Park Tavern reopens after deadly crash, as driver makes first court appearance

[MUSIC PLAYING] CATHY WURZER: It's Minnesota Now. I'm Cathy Wurzer. Park Tavern in St. Louis Park is reopening at this hour after a drunk driving crash left two dead and nine injured at the restaurant. Today, the suspect is making his first court appearance. The driver had a history of DWIs. We'll look at the policies in place that allowed him to be behind the wheel.

Shoreline erosion is exposing human remains at one of Duluth's oldest cemeteries. But who's responsible for making sure bodies laid to rest stay at rest? Our Minnesota Now and Then segment explores how child welfare has evolved by looking at its beginnings in Owatonna, once home to one of the largest institutions for children in the country. We'll check in on the possibility for some severe weather this evening with meteorologist Sven Sundgaard. All that and more right after the news.

LAKSHMI SINGH: Live from NPR news in Washington, I'm Lakshmi Singh. Injuries are reported from a shooting this morning at Apalachee High School in Georgia. The Barrow County Sheriff's Office said in a statement that one suspect is in custody. The White House says President Biden's been briefed. Federal, state, and local law enforcement officers are on the scene. The school was struck barely more than a month into the new academic year.

Vice President Kamala Harris is proposing a $50,000 tax benefit for new small businesses. NPR's Asma Khalid reports Harris intends to lay out her plans during a campaign stop in New Hampshire today.

ASMA KHALID: Harris's plan would allow new small businesses to deduct up to $50,000 for startup expenses. It's a substantial acceleration from the current amount of $5,000. The aim is to help offset the initial cost and create more small businesses. Her campaign says the goal is 25 million new small business applications in her first term in office, which would be a record number.

This is all part of a broader effort by Harris to craft an economic vision ahead of her debate next week with the republican presidential nominee, Donald Trump. Republicans have blasted the Biden administration for overregulation. The economy is a major vulnerability for democrats ahead of the November election. In particular, voters have consistently voiced frustration with high prices. Asma Khalid, NPR News.

LAKSHMI SINGH: Former president Donald Trump returns to Pennsylvania today. He's taking part in a town hall style event in Harrisburg to be moderated by FOX News host Sean Hannity. The Trump campaign's returned multiple times to Pennsylvania, a crucial swing state for the candidates.

Several members of Ukraine's government have submitted their resignations in the biggest shakeup since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022. NPR's Joanna Kakissis reports from Kiev. The reshuffle comes as Russia carries out a second wave of deadly missile and drone strikes.

JOANNA KAKISSIS: Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba is the most prominent cabinet minister offering to resign. Others set to depart include the Deputy Prime Minister for European Integration, as well as the ministers of justice, environmental protection, and military industries. Parliament must approve these resignations. New appointments are expected on Thursday.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he's changing personnel to strengthen his country's war time position. Meanwhile, Russia launched more strikes across Ukraine, killing at least seven in the western city of Lviv. On Tuesday, missiles killed more than 50 at a military academy in central eastern Ukraine. Joanna Kakissis, NPR News, Kiev.

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CATHY WURZER: Around Minnesota right now, skies are sunny. It's pretty pleasant with highs today in the upper 70s to the mid 80s. There's a chance for rain later today in Northwestern Minnesota. At noon in Thief River Falls at 69, it's 74 in St. Cloud, and outside the Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum in Walnut Grove, it's 77.

I'm Cathy Wurzer with Minnesota news headlines. By late this afternoon, the skies in Northwestern Minnesota will have that milky cast. Wildfire smoke will seep into that part of the region from Canada. By 5 PM today, there will be an air quality alert for Northwestern Minnesota, where the smoke will make the air unhealthy to breathe for folks with lung and heart problems. This alert affects places like Bemidji, Fargo, Moorhead, Fergus Falls, and it lasts until tomorrow morning.

A woman in Brooklyn Park is hospitalized with critical injuries after being attacked by her three dogs last night. A security guard at the Huntington Place Apartments in Brooklyn Park was also injured while trying to stop the attack. Brooklyn Park police say it happened just before 9:30 last night. Authorities identified the dogs as pitbulls. Two of the dogs were euthanized. The third is being held at an animal shelter. Police say they're not sure what caused the dogs to attack their owner.

A democratic state senator's burglary trial has been scheduled for late January in Northwestern Minnesota. Senator Nicole Mitchell has pleaded not guilty to the felony charge that stems from an April arrest in Detroit Lakes. She's accused of breaking into her stepmother's home to take items belonging to her late father. The trial is set to begin on January 27th. That's about two weeks after the start of the next legislative session. Mitchell, a first term lawmaker from Woodbury, has faced calls to resign and is the subject of an ethics investigation.

