for everybody, our players, our fans, everybody in the community. I mean, it is really frustrating for all of us. So, you know, it is what it is. At the end of the day, you just kind of have to live with it and move on and move forward. And that is what we are going to do."

Added Prochaska, "What I would like to do, and I think other teams that have had similar suspensions, how can we as teams, players and our management of teams work together with Minnesota Baseball Association to come up with a tiered penalty program based on severity, similar to like Major League Baseball? And work together instead of one side, one ruling fits all. That would be my counsel and advice. I am a big advocate of you know, working together. You are going to get better results."

Webster wraps up its 2023 season on Sunday with a home game against the St. Benedict Saints.

As swinging punching bags creak on their chains and children shriek with excitement, Ludy Webster waits at the front desk of his boxing gym for his students to arrive.

Nobody comes through the door of Ludy's Boxing Gym in south Minneapolis without a handshake, high-five or hug from the owner.

He receives a chorus of "Hey, Ludy!" greetings in return before the students swarm the gym, some to stretch, some awaiting their coach's first instructions of the day.

Webster, 56, started boxing at age 13 and credits his career in the sport with keeping him out of trouble. In opening his own gym in 2021, he hoped to provide the same outlet for others in his hometown.

"It kept me disciplined, even as I got older," Webster said. "In my late teens, early 20s, I was still boxing. A lot of my buddies would go out, and I would go out, but that would stop me from drinking and doing anything bad because I knew I had a boxing match coming up."

The gym is a nonprofit organization, with Webster raising money to offer kids discounted boxing classes and support a group of young, competitive boxers.

To rent the building and pay for gear in 2021, Webster and another co-founder invested $40,000 of their own savings, with an additional $10,000 donation from U.S.A. Boxing, a nonprofit that supports new gyms.

Though the boxing gym is breaking even, Webster still relies on income from running a plumbing company to make a living. Any extra money after paying the gym's bills goes to buying more boxing gear, water bottles and Gatorade for kids.

"It is starting to get tight on us," Webster said. "I'm barely getting by with rent and all our bills."

The "for-profit side" of the gym — selling memberships and classes for kids and adults — helps to finance Webster's goal of training boxers who travel to represent Minneapolis in national competitions.

Webster said it's tough managing two businesses — one for money and one for passion — pretty much on his own. His duties for the gym alone can range from hosting car washes and fundraisers, arranging free memberships for volunteers and teaching boxing classes, including two kids' sessions, about a dozen adult trainings and a beginners' course every week.

Boxers can also purchase a gym membership or pass for more open practice. The cost starts at $25 for single-day pass for a class or gym access and runs up to $150 a month for unlimited access for a family.

Though Webster admits running a business doesn't come easy or naturally to him, his clientele agree Webster himself is the selling point of the gym.

"He supports the kids a lot," said Miguel Arroyo, whose son goes to Webster's classes twice a week. "The environment was really welcoming. That's why we just continued going."

When the doors first opened, Webster was able to attract 60 clients from social media promotion and distributing flyers. Now, the gym has amassed about 115 clients.

"It just took off," Webster said. He ultimately aims to double the size of the 2,500-square-foot gym to accommodate more clients.

Jeff Wheeler, Star Tribune

Ludy Webster guided Jayden Clark, 7, as he threw a combination of punches during the children’s boxing class at Ludy’s Boxing Gym on Thursday.

Webster's positive reputation led local competitive boxer Damarius Gilbert to join a year ago. As a coach, Webster creates a uniquely warm and comfortable space for growing boxers, Gilbert said.

"I needed to find a new coach," Gilbert said. "I came here, and automatically it was like, 'Welcome to the family.' So it was a great first-time experience."

Being able to box at Ludy's has improved both his physical and mental health, Gilbert said, and having a coach who prioritizes creating personal connections with students has been a game-changer.

"Boxing brought me a better life," Gilbert said. "It changed me into a better man."

Webster said his relationship with his students has expanded in the two years he's owned the gym, especially with a group of teenagers who regularly come by to do homework and hang out with friends.

"You're more than a coach," Webster said. "You're a father figure. A psychiatrist. You're mentally really helping with the kids because they're trying to figure it out in life. They've got a lot more questions than boxing questions."

With the help of two other volunteer coaches at the gym — and occasional assistance from older boxers who frequent the gym — Webster structures an engaging class for kids ages 6 to 14, including intense cardio, running drills, proper stance and punch technique. It's all set to a soundtrack of Disney songs.

Justin Hill, with more than a decade of boxing experience, assists with these classes, maintaining the energy needed to keep up with a dozen spirited students who are all eager to throw a punch at a grown-up. Hill noted Ludy's sense of community is not present in other boxing gyms.

"Everybody just cares about each other," Hill said, smiling down at his daughter Ayla, who bounced around the gym with a rainbow bow in her hair. "My daughter, she loves hanging around with the other kids. When I was a kid and I boxed, it kept me out of trouble."

"I just feel like there's more care and love here."

