(bright electronic music) (bright electronic music continues) - Welcome to "Almanac North."

I'm Maarja Hewitt.

Tonight on "Almanac North," we begin a series of episodes leading up to election night where we look at civics and elections.

How do races and politics in our region affect you?

That's coming up on "Almanac North."

But first, Senator Grant Hauschild, DFL Hermantown, was in Washington D.C. this week to meet with members of Minnesota's congressional delegation and White House officials to discuss the emergency medical services reforms and aids passed in the Minnesota legislature, the challenges continuing to face rural EMS and what can be done at the federal level to address it.

The discussion centered on the funding and workforce challenges facing EMS in rural Minnesota with an eye to potential federal proposals to address these issues.

Senator Hauschild joined fellow legislators from the state EMS task force for in-person meetings with Representative Angie Craig, Senator Amy Klobuchar, and Senator Tina Smith.

The group also met with Rachel West of the Domestic Policy Council at the White House.

"This year we did take steps to shore up EMS at the state level, but it won't be enough to address the crisis facing everyone who depends on it.

From rural communities and residents to the first responders who do this work," said Senator Hauschild.

"The best way to tackle this challenge is through federal action, and these meetings are essential to finding a path forward.

So every Minnesotan gets the first responder care they need."

Senator Hauschild continued, "We know this is literally a life-or-death issue for the members of our community and for Minnesotans across the state.

And we're working from the local, state, and federal level to find a path forward."

Now, as the first show in our series of civics education begins, tonight we're going to be focusing on sheriff elections.

This is an off-election cycle for sheriffs which will be happening in two years, but offers a nice lead into our series.

Joining me tonight at the desk is head of the political science program at UMD, Dr. Cindy Rugeley.

Cindy, thank you for joining us.

- Thank you for having me.

- Pleasure to have you here.

Tell us a little bit about your background and interest in political science and what you teach at UMD.

- Ah, I moved here from Texas, if you can't tell, and came here to teach at UMD 'cause I like the state.

And so yes, I have had a winner, or 10, but my interest is I teach, I'm in American government, I'm an Americanist is what we have.

We have one of the subfields of IR, comparative politics, American government, public law, and my area is American government.

I teach mostly institutions, but I do teach elections.

I teach state and local government.

I teach public policy, things along that lines.

Congress and the presidency.

- So how do local elections like sheriff impact citizens daily lives compared to those higher-level government positions?

- You know, it's interesting, not only sheriff, but any kind of local office oftentimes gets lost, and that's interesting, lost in the discussion.

And it's a little more, you talk a little bit more about 'em here 'cause they're off-year elections, but at the same time, when people talk about which office holders they trust much most, which level of government do they have the most confidence in?

It's always those local officials.

And sheriffs, they provide, particularly in non-urban areas, Greater Minnesota, for example, they provide law enforcement.

They do the same thing as a police department.

In some respects, their role is even greater because of the administrative role.

Sheriffs have kind of a stereotype, an old stereotype from movies, the Foghorn Leghorn thing.

But they're professionals and you watch 'em now.

And I mean, there's men, there's women, there's people of all different races.

I mean, it's a very professional job now and it does require a great deal of expertise.

- Can partisanship play a role in these elections?

I know typically the office of sheriff is usually non-partisan.

- Yeah, Minnesota is one of the states that it's a non-partisan election, and in many other states it's a partisan election.

It does, and it doesn't.

I mean, generally, a lot of times people will know what political affiliation, and I know in some areas perhaps the DFL or the Republican Party will endorse a candidate.

But as far as actively running, generally that's not the case.

And people generally, particularly in some of the counties outside of major urban areas, they personally know these people.

And so, I mean, they know if they're primarily what their party affiliation is, I'm sure, but generally it's more of a, "I know them, I trust them, they've been around for a while type deal."

- Mm-hmm.

When people are looking at candidates for sheriff, are there elements of the role that maybe people aren't thinking about?

Or what should they look at when they're trying to cast a vote?

- Yeah, generally, I mean, of course, any kind of law enforcement official, you're gonna look at somebody and say, "Do they have the integrity?

Do they have the personality?