Our top story at noon. A popular restaurant in St. Louis Park, which was the scene of a tragic event over the Labor Day holiday weekend, reopened just a few minutes ago. Sunday, a drunk driver plowed into the Park Tavern's outdoor patio, killing two people and injuring nine others. The driver is making his first court appearance later today. Our reporter Elizabeth Shockman is at the Park Tavern as people gather to remember those lost and support a beloved establishment in the community. Hey, Elizabeth.

ELIZABETH SHOCKMAN: Hi, Cathy.

CATHY WURZER: Tell us how things look outside the Park Tavern right now.

ELIZABETH SHOCKMAN: Well, it's quiet here still just after noon, and of course, it's a really beautiful day. The tables have been set back up on the patio, and there's a row of flowers and mementos that have been set up at the bar. I can see some small groups of people who are gathered to talk and cry, hug, support each other.

The tavern has been closed since the crash, of course. An establishment around this long means there's a lot of regulars. I spoke to Bruce McLean, who comes with a group of retired teachers for lunch every week at Park Tavern.

BRUCE MCLEAN: It's a community place, and they've been very nice to us. And we come here every Wednesday. They treat us like family, and it's a great place to come. We heard they were opening, and we want them to feel like, we have to get back to normal as soon as we can, but try to help them as much as we can.

CATHY WURZER: So, Elizabeth, I mentioned the driver has been charged in this crash. He's going to make his first court appearance at about 1:30 this afternoon. What have we learned about what happened that night?

ELIZABETH SHOCKMAN: That's right. The Hennepin County Attorney's office filed 11 criminal charges yesterday afternoon against the driver. According to those charges, 56-year-old Steven Frane Bailey drove his car into the outdoor patio. He is charged with two counts of criminal vehicular homicide and nine counts of criminal vehicular operation operation.

Prosecutors say officers heard Bailey talking on his phone after the crash saying, quote, "I hit the gas instead of the brake and went right through a thing," and, quote, "I'm probably going to jail." Investigators say Bailey was going 30 to 45 miles per hour when he drove into the patio. His vehicle stopped only after hitting several boulders at the base of a steep hill here.

Several children were present at the time, but they were not hurt. Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said the kids were on their way to go bowling and could have been hurt had they stayed on the patio. She also said the presence of children allows prosecutors to request a longer sentence than would typically be applied.

Moriarty said Bailey's blood alcohol level was four times the legal limit at 0.325. A blood alcohol content of 0.3% to 0.4% can result in alcohol poisoning and loss of consciousness, and a blood alcohol content of 0.4% or more can be fatal, according to Cleveland Clinic.

CATHY WURZER: So we've learned that Bailey has a history of drinking and driving, right?

ELIZABETH SHOCKMAN: Bailey was convicted of drunk driving in Minnesota twice. In 2014, he received a 90 day suspended sentence after pleading guilty to drunk driving in Waseca County and got a year of supervised probation. Five months after his sentencing hearing in that case, Bailey was pulled over for a DWI again, this time in Plymouth.

He was still on probation at the time, and the judge in that case sentenced Bailey to five days in the workhouse and 30 days on electronic home monitoring, plus alcohol monitoring. He had what is called an ignition interlock installed in his car at the time. That's something that requires you to do a breathalyzer to be able to start your car, but that was removed in 2020. So he had it for six years, which is the maximum length by state law those are installed in cars.

CATHY WURZER: Right. Say, what can you tell us about the folks who were killed in the crash and those who were injured?

ELIZABETH SHOCKMAN: One of the people killed was Kristina Folkerts, a 30-year-old mother of three who was a server at the restaurant. The other person killed was Gabe Harvey, also 30 years old. He worked at Methodist Hospital in St. Louis Park. I spoke today to Abby Johnson, a server who worked with Kristina, and Abby's mom also worked with Kristina's mom at Park Tavern back in the day.

ABBY JOHNSON: She's such a beautiful woman, always has been. A real light in the dark, if you would, but her memory is going to live on. She was really, really-- no matter what she was going through, she was always so happy and so giving and so loving. And the Park Tavern is one big family. She's part of our family.

ELIZABETH SHOCKMAN: There is a growing memorial here at Park Tavern for both of those victims, and Park Tavern plans to have a permanent memorial for them as well. Park Tavern and friends and family of the deceased have created fundraisers for them. We have links to those on our mprnews.org website.

