(Update) Minnesota News Roundup: Sandy now a "post-tropical cyclone"

• Minnesota

Minnesota

Talk about it

Weather experts are now calling Sandy a "post-tropical cyclone." The National Weather Service predicts the storm will continue from New Jersey into the heart of Pennsylvania -- and into upstate New York by tonight.

Among the Minnesotans now helping out on the East Coast: Officials from the state's Homeland Security and Emergency Management divisions now in Massachusetts. Doug Neville with the state Department of Public Safety says the teams will stay on the East Coast for the time being. Sandy still has maximum sustained winds of 75-miles-an-hour.

__________________________________________________________________________

The American Red Cross is encouraging Minnesotans to download its free Hurricane mobile app. The app allows local residents to monitor personalized weather alerts in locations where friends and family reside as the superstorm "Sandy" moves along the East Coast. Director of Emergency Services for the Red Cross in Northern Minnesota, Megan Mrozek says the app gives preparedness tips and locates shelters. The app is available in English and Spanish at redcross-dot-org.

__________________________________________________________________________

It's not yet clear how or if Hurricane Sandy will affect nationwide gas prices but in Minnesota, the cost of gas keeps going down. Minnesota-Gas-Prices.com reports regular unleaded averaging around $3.27-cents a gallon this morning -- well under the national average. We were paying nearly 60-cents a gallon more a month ago.

__________________________________________________________________________

One Minnesotan who's in New England while superstorm Sandy plows through is Doctor Robert Miller, a radiation oncologist with Mayo Clinic. Miller is attending a medical conference in Boston, where the worst of the storm has come and gone. He says there's just wind and some rain, and they're much more fortunate than people in New York. At last check along the East Coast, at least 16 people had died, seven million were without power and more than 10-thousand were staying in Red Cross shelters.

__________________________________________________________________________

Former President Bill Clinton is campaigning in Minnesota for President Obama today as the latest poll shows Republican challenger Mitt Romney just three points behind in the North Star State. David Schultz, political science professor at Hamline University, says the Romney camp is likely wishing they had invested more time and money in Minnesota. He says both candidates probably thought Minnesota was a settled state and instead concentrated their efforts on places such as Ohio, Pennsylvania and Florida. The last time a Republican presidential candidate carried Minnesota was back in 1972, when Richard Nixon was elected. Clinton spoke in Fargo last evening for U.S. senate candidate Heidi Heitkamp. Clinton stumps for President Obama and Eighth District congressional candidate Rick Nolan this afternoon at the University of Minnesota Duluth.

__________________________________________________________________________

Officials at MSP say dozens of flights have been canceled to destinations along the East Coast as "Superstorm Sandy" continues pounding that region. Spokesman Patrick Hogan says airports in NY and New Jersey are being reinspected before they're allowed to open again. Hogan thinks more flights will open up by late tonight or tomorrow. But he says those who had flights canceled may have to wait longer than they like, since there aren't many seats available on later flights.

__________________________________________________________________________

Minnesota is up to its tenth case of fungal meningitis linked to steroid injections. Across the nation, there are now over 354 cases and 25 deaths reported. So far, no Minnesotans have died from meningitis linked to contaminated steroids produced in Massachusetts.

__________________________________________________________________________

The trial for a northern Minnesota man accused of killing his wife with a totem pole has been moved due to pre-trial publicity. Fifty-year-old Carl Muggli of Ray is facing first- and second-degree murder charges after his wife, Linda, was killed in November of 2010 when a log the couple had been carving for a totem pole fell on her. Muggli's trial has been moved from Koochiching County to Beltrami County and is set to begin January 14th.

__________________________________________________________________________

Authorities in northern Minnesota have identified a Nashwauk man found dead early Sunday in Itasca County. Sheriff's officers say 18-year-old Steven Shields-Moreno was found unresponsive at a hunting camp party in rural Balsam Township and died at the hospital. Deputies are interviewing witnesses from the party and awaiting autopsy results from the Ramsey County Medical Examiner.

_________________________________________________________________________

Two horses are the casualties of a manhunt for an armed robbery suspect in the Northfield area. A State Patrol squad car struck the horses on Highway 57 early Monday while responding to the call. The trooper suffered non-life threatening injuries while both horses died. The suspect in a local motel robbery fled the getaway vehicle on foot and was later found hiding at a trucking company.

_________________________________________________________________________

A Swiss investment firm which bought out the brokerage business of Minneapolis-based Piper Jaffray six years ago says it is cutting 10-thousand jobs. UBS is restructuring its investment banking business, looking to save over a billion dollars a year with the move. There's no word on what effect the cuts will have on UBS, which maintains corporate offices in Minneapolis.

Tags: news, minnesota, weather