To hear retiring Star Tribune publisher/CEO Mike Klingensmith tell it, his successor could have been designed in a Newspaper Executive Laboratory.

"If you asked an AI to draw up a resume for a Star Tribune publisher job, I don't think they could do any better than Steve Grove," Klingensmith said (weirdly) Tuesday in a statement announcing the hire.

In that case, the immediate baggage Grove brings to the state's highest newspaper job must be a hypothetical AI glitch.

Grove, who's stepping down as commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) for the Strib position, settled a lawsuit Monday brought by independent journalist Tony Webster. Webster sued Grove and DEED last fall, alleging that the agency failed to produce public records related to DEED Twitter accounts and Grove's personal account.

"I spent substantial time attempting to negotiate with Commissioner Grove’s attorney before filing the lawsuit," Webster tells Racket. "I laid out the facts and law, and they didn’t budge. Had Commissioner Grove expressed any willingness to work out a resolution last year, this needless waste of time and taxpayer money could have been avoided. I hope this settlement serves as a deterrent to other government officials who might delay and improperly deny public records requests."

In the settlement, DEED and Grove agreed to update policies, pay Webster $17,000, supply the previously requested data on blocked accounts, and promise to not withhold future records "for the duration of Commissioner Grove’s appointment and any future re-appointment as Commissioner of DEED."

As laid out in a blog by Webster, DEED has a long history of secrecy that pre-dates Grove. But things apparently haven't improved under his leadership. Last year MinnPost's Peter Callaghan criticized the agency for "finding new ways to evade public disclosure of how state dollars are spent." Yesterday Minnesota Reformer's J. Patrick Coolican took a critical look at how Grove's DEED dragged its feet on public record requests from his outlet.

All of this matters a helluva lot considering Grove will soon lead a newsroom that, ideally, is driven by skepticism of public institutions, corporations, and the elite. (One of the state's most powerful people, Republican billionaire Glen Taylor, happens to own the paper.) "Grove said his mission will be to carry on the Star Tribune's commitment to accountability in government," Stribber Brooks Johnson wrote in a fawning article introducing Grove. To which Webster wrote: "Interesting."

"If Grove’s conduct in Governor Walz’s cabinet is a preview of the 'commitment to accountability in government' he promises to deliver as Star Tribune CEO, I am not optimistic," Webster continues. "Though I nevertheless wish him all success."

When Racket requested a Grove interview Wednesday, the Strib's head PR guy, Steve Yaeger, punted to Gov. Tim Walz's PR team. We've yet to hear back from them. Yaeger declined to provide a comment on the behalf of the paper regarding the Grove/DEED/Webster settlement.

Grove, 45, grew up in Northfield and worked as a reporter at the Boston Globe and ABC News early in his career. He then pivoted to the tech world, working for YouTube and, later, Google News Lab. (The latter company is often cited for helping destroy the flailing journalism industry, though the News Lab is viewed as an olive branch.) Evidence of that Silicon Valley pedigree is all over Grove's quotes Tuesday to the Strib, which include terms like: "disruptive," "accelerate," and "digital-first." In 2019 Grove earned the top job at DEED, and became a vocal DFL cheerleader.

We also wish him success. A strong, feisty, incredulous Star Tribune means a stronger Minnesota.

Update: DEED PR rep Alicia Cordes-Mayo provided the following statement from Grove. "I blocked fewer than 20 user profiles from my personal Twitter account during the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the incendiary nature of the tweets and comments posted on those profiles. Since that time, I have unblocked all of those accounts. Additionally, no accounts are blocked from official DEED state government Twitter accounts."

Correction: A previous version of this article stated that Yaeger punted to the DEED PR team; it has been updated to reflect that he punted to Gov. Walz's PR team, who we contacted pre-publication and have not heard back from.

Minnesota's population growth has stalled for the second year in a row, suggesting the pandemic has left lingering effects and the number of people leaving the state continues to outpace new arrivals.

The number of people living in Minnesota grew by less than 1% — about 5,700 people — between July 2021 and July 2022, according to the U.S. Census Bureau's 2022 population estimates released Thursday.

While the numbers are an improvement over the previous year when the state recorded a net gain of about 1,600 people, they are still far short of Minnesota's typical annual growth of about 35,000 people, said Susan Brower, Minnesota's state demographer.

"To see two years of this level of growth is surprising," Brower said. Last year's low growth levels could potentially be attributed to higher death rates, slowed immigration and delayed pregnancies during the pandemic, she said. But seeing the situation continue for a second year is "concerning."

Laura Bordelon, the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce's senior vice president of advocacy, said the state has been losing population to other states for the past 10 to 12 years and the trend "appears to be accelerating."

"Without population and labor force growth, growing our state's economy is immensely challenging, so it is critical we attract and retain workers both nationally and internationally," Bordelon wrote in a statement Thursday.

The information released Thursday did not include city- or county-level data, but showed state and national estimates.

Nationally, the population rose 0.4%, suggesting a slight rebound compared with the .01% growth rate during the worst of the pandemic from 2020 to 2021, the lowest since the nation's founding.