Do they have the ability to be patient and do the job?"

But what they don't recognize about sheriff and sheriff office in particular is the administrative role.

I mean, sheriffs in most counties run the jails, for example.

That's not an easy job.

They hire people.

They have functions of keeping.

They have budgetary functions.

And so it is something, I think, like I say, a lot of people just don't realize the administrative tasks and the business, if you will, of being a sheriff.

- Mm-hmm.

How does the role of sheriff impact the priorities or policies in urban areas?

- In urban areas?

- Yeah.

- Oh, they have a voice.

That's the, I mean, you won't see, I mean, generally you think more in an urban area like this of the PD, the police department, than you do of the sheriff.

But they've got responsibilities and they often work hand-in-glove with a police department.

I mean, you look at things like water emergencies or things like that.

You're gonna see all of your law enforcement, all of your first responders involved in something like that.

And so again, I think they have a very close relationship.

And so again, it does matter.

And again, I mean, little things that you don't appreciate, like the hiring function, the fact that the jail, the juvenile facilities are all run in part by the sheriff's office.

- And then for the rural areas, that's their law enforcement entity.

- Right, for the most part, it is their law enforcement.

And I mean, they have to, you think about a sheriff, and a sheriff's deputy, they probably patrol a lot of ground.

They cover a lot of territory in some of these counties.

And so they've got a big job, and they've got a big role, and they've got a big responsibility.

I mean it's not something like you have in, I mean, law enforcement, period, is a big responsibility.

In Duluth, perhaps they're assigned a certain area that they patrol to keep an eye on things.

But I mean, it's a huge area that they have out in some of these others.

It's not something where there's a whole neighborhood, a whole street full of houses.

It's something where the nearest houses may be 10 miles down the road.

- Mm-hmm, do local elections reflect the broader national political trends?

Are they ahead or are they catching up to national political trends?

- Again, that kind of depends.

Generally, sometimes, one of the benefits of having elections, off-year elections, is they're not so much influenced by the tone and tenor of some of the national elections.

They are affected by the state elections.

I mean, you're either running with a governor or with a president.

And here you run with a governor.

So there is some influence, particularly if something like, a couple decades ago, for some reason, juvenile crime became a huge issue.

And so, yeah, the sheriff's department was influential on that.

You'll see 'em now speak upon things like perhaps it's drugs in these counties.

And their voice carries a big weight.

One, because they are respected in their counties because of their role as a sheriff.

And secondly, because they have firsthand knowledge of what's going on.

And so to that extent, they have a great deal of influence.

Some of it, they are, I mean, they're not probably gonna, obviously, they're not gonna say, "What's your opinion on foreign policy?"

But I mean, there are certain issues.

And they are, in most respects, I mean, there's no universal or generalizability, but generally as a rule, they're respected people in their communities because of the role they play.

And I mean, it's unique in small counties, and a lot of people, or smaller communities, and a lot of people don't recognize it.

I mean, little things like somebody, who takes a walk every day at the same time, doesn't take a walk, all the neighbors notice, "Well, what's going on?

Why isn't that person taking a walk?"

And the sheriff will go check up on 'em.

And I mean, I don't think people recognize a lot of times in these counties the role that local law enforcement, just 'cause they know people, and they know their routines.

And somebody might call up and say, "You know what?

I haven't seen so and so in a while."

They'll run by and check up on 'em.

- Dr. Rugeley, thank you so much for joining us and offering your insight.

- Thank you.

I appreciate being here.

- Well, up next is Brett Scott with St. Louis County Sheriff Gordon Ramsay.

Brett.

- Maarja, thank you.

Now we are speaking with St. Louis County Sheriff Gordon Ramsay about being sheriff and the roles and duties of the office.

Sheriff Ramsay, thank you for joining us this evening.

- Thanks for having me.

- Yes, so what are the primary responsibilities of being sheriff?

- Sure, well, I think when you think of the overall world of law enforcement, sheriffs, deputy sheriffs are still cops, but in our case, we also have rural policing.

911 in St. Louis County falls under the sheriff emergency management as well as the jail.

