Regional News Briefs: Minnesota man dies in motorcycle crash in Polk County

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AMERY - A man killed in a weekend motorcycle crash in northwest Wisconsin was a plumbing-and-heating contractor and the son of a philanthropist from Saint Paul.

Polk County authorities said 68-year-old John “Mickey” Nasseff Junior of Oakdale Minnesota left a rural road near Amery and flipped over. Nasseff died later at a hospital. A passenger, his 53-year-old girlfriend Beth Holmgren of Oakdale, was hospitalized in fair condition at last word. Mickey Nasseff started his plumbing-and-heating business from his home four decades ago. Nasseff Mechanical Contractors later moved to Saint Paul and grew to 60 employees. His father, John Nasseff, was the vice president and a large stockholder in West Publishing. That business was sold in 1996 for three-and-a-half billion dollars. The elder Nasseff has donated millions to the Twin Cities community. Funeral services for Mickey Nasseff will be held on Friday in Saint Paul.

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A two-year-old Minnesota boy who drowned in a pool in far northern Wisconsin has been identified as Colin Becker of Eden Prairie. The incident happened last Friday at a family vacation home near Land O’Lakes. According to Vilas County authorities, several youngsters were playing in the pool when one child noticed a problem. They were not supervised by adults at the time. Rescuers were called, and they tried to revive the toddler. But Colin died later at a hospital. The incident remains under investigation.

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Another step will be taken today to try-and-keep the invasive Asian carp out of the Great Lakes. New evidence of the carp’s DNA has been found in Lake Calumet, a few miles south of Lake Michigan. And today, officials are sending out fishing crews to try-and-nab some of the fish if they’re there. That’s similar to what Minnesota’s DNR did in the Saint Croix River along the Wisconsin border not too long ago. If the Asian carp gets into Lake Michigan, Minnesota officials are worried that they’ll eventually end up in Lake Superior – and they say it could damage the commercial fishing industry and local tourism. Wisconsin is also concerned about losing commercial fishing business on Lake Michigan, and both states joined others in a lawsuit which seeks to close the shipping link to Lake Michigan from the carp-infested Mississippi River. So far, they’ve been unsuccessful in that effort. The Army Corps of Engineers has been studying the option.

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