KTOE Noon News 7-25-25

Top Stories for Noon 7-25-25:

• Authorities are releasing the identity of a man killed in a motorcycle crash this week in New Haven Township. The Southern Minnesota Regional Medical Examiner’s Office says 58-year-old Chad Maye of Kasson died on Monday following the collision near the corner of County Road Three and 100th Street Northwest. Deputies from the Olmsted County Sheriff’s office believe the incident was a single vehicle crash.
• The parent company of Minnesota Public Radio plans to lay off up to eight percent of its workforce in the coming weeks. Officials with American Public Media Group are making the move after Congress recently cut public media funding. APMG also cites a six-million-dollar budget deficit. The company will also reduce employee benefits as a cost-cutting measure. Twin Cities PBS television station, TPT, also plans to lay off an undetermined number of workers.

• Two people were hospitalized in separate crashes Thursday night across southern Minnesota. The first happened just before 10 p.m. in Nicollet County, when 45-year-old Jamie Jo Caroline Fritz of Hayfield went off the road at a T-intersection on Highway 4 and County Road 21 near Ridgely Township. Her Jeep Grand Cherokee ended up in a ravine. She suffered non-life-threatening injuries and was taken to Sleepy Eye Medical Center. About two hours later, in South Bend Township near Mankato, a 2019 Dodge Charger and a 2007 Ford Edge collided at the intersection of Highway 60 and Highway 169. The driver of the Ford, 65-year-old Julie Johnston of Alamogordo, New Mexico, was hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries. The other driver, 19-year-old Kyle Helget of New Ulm, was not injured. Both crashes remain under investigation.

• The entire state of Minnesota remains under an Air Quality Alert for most of the day. The Pollution Control Agency says the air this morning has reached unhealthy levels due to smoke from Canadian wildfires. The National Weather Service says the big concern is the health of people with lung disease, heart issues, and asthma, and children and older adults suffering from medical problems. The area most affected stretches from the Twin Cities to Duluth and from St. Cloud to Alexandria. The alert continues until 11 p.m.
• Two people were arrested and a Meeker County deputy was injured during an incident in Watkins Thursday evening. Deputies responded around 6:15 p.m. to a report of an intoxicated man. They say 61-year-old Tim Dobis had entered a home where 46-year-old Danielle Rose was also present, despite a court order barring contact between them. When a deputy tried to arrest Dobis, he ran. The deputy caught him but was injured in the struggle and later treated for a fractured shoulder. Dobis faces several charges. Rose was also arrested for violating the same court order.
• The Minnesota Office of Higher Education is awarding two-million dollars in grant funding to help advance college attendance. Communications Director Keith Hovis says the grants help bridge the gap between K-12 education and college. Funding will allow organizations to improve services such as tutoring, mentoring, financial aid literacy, and academic counseling. Twenty different organizations ranging from the Twin Cities to Greater Minnesota will split more than $2 million during this round of funding.
• Minnesota Congresswoman Angie Craig is criticizing Ag Secretary Brooke Rollins’ plan to reorganize the U-S Department of Agriculture (USDA). The ranking Democrat on the House Agriculture Committee says in statement, “sadly, farmers will pay the price through a reduction in the quality and quantity of service they already receive from the department.” Craig says the administration did not consult with Congress or key stakeholders on this U-S-D-A reorganization. She’s calling for a House Ag committee hearing on this proposal.
• One of Minnesota’s most notable wrestlers is remembering wrestling legend Hulk Hogan, who died Thursday at age 71. Jim Raschke (RASH-key) of Hastings—better known as Baron Von Raschke—wrestled alongside Hogan in the early 1980s when the Hulk first joined the Minneapolis-based AWA. Raschke called Hogan a true showman and said he successfully bridged the golden era of wrestling with today’s modern, flashier style. Hogan, whose real name was Terry Bollea (bo-LAY-ah), became one of the most iconic figures in WWE history.