So little more broad than, say, a police department, but still there is that law enforcement component.

- Sure, as you mentioned, it's more broad, but what are some other differences between being a city cop and being a sheriff, maybe?

- Yeah, so mainly it's a lot more rural.

So for the law enforcement end of things, deputies are responsible for the entire county, right?

Even though if you have a police department in your city, you may see deputies come and go, they have as much authority there as they do in other areas of the county.

Whereas municipal police officers have boundaries and they really can't go outside of the jurisdiction without assistance requested.

- So do you often have to assist with those city responses?

- Smaller cities, for some smaller cities, when they have major crimes, serious crimes, we act as backup.

In cases of significant crimes, homicides or whatever, for some of the smaller cities, we are very active in assisting them with evidence-processing interviews and just overall investigations.

- Sure.

Turning it to the political side of things, why are sheriffs elected officials?

- Well, I think it was something that our early forefathers believed in.

That the sheriff is considered the chief law enforcement officer of the county, and they believe that that individual should be voted in by the people.

Now, not every county in the country has the voted-in sheriff, but the overwhelming majority are voted in by citizens.

- And you've been back for about two years, we were talking.

- Yeah, I'm almost two years in this role now, yes.

- Sure, and when are you up for reelection, if you're planning to run?

- So it's a four-year term, so I've got another two years before.

This time in two years I'll running again.

- Sure.

On a personal note, what motivated you to become a law enforcement officer?

- Well, it's funny, we're on the campus of UMD, and as a student here, I had developed a love for law enforcement through mentors, people that were a big part of my life.

And I really enjoy helping people and working with the community.

And I believe in my heart the importance of having law and order and good law enforcement in our communities.

- Definitely.

What are some of the most rewarding aspects that you've seen in as your time as sheriff?

- Well, we can make a huge difference in the lives of individuals.

We can help people out who need it.

So individually we can have a big impact on people, whether it's with children, with students at schools, or community members that are having a tough time.

As well as we can make a difference in a community when there's problems.

One law enforcement officer can have a significant impact in a community.

- What skills do you think it takes to become a successful sheriff?

- Well, I think you have to wanna get outta the office and interact with the communities and be visible and keep your finger on the pulse, meet with your community members and hear what's on their mind.

And probably most importantly, keep their community safe.

- We've discussed community outreach quite a bit.

What are some of the things that the St. Louis County Sheriff's Office does to do that and promote that within our communities?

- Yeah, well that's funny timing for that question, 'cause we've just been planning out our Coffee with a Cop program throughout the county.

So that's one thing we do with outreach.

We also have deputies stop by township meetings.

We encourage our officers and deputies to interact with the community.

Every opportunity that there is to meet with community, we're there.

So attending meetings, community events, you'll frequently see our deputies there.

- Sure, and you mentioned how important that is also on a municipal level as well, and that there's work to be done still, correct?

- Oh, yes.

Yeah, there is.

When I started 31 years ago, I thought we had the formula for good community relations.

And as we found out a few years ago, a series of events can really hurt law enforcement relations with the community.

- Definitely.

How do you stay informed about current issues affecting law enforcement?

It seems like law enforcement is always in the headlines lately.

- Yeah, I think it's important for leadership in law enforcement to take an active role at the state level.

So I enjoy being involved at the state level.

I'm currently on the Sheriffs' Association board where we talk about legislative issues that impact our communities.

We talk about current trends, how we can be better stewards of public safety in our counties.

- How would you encourage someone who might wanna become a police officer or a sheriff one day?

What would you say to them?

- Well, first of all, I'd encourage everybody to encourage people to join the world of law enforcement, because it's never been more critical now that we get the best and brightest in our profession.

Heaven forbid if you or your family should need law enforcement, you want the best and brightest to come.

So need to encourage good people with good character to enter this profession.

And it starts with everybody in our communities.

- Sure, we've seen so many things changing over the last few years in your line of work.

What are some of the major things that you would like to improve on as part of the St. Louis County Sheriff's Office?

- Well, I think we battle a lot of just perception issues.

National issues now are local.

When there's a law enforcement misconduct in one part of the country, it can impact us here.

