Minnesota News Briefs: Nebraska man saved from burning van near Comfrey

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COMFREY, Minn. -- A Nebraska man who was pulled from his burning van by two farmers in south-central Minnesota is hospitalized in serious condition.

The Brown County Sheriff's Office says 74-year-old Lance Johnson of Wymore was driving near the town Comfrey Sunday when his van left road, went into the ditch and started to burn. Nick Rients and Stetson Shoen were working in nearby fields and rushed to help. They tried to extinguish the fire before cutting the seatbelts to free Johnson. He was moved away a safe distance from the burning vehicle after suffering severe leg burns. Johnson was taken to Springfield Hospital and later airlifted to the Regions Hospital Burn Center in Saint Paul.

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Two people are dead after a three vehicle collision in Carlton County. The State Patrol reports a car started the chain-reaction crash when it veered over the centerline of Highway-210 and clipped a pickup truck Both the truck's occupants, 25-year-old Zachary Gamache of Esko and 29-year-old Mitchell Lingren of Duluth, died when the truck smashed into another truck towing a trailer. That vehicle's driver wasn't hurt. Neither were the driver and passenger of the car which started it all but both were arrested. The driver was taken in on suspicion of criminal vehicular operation and her passenger, who fled the scene, was later arrested on a warrant.

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A four-year-old boy who was struck by a car in south Minneapolis Sunday evening has died. Minneapolis police say the child passed away last night at Hennepin County Medical Center. Investigators say the boy was running to a park where his mother was playing soccer when he was run over. A nurse at the scene performed CPR before he was taken to the hospital. The victim's name has not been released. The 58-year-old woman driving the car has been cooperating with the investigation.

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A Duluth police officer has been put on leave after he was caught on surveillance video hitting a man in a wheelchair. The video shows 34-year-old Officer Richard Jouppi punching 50-year-old Anthony Jackson five times in the head, then dragging him out of his wheelchair. Jackson was allegedy intoxicated and was involved in an alleged two fights the night of September 21st. Authorities say Jackson is able to walk but was in the wheelchair when officers arrived. This is the fifth complaint filed against Jouppi during the two years he has been with the Duluth Police Department.

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The teenager accused in the death of a 20-year-old college student from Greenfield is due back in court this afternoon in St. Cloud. 17-year-old Jesse Smithers of Sauk Rapids is accused of punching Colton Gleason in the face last month causing him to fall backward and hit his head on the pavement. Gleason was unconscious when he was taken to St. Cloud Hospital. He did regain consciousness, but died the next day. Stearns County has filed a petition seeking to certify Smithers as an adult for prosecution. Gleason was walking two female friends home when a vehicle passed near the three of them and Smithers allegedly got out of the car and threw the fatal punch. Gleason was a college student at MSU-Mankato.

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Some Minnesotans will want to take note: more than half-a-million Honda Accords are being recalled due to a fire risk. The Japanese automaker says it's possible that power steering fluid could leak from a hose, causing smoke and fire potential under the hood. The Accord models are from 2003 to 2007. Honda advises owners to speak with their dealership about replacing the hoses.

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Maplewood-based 3M is spending $860-million to purchase a high tech ceramics company out of California. Ceradyne Incorporated specializes in making heat-resistant, corrosion-resistent ceramics that 3M officials say will compliment their company's manufacturing. Ceradyne currently employs more than two-thousand people in Costa Mesa.

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It will be at least one more year that people who work in Wisconsin but live in Minnesota -- or vice-versa -- will have to fill out income tax forms for both states. That, after Monday's deadline for tax year 2013 passed with no agreement between the two states. Tim Pawlenty canceled a tax reciprocity agreement with Wisconsin several years ago when he was governor and the two states have been unable to finalize a new agreement because of disagreements over payments and revenue. Minnesota Revenue Commissioner Myron Frans says they're waiting for a benchmark study to be completed next March. Frans says there's a good chance for an agreement in time for the 2014 tax year.

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Senators Amy Klobuchar (DFL-Plymouth) and Al Franken (DFL-Minneapolis) and Congressman Keith Ellison (DFL-Minneapolis) says the Minnesota Veterans Home in Minneapolis is getting $21-million-dollars for phase-two of its upgrade project. Deputy state Veterans Affairs Commissioner Mike Gallucci says the money will help complete a new 100-bed skilled nursing facility, continuing the vets home's efforts to move away from institutional-type care to more of a neighborhood, family environment. Gallucci says the new facility will give residents more flexibility on meals, plus opportunities to be engaged in daily activities, rather than being confined to their bed or wheelchair.

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The White House says it is expediting the process of adding another leg of light rail transit to the Twin Cities area map. On Monday, the Obama Administration said it will speed up the permitting process on the Southwest Corridor line from Minneapolis to the suburb of Eden Prairie. The commuter line is still in the planning stages.

>>Twins Donating Unused Food To Charity

(Minneapolis, MN) -- The Minnesota Twins are giving more than 12-thousand pounds of unused food from Target Field to local charities The team is donating 30-thousand hot dogs and brats, five-thousand hamburgers and two-thousand chicken breasts to area foodshelves. Twins spokesman Bryan Donaldson says not only does the food go toward a good cause, but it no longer needs to be otherwise disposed of, reducing overall waste at the ballpark.

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