CATHY WURZER: Say, Elizabeth, did you have a chance to speak to an owner or a manager at Park Tavern today?

ELIZABETH SHOCKMAN: I did. I spoke to a manager here, Cheryl Gallagher Watson. She said she is raw, but grateful for the outpouring of support Park Tavern has received.

CHERYL GALLAGHER WATSON: It's been just a really horrific tragedy. And it's going to take some time, but this community, the St. Louis Park community, is really strong. And Park Tavern has been established here for 40 plus years, and we're really strong, and we will come back. We're coming back.

CATHY WURZER: And again, Park Tavern just reopened for business at noon today. Elizabeth, thank you for your reporting.

ELIZABETH SHOCKMAN: Thanks, Cathy.

CATHY WURZER: That's Elizabeth Shockman reporting for us live from Park Tavern in St. Louis Park. Well, there are many questions surrounding the DUI record of the suspect in this case. During yesterday's news conference outlining the charges, Hennepin County Attorney Moriarty said it was, quote, "hugely problematic," that Steven Bailey still had a driver's license. As you heard in that prior report, Bailey had an ignition interlock installed in his car for several years after convictions for drunk driving.

The national group Mothers Against Drunk Driving argues that ignition locks and other technology preventing an intoxicated driver from operating their car could help reduce drunken driving deaths. Lauren Johnson is the marketing and community engagement manager for the group's upper midwest region, and she's with us right now. I appreciate your time, Lauren.

LAUREN JOHNSON: Hi, Cathy. Thank you for having me.

CATHY WURZER: Before we talk about technology, it seems as though there are more stories about drunk driving crashes in Minnesota and elsewhere. Are the numbers going up?

LAUREN JOHNSON: Yes. So we have actually seen the numbers increase with injuries and deaths since 2020, since around that COVID pandemic time.

CATHY WURZER: What do we think is going on?

LAUREN JOHNSON: So we think what is going on is there's kind of a decreased awareness, but then also, the increase with people who are impaired with other drugs and substances other than alcohol.

CATHY WURZER: So are you saying that because, in many places, recreational cannabis has been legalized, is that what's going on, perhaps, or part of the equation?

LAUREN JOHNSON: Yes, we are thinking that is part of the equation.

CATHY WURZER: There was a statistic that I saw that 25% to 35% of people convicted of DUI will reoffend within five years. Is that an accurate figure? And if so, what does it say about the changes needed in our system?

LAUREN JOHNSON: Yeah. So actually, I have some statistics from the Minnesota Department of Public Safety. And so actually, one in seven Minnesota drivers have a DWI on their record, and over 40% of those offenders will reoffend. And so it just shows how much work that we have to do to save people on our roads.

CATHY WURZER: That is a-- I was kind of surprised to hear you say 40%. I'm wondering then, what does your group think could be a workable solution here? Is it stiffer penalties? You're advocating for technology, such as ignition locks. What do you think the solution is?

LAUREN JOHNSON: Yeah. So actually, MADD as a whole, we are actually really looking at the HALT Act. And so that was actually passed. It was a bipartisan bill that was passed in 2021, and it's actually in honor of a family of five who was killed in a drunk driving crash.

And so what the HALT Act is-- it's having car manufacturers put in technology into new vehicles that are censoring for impaired driving. And so this isn't something that-- it is not and it has no relation to breathalyzers or ignition interlocks.

It's passive technology that's actually censoring-- and the technology isn't here quite yet, and we don't know what that will look like for a few more years-- but it would be things like eye movement, maybe sensors within the vehicle detecting alcohol or other substances within the vehicle itself.

So we are really looking at this HALT Act to decrease the number of deaths and injuries by drunk driving drastically. And really, it should save, we're thinking, 10,000 lives a year.

CATHY WURZER: It's quite futuristic. As you say, it's not ready yet, so I'm wondering what to do in the meantime. As you heard, the suspect in this case had an ignition lock, had it for as long as was legally possible, and then didn't have it anymore. I'm wondering, what do you think of ignition locks at this point, the current technology versus, say, taking someone's driver's license away?

LAUREN JOHNSON: Yeah. Taking someone's driver's license away-- and that is up to the department of public safety and who makes those laws. But really, it's somebody's choice that they got in the vehicle impaired, and what MADD is really looking to do is we want to make sure that people are safe.

And with this HALT Act-- he had that ignition interlock for as long as he possibly could, but with this new technology, lives could have been saved even in this tragedy had there been sensors in the cars. And this technology is actually here. It's not futuristic. These things just need to be turned on within the vehicle. It's like a backup camera. And so it is there, it just needs to be turned on.