Despite how hard we work to build relationships, it's a very fragile relationship.

Law enforcement really needs to build a strong connection with their community.

People need to know those that serve them.

And when that's not strong, that's where you get the distrust, and we solve crime, and our communities are better when people trust us and know us.

So that is critical for our success.

- And it takes a good leader to do so.

Correct?

- Yes, it does.

- Gordon Ramsay, thank you so much for being with us.

We appreciate it.

- Thanks for having me.

- Our final guest this evening is a board member for the Minnesota Ovarian Cancer Alliance, Kristine Greer.

Kristine, thank you for joining us.

- Well, thank you for having me.

- Can you share a little bit about your journey with ovarian cancer and how you got involved with MOCA.

- Certainly, so, 23 years ago I was diagnosed with a late stage of ovarian cancer.

I had virtually no symptoms, and I went to the doctor for an annual exam, and upon a examination, the doctor felt a mass.

So my journey began then.

And ovarian cancer is not an easy journey.

I just, I didn't realize that there wasn't even an early detection test for ovarian cancer.

I am very, very fortunate to be here today.

Yeah.

- Yeah.

My goodness.

Because I've always heard ovarian cancer can be a silent killer.

- [Kristine] Mm-hmm.

- The symptoms are sometimes unknown, hard to detect, or like you yourself didn't have many symptoms.

So what does that look like for women?

- Mm-hmm, so the symptoms can be very subtle.

There are symptoms.

And looking back now, I believe I did have one symptom for about a month before diagnosis.

I was getting up once a night to go to the bathroom.

I didn't think anything of it.

It was summertime, I was drinking more water.

But now I know that my bladder was being pressed on by a tumor.

So the most common symptoms are bloating, difficulty eating, or feeling full quickly, pelvic or abdominal pain, and urinary issues.

So we tell women if you have any of these symptoms for more than two weeks, that's not normal.

Go to your doctor and discuss.

And if ovarian cancer is suspected, you should be treated by a gynecologic oncologist.

That's a very important specialty for any gynecologic cancer.

- Without an early detection test, what can women do to be proactive in their ovarian health?

- Well, we would love for women to know what the symptoms are.

Be aware of them, and be your own advocate.

Pay attention to your body, and if something doesn't feel right, go to a doctor.

And sometimes it might take a few doctors to actually investigate, because for example, in my case, I was fairly young when I was diagnosed, and I don't think it was on my doctor's radar until she felt a mass, although I didn't have any symptoms.

It doesn't discriminate.

Women of all ages are diagnosed with ovarian cancer.

It cuts across every age, every ethnicity.

So a woman's best defense is to know the symptoms and pay attention to your body.

- Mm-hmm, and advocate for yourself.

- Advocate for yourself.

Absolutely.

I know of one woman in particular who told me she wasn't feeling well, went to the doctor many times throughout a year, and she was told, "Well, you're overweight.

Perhaps that's what's causing your bloating, da da da da."

And I said please go to another doctor.

And she was diagnosed.

- Oh, wow.

- Yeah.

Yeah.

- So now you're being an advocate for women across Minnesota, spreading word about ovarian cancer, and how did you get involved with MOCA?

- So I had a friend who was diagnosed shortly after I was.

Her name was Charlene.

I was thriving and she was dying.

I decided to start a foundation in her honor and memory, and I called it Charlene's Light.

Seven years ago, MOCA and Charlene's Light joined forces, and we are stronger and better together.

So I have been on their board, I've served as board chair.

I am now a board member.

I do several things at MOCA and give of my time because this is a very, very important cause.

- Mm-hmm, and you have a big weekend coming up?

- We do!

- Tell us about the gala.

- Yes, it's called Light Duluth Teal.

This is the 11th year.

We have a very exciting evening planned.

We have a wonderful silent auction.

And for people who can't attend, they can still take part.

They can go online, mnovarian.org, and they can still bid on auction items.

We have a wonderful cocktail reception hour.

We have live music, a really fun live auction.

And we have a very, very inspirational program.

There's a Duluthian who is a long-term survivor who will be speaking about hope.

