🌱 One-Year-Old Overdoses On Fentanyl + Hospice Facility Closure

Hello all. It's me, Nicole Fallon-Peek, your host of the Patch newsletter. Come along to find out everything you need to know about what's happening in town these days, including updates on these three stories.

But first, your local weather:

• Wednesday: Colder with clouds and sun. High: 30 Low: 19.
• Thursday: Cloudy with rain. High: 43 Low: 38.

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Here are the top three stories in Rochester-Mason City today:

1. On Sunday evening, Rochester police officers responded to an overdose report involving a 1-year-old near Rose Heights Drive, confirmed the child was breathing, and then spoke with the child's mother, Rahmo Salah, 23, who reported the incident. According to the Rochester Police Department (RPD), Salah told officers she had gone into the bathroom with her daughter and ingested half of a fentanyl pill and that some time afterward, her daughter had reached into her purse and eaten the remainder. The daughter was transported to a nearby hospital and is alive. Salah was arrested, brought to the Olmsted County Jail, and charged with a felony count of child endangerment and felony drug possession. (KROC-AM)
2. MercyOne North Iowa announced it will be closing its Mason City Hospice Care facility on Apr. 17. MercyOne's statement attributed the closure to labor shortages, inflation costs, and the COVID-19 pandemic. Patients residing at Mason City Hospice will be transferred to other locations prior to the closure, while new patients seeking admission to the inpatient hospice program will be sent to MercyOne North Iowa Medical Center. (ABC 6 News KAAL TV)
3. Meteorologist Jared Piepenburg gave the weekly forecast for the Rochester Post Bulletin, predicting the beginning of intermittent rain showers on Thursday headed into Friday with the possibility of thunderstorms and even snow showers Friday night. The coldest day this week is slated to be today, Mar. 29. Warmer temperatures are on the way towards the end of the weekend, settling back to highs between 48 and 50 degrees at the beginning of next week. (Rochester Post Bulletin)

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Today and tomorrow in Rochester-Mason City:

Wednesday, March 29

• Kinney Creek Brewery Pub Quiz Event - Kinney Creek Brewery (7:00 PM)
• Singer-Songwriter Don Harvey Live - Forager Brewery (11:00 PM)

Thursday, March 30

• Augustana Choir Midwest Tour Performance - Zumbro Lutheran Church (7:00 PM)

From my notebook:

• Dakota Middle School art teacher Ryan Mingone is putting a unique spin on Dungeons & Dragons-style (D&D) tabletop roleplaying games for a younger audience. Mingone's "Beasts and Basements" was inspired by setting up a simple D&D session for father-and-son recreation when Mingone's son was 3 years old. It has since ballooned into a 275-backer, $23,119 Kickstarter beast, set to be completed this month, and available to the public in May. (Rochester Post Bulletin)
• Minnesota Jersey Mike's locations will be donating 100 percent of sales to Make-A-Wish Minnesota today, Mar. 29. The charity fundraising event is a part of Jersey Mike's nationwide Day of Giving, and Month of Giving, which occurs yearly in March. Last year for the Month of Giving, Jersey Mike's raised $20 million for local charities. (ABC 6 News KAAL TV)
• Winter-weary residents innovate with snow yard sales! One Reddit user gained attention for a local post of a picture of their neighbor's yard with a "Free snow. End of season clearance" sign atop a pile of wet, dirty snow. See the humorous photo at the link! (WJON AM 1240 FM 95.3)

You're all caught up for today. I'll be in your inbox soon with another update!

— Nicole Fallon-Peek

About me: Nicole Fallon-Peek is a journalist and copywriter with a degree in Media, Culture and Communication from New York University. She has served as a freelance reporter, managing editor, copy editor, and editorial director for a variety of B2B news outlets. She currently co-owns and operates content creation agency Lightning Media Partners.