CATHY WURZER: OK. But who turns that on?

LAUREN JOHNSON: And so it's actually in the rulemaking process right now within the legislature. They have to collect information from community members, from people, from the car manufacturers, and then they will decide what the rules are with the technology that needs to be placed within new vehicles. And so we're hoping to see this with in the next two years. Really, we're hoping to see it in 2026.

CATHY WURZER: I see. Thank you for correcting me. I'm wondering. You're going to hear from people who think that this technology would is another form of surveillance, right? Maybe a bridge too far for some people. What do you say to that?

LAUREN JOHNSON: Absolutely. We really want the technology to protect the driver's privacy, and we understand that people could feel like this is an invasion of privacy. MADD, with this HALT Act, we are not condoning the collection or storage of data for commercial or malicious purposes at all.

And so this is really just specifically focused on how we can save lives and how we can protect people within our communities and how tragedies like this at Park Tavern could have been prevented by this technology. Just like backup cameras have saved lives, these sensors and this technology can save lives as well.

CATHY WURZER: Say, your organization also advocates for victims. And I'm wondering, gosh, the people who are on that patio that night, not only those who the loved ones of the two victims who passed, but also those who were injured and just anyone who was on that patio that night, what kinds of support might be available for survivors of that tragedy?

LAUREN JOHNSON: Yeah. So right now, actually, our victim services team is reaching out and actively searching for those victims and survivors of the Park Tavern crash. We can be contacted, and we do victim services.

So we help people through kind of the emotional crisis of a crash, that emotional support. But we also help guide them through the legal system, and we support them from day one all the way through with resources and help to make sure that they can take this pain and, at some point, that they can turn this into a purpose.

CATHY WURZER: Final question here for you, Lauren. Of course, the legislative session, the new one, the 2025 session, is this coming January. What might MADD lobby for, do you know, when it comes to stricter penalties perhaps, or some of this new technology that you might bring to the state level?

LAUREN JOHNSON: Yeah. So I know right now, just on that national level, that we are working with this HALT Act, and we're just pushing it. And we just want it to keep progressing and to get that support, to keep this HALT Act progressing through the process that it has to go through. And so our focus is really on that right now. And Minnesota, specifically, I don't have an update for you.

CATHY WURZER: All right, Lauren Johnson, I appreciate your time. Thank you.

LAUREN JOHNSON: Thanks, Cathy.

CATHY WURZER: Lauren Johnson is the marketing and community engagement manager for Mothers Against Drunk Driving upper midwest region.

[DYLAN HICKS AND SMALL SCREENS, "ALL THUMBS"]

This is our Minnesota Music Minute. It's the brand new song called All Thumbs by Minneapolis musician and writer Dylan Hicks with his group Small Screens. It's off of his new album called Modern Flora. He'll be celebrating the album release at the Parkway in Minneapolis on Sunday.

- (SINGING) You were ignored half the night, my check engine light, but what's missing from the metaphor is the world's recklessness.

Because you're not dangerous like an engine is.

Once I watched an engine burn my van to its vein.

If not for Don, I wouldn't have had a coat that weekend.

You'd have done that, too, not even for the cold. Well, I hug my knees--

CATHY WURZER: This is Minnesota Now here on MPR News. I'm Cathy Wurzer. You can find a lot of interesting stuff on the beaches of Lake Superior, mostly driftwood, rocks, and beach glass. Bones usually are not in the mix. So perhaps you heard about a young boy who discovered human remains last month just down from the historic Glensheen Mansion in Duluth.

The big waves of the big lake have slowly eaten away the shoreline in that area and parts of one of Duluth's oldest lakeside cemeteries. Well, it's been exposing some of the grave sites there. There's a larger issue of who's responsible, not only for the Scandia Cemetery, but the hundreds of other little used or abandoned cemeteries across the state.

Minnesota's State Archeologist Amanda Gronhovd is here. I'll try that again. Amanda Gronhovd is here. She's part of the team working on the next steps for the Scandia Cemetery. Amanda, thanks for taking the time.

AMANDA GRONHOVD: Hi, Cathy. How are you?

CATHY WURZER: I'm good, thank you. This is a lovely little bit of historic ground. What's the background of the cemetery? Who's buried there?

AMANDA GRONHOVD: Boy, lots of early, early inhabitants of Duluth. I think the cemetery was established around 1881, I believe. And walking around in the cemetery, first, it's lovely. It's just beautiful. But a lot of those folks--