And then we have a researcher from the University of Minnesota who we have funded in the past.

And she's going to be speaking about her project.

Just, there needs to be more ovarian cancer research.

We work with the state and the federal lawmakers to advocate for more research dollars at the national level as well as all of our fundraisers.

We have raised now over $12 million.

- Yes, so that's very impressive.

Those dollars that are raised, how do you then help women in Minnesota fighting ovarian cancer?

- Certainly, so the majority of our dollars go right to ovarian cancer research for better treatments, an early detection test which we badly need, and a cure.

We also have many supportive programs within MOCA.

We have support groups, even young survivor support groups, which is, like I said, it can affect any age.

So women can attend those online or in person.

We have something called MOCA Cares Kits, which is a backpack filled with comfort items.

that we send to women who have been recently diagnosed or they may have just recurred.

And we also have a MOCA mentor program.

That's a one-on-one mentorship.

So we will, if somebody reaches out to us, and says, "I'd really like to talk to someone in my shoes," we can connect them or their caregiver with someone else in a very similar circumstance.

So we are there for women.

We want women to know that they are not alone.

- So a great event to raise funds for that mission.

And for folks who are not able to go to the gala, they might see signs around Duluth that, I mean, the sign being teal, being lit up green, or teal.

They might see that around Duluth this weekend too, right?

- Absolutely.

So teal is the ovarian cancer awareness color.

September is Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month across the nation.

So here in Duluth, we are lighting up many structures this coming weekend.

It's very exciting.

We want to just educate the public about this disease.

We want to start conversations.

We want people to ask why teal and find out about ovarian cancer and know that we are here for them.

- That's wonderful, so that's this weekend.

If you're driving around town, you might see some teal landmarks.

Also the gala, can folks still be a part of the gala?

You're sold out.

- Well.

We are.

- That's a good problem to have.

- It is.

However, they can get involved in many ways.

Like I said, they can go online and find out about bidding, and if someone would like to volunteer, we have many events throughout the year where they could join us and volunteer at health fairs, events.

We have wonderful gatherings.

We have gatherings here in Duluth.

We had two Light Duluth Teal Gala kickoffs earlier this month.

So we had people stop by and learn about MOCA and how MOCA is there for the community, not just in Minneapolis-Saint Paul.

We're here for people in Duluth, throughout the state.

- A lot of opportunities to get involved.

- Absolutely.

- Kristine, thank you so much for joining us.

- Oh, thank you very much.

- Well, before we go, let's take a look at what you might be up to this weekend.

Saturday at 9:30 AM is the Clough Island Paddle and Buckthorn Pull.

Join the Friends of the Lake Superior Reserve and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources as they explore Clough Island and work to improve habitat for native flora and fauna.

This free volunteer opportunity includes canoeing out to the island and spending the day clearing buckthorn while learning about the ecology and history of the island.

The meeting location will be announced soon.

Sign up on eventbrite.com to secure your spot and receive updates.

Please note, this volunteer opportunity requires strenuous physical activity, including bending, pulling, and lifting objects repeatedly.

Also, Saturday is Honktoberfest in downtown Biwabik.

This fall festival takes place at Carl Schuster Park, running in coordination with Giants Ridge for a citywide celebration you won't soon forget.

Enjoy drinks, polka music, chainsaw art, dancing, and wiener dog races in this Bavarian-themed town.

Check out their full schedule on the official Honktoberfest website, and don't miss the Festmeister's Ball to kick off the party early.

And the Sunday after the Vikings-Packers game, join the Sip-N-Shop at Three Twenty Brewing in Pine City from 3:00 PM to 5:00 PM.

Shop local while enjoying your favorite brew.

Out to Sea Creations and Gray Duck Farms will be there with an amazing collection of handcrafted goods, including knitted and crocheted hats, handmade soaps, unique key chains, and more.

Perfect for gifts or treating yourself.

Grab a drink, sip and support local artisans.

A fun post-game hangout with products made by your neighbors.

Well, that's it for this week's show.

Make sure you go out and enjoy your weekend.

For everyone here at "Almanac North," I'm Maarja Hewitt.

Thank you for joining us.

Good night.

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