MN News

MINNEAPOLIS SHOOTING        Cops: Minneapolis gunman lost job over performance        MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Police say the man who killed five people at a Minneapolis sign company last week had been fired for poor performance and lateness just before he started shooting.        A timeline released Monday by investigators says Andrew Engeldinger worked his normal shift at Accent Signage Systems last Thursday. Then at the end of the day, he was told to go to a meeting in the office of operations director John Souter. Engeldinger went to his car first.        Police say that after Engeldinger was told he was fired and handed his last paycheck, he pulled a gun and started shooting. He killed five people and wounded three others, including two who remain hospitalized.        Engeldinger went to the company’s basement after the shooting and took his own life.

MENTAL HEALTH-VIOLENCE        Shootings expose cracks in US mental health system        MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Last week’s fatal shooting at a Minneapolis sign company may be just the latest example of a family that fell through the cracks in the U.S. mental health system.        The shooter, Andrew Engeldinger, had been growing paranoid and experiencing delusions. His family pushed him to seek treatment to no avail.        Minnesota law doesn’t allow people to be forced into treatment without proof that they are a threat to themselves or others.        While few people with mental illness commit acts of violence, the challenges of securing successful treatment and the catastrophic consequences of failure are common threads that often link such outbursts.        Engeldinger was never formally diagnosed, and it can take years before patients commit to a prescribed treatment. But experts say efforts to help can lead to success and recovery.

MINNESOTA ORCHESTRA-LOCKOUT        Locked out Minnesota Orchestra cancels concerts        MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – The Minnesota Orchestra has canceled its concerts through Nov. 25 as a lockout of musicians takes effect.        The cancellations announced Monday affect 17 performances starting Oct. 18. Ticketholders will be notified by phone and in writing about obtaining refunds or exchanging tickets for future performances.        Management and musicians failed to reach a new agreement Sunday before the old contract expired at midnight.        Management rejected musician proposals for arbitration and for allowing the musicians to play during negotiations. The musicians rejected a management offer that would’ve cut salaries an average of 34 percent, lowering the current annual average from $135,000 down to $89,000.        The musicians rallied outside Orchestra Hall Monday. They issued a statement renewing their call for an independent analysis of the orchestra’s finances.

MISSING SOMALIS        Jury seated in Minnesota man’s terrorism trial        MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – A jury of 10 women and six men has been chosen to hear the case of a Minnesota man accused of helping to send U.S. men to fight for a terror group in Somalia.        Mahamud (mah-hah-MOOD’) Said (sy-