Minnesota News Briefs: Byron student dies in bus accident
Minnesota News-- Students at Byron Schools in southeastern Minnesota are mourning the loss of a senior classmate on the second day of the school year.
BYRON, Minn. -- Students at Byron Schools in southeastern Minnesota are mourning the loss of a senior classmate on the second day of the school year.
Seventeen-year-old Deianerah "D.J." Logan of Pine Island died after her minivan rear-ended a school bus Tuesday afternoon on a county road. The Olmsted County Sheriff's Office says Logan's van slid under the bus and she was airlifted to a Rochester hospital where she died. The bus driver and two students on board were not hurt. There are grief counselors at all three schools in the Byron district today.
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Authorities believe a body found near the Coon Rapids Dam Tuesday is that of a missing 31-year-old man. Alan Taylor was last seen on August 25th. Taylor's disappearance was described as "suspicious" by his family as he had not appeared to make any preparations for an extended leave. Taylor had plans to start classes at Anoka Technical College this week. The Ramsey County Medical Examiner's Office is working on positively identifying the body.
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Nine new West Nile cases have been reported in Minnesota in the last week and the state is now up to 44 this season. The state Health Department's Dave Neitzel says Minnesota is still in the high risk period for West Nile virus. One person has died this year from the virus which causes symptoms like nausea, headaches, fever, fatigue, body aches and sometimes a skin rash. The incubation period for West Nile is anywhere from two to 15 days.
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Locked-out American Crystal Sugar workers are picketing the homes of 12 board members. The union calls it a "Neighbor to Neighbor" action. AFL-CIO Midwest Director Todd Anderson says some 1,300 workers have been off the job for 13 months and board members "need to see the faces of the locked-out workers in the morning and evening." Anderson says the union is bringing the issue to the doorsteps of the company's board in hopes they can help get the workers back on the job. The picketing started Tuesday and continues today.
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The NFL regular season kicks off tonight (Wed) with replacement referees and for the first time in 14 years, Mike Spanier of Sartell is spending the week at home. The long-time NFL referee says it's strange not suiting up for games. Spanier says the regular referees are ready to go to work as soon as a contract agreement can be worked out between the two sides. The Super Bowl champion Giants host the Cowboys tonight in the NFL opener.
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A summertime mosquito-caused illness is up to 44 cases statewide The Department of Health's Dave Neitzel says Minnesota is still in the high risk period for West Nile virus, as another nine cases were reported in the past week. One person has died this year from the virus which causes symptoms like nausea, headaches, fever, fatigue, body aches and sometimes a skin rash. The incubation period for West Nile is anywhere from two to 15 days.
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The video showing a St. Paul police officer allegedly kicking a suspect during an arrest last month is now being investigated by the FBI Federal authorities are now reviewing the incident to determine if there was a civil rights violation. Officer Jesse Zilge remains on paid administrative leave in connection with the incident while a second officer was placed on leave late last week.
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A small Minnesota university has set another record for enrollment but not all its students live on campus. Officials at the University of Minnesota- Crookston say they now have more than 1,770 undergraduates, over 150 more than last year's all-time record. Much of the credit goes to about 700 students who are taking courses online this fall.
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Too big -- and not enough competition. That's the feeling of the U.S. Justice Department, which threatened a civil anti-trust lawsuit that caused 3M to pull out of its deal to buy Avery Dennison Corporation's office division. The Maplewood-based company planned to spend 550-million dollars but has announced it will abandon the plan. Federal officials say the purchase would have given 3M an 80-percent market share for sticky notes and labels.
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Summer 2012 will be remembered as one of the hottest on record, especially in July. State Climatologist Pete Boulay says Duluth had its warmest summer on record, Rochester its second warmest and the Twin Cities its third warmest on record. The summer was also dry across most of the state as drought conditions persisted in many locations. But there was flash flooding in Cannon Falls and historic flooding in northeastern Minnesota during June. Boulay says that did skew some of the summer precipitation data in those areas.
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That fire in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness is steadily growing, keeping firefighters digging a line around it for containment. The Cummings Lake Fire northwest of Ely grew from 30 acres to about 40 on Tuesday, but no injuries have been reported and no structures have been threatened. Firefighters are working two other locations in the BWCAW: the Norway Point Fire, which has charred about 25-acres -- and the Cloquet Line Fire which is now contained.
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Last night at the Democratic National Convention, Minneapolis mayor R.T. Rybak brought some Minnesota to the crowd in Charlotte, North Carolina. Citing the fall of the 35-W Bridge five years ago, the mayor of the state's largest city thanked President Obama for "delivering the resources" t rebuild bridges "across this country." Rybak also blasted GOP challenger Mitt Romney, saying Romney wants to keep tax breaks for the rich and his message to the middle class during tough times is clear: "you are on your own."
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The Minnesota DNR is reminding ATV riders to operate their machines safely -- that following two fatal crashes Labor Day weekend. Both victims died when the ATV flipped over on top of them. The DNR's Leland Owens says there are preventive ways to keep the machine from rolling over -- and speed as well as degree of incline are factors. Owens adds ATV riding is a very active sport and "you need to also put the proper body English into it." He recommends that everyone who rides an ATV take a DNR safety training course. Owens says 12 people have been killed in ATV crashes this year.
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There's a court hearing this afternoon (1:30 p.m.) in Duluth for a Bayfield, Wisconsin man who prosecutors say drove around two stopped cars, ran a red light, went onto a sidewalk, struck a Duluth woman walking with her nine-year-old daughter, and then fled the scene. Twenty-nine-year-old Robert Buehlman is charged with felony criminal vehicular operation plus other charges. Thirty-three-year-old Ashen-Shugar-Aren Diehl suffered a severed spinal cord and other injuries. Her daughter was not hurt. Buehlman reportedly told officers that after the incident he "freaked out."
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State Fairgoers are evenly divided on whether the list of legal fireworks should be expanded in Minnesota Just under 48-percent of those who filled out the survey at the Minnesota House of Representatives booth say firecrackers, bottle rockets and the like should be legalized while 45-percent say "no." The 2012 legislature sent a bill to Governor Dayton but he vetoed it. There's a much clearer outcome, however, on the question of whether employers should be allowed to require employees to provide their social media passwords: 93-percent say no and only four percent say yes. As for liquor sales on Sunday in Minnesota, 63-percent in the non-scientific survey say yes, while 30-percent say no.
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