Growth was largely driven by international migration, with every state gaining residents from abroad. Net international migration was nearly three times larger than in the previous year. This was also the first year since 2007 with a year-over-year increase in total births.

New York and California both had large population losses mostly due to people moving to other states.

The South gained 1.3 million residents, the largest of any region, driven by population gains in Texas and Florida that approached a half-million residents each.

Wisconsin gained about 12,000 residents, mostly due to a positive inflow from other states and abroad. But the state had more deaths than births for the second straight year.

International migration helped buoy Minnesota, bringing in about 14,000 more people than the number who left for other countries. But net domestic migration was worse than in previous years: About 19,000 more people left Minnesota than moved into the state, up from about 16,000 the year before.

Bordelon said it's not just the snowbirds who are leaving the state.

"The key working age group of 20-29-year-olds is the biggest group that relocates," she said in the statement, adding that retaining people and attracting newcomers can often come down to economics. "We need to ensure it's affordable from a tax and cost of living perspective," she wrote.

The state's meager population growth can be almost entirely attributed to the number of births outpacing deaths by about 11,600.

"Births are keeping us afloat, but not as much as they used to be," Brower said, adding that birth rates have long been trending downward. Because birth rates are often less variable and less impacted by policy than domestic and international migration, demographers tend to focus on the latter.

"There are already a lot of conversations going on around migration and around workforce shortages," Brower said. "Employers are looking to where the workers are. … Migration is the piece that could more quickly fill the need."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Mara Klecker covers Minneapolis K-12 schools for the Star Tribune. She previously reported on the suburbs of the Twin Cities. Before coming to the Star Tribune, she was the social services reporter at the Omaha World-Herald..

[email protected] 612-673-4440

MaryJo Webster is the data editor for the Star Tribune. She teams up with reporters to analyze data for stories across a wide range of topics and beats and also oversees a small team of other data journalists.

[email protected] 612-673-1789 MaryJoWebster maryjo-webster-2733706

Fall in the Midwest demands a trip to an orchard bursting with warm colors and crisp fruits. We recently spent an afternoon at Sweetland Orchard in Webster, Minnesota, where the fruit is just the beginning of the experience.

Sweetland is run by Mike and Gretchen Perbix, who took over the orchard in 2010. You might know them by their pink-tinged Cherry Rhubarb Scrumpy cider. Back in 2010, the Perbix family tended about 1,000 apple trees on their 5-acre farm. In the six years since, their business has evolved from an orchard selling apples at farmers markets and grocery stores, to a buzzing cider operation pumping out 15,000 gallons of the stuff each year.

Mike (pictured above) gives tours of the cidery, a tiny building packed with a cider press, a bottling line, other equipment, and kegs (and a baker’s rack or two of cooling cider doughnuts). As he explains the way the press works, Mike is humble about the process, giving his wife Gretchen and some important cheerleaders (namely Matty O’Reilly of Republic and the folks at Dogwood Coffee) a lot of the credit for the ciders’ success. The Perbix family started making hard cider in 2012, with a conservative 55-gallon batch. Now that their ciders are in high demand, they’ve started sourcing apples from two other farms in the Midwest to keep up production.

Each cider begins with grinding up a bunch of apples which then get pressed for juice. Then the juice and yeasts are combined and left to ferment for about two weeks before being racked (stored in jugs) until they taste just right. Mike likens the process to winemaking and is constantly experimenting with new combinations. These experiments are called Roundabouts and are labeled by batch number. We took a turn at the on-site tasting bar and tried four or five of these experiments, including the intriguing batch #10, an earthy, slightly leathery cider made with cascara (the dried husks of coffee beans).

The tasting-room bartender, Sam Falbo (pictured above), explained the intricacies of each cider. He paired Sweetland’s super-dry Northern Spy and a lovely sheep’s milk cheese called Friesago, from Shepherd’s Way Farms. Northern Spy is made exclusively from Northern Spy apples, unlike the orchard’s scrumpy ciders, which are blends of a few apple varieties.

Both Northern Spy and the Friesago cheese are sold at the orchard. You can almost always buy a bottle of anything you try at Sweetland’s tasting bar. And if your favorite cider is sold out? Have no fear! You might catch Mike quickly labeling a few bottles to fill the empty space in the cooler. A variety of apples and fresh baked goods are also sold at the orchard.

Families, take note: Sweetland isn’t a place where your kids can go on hayrides or scamper through a corn maze. Additionally, the orchard is under renovation this year. The Perbix family are in the process of expanding their arsenal of apple trees from 1,000 to 5,000. To make room for all of the new stock, they are trellising the trees, much in the way a wine maker prunes grape vines to manage their growth. Because of this development, visitors cannot pick their own apples for the time being. However, lazy orchard strolls and impromptu picnics are highly encouraged.

Sweetland Orchard, at 26205 Fairlawn Ave, Webster, MN, is open for tours and tastings on Saturdays and Sundays, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., through October 30. They can be reached at 651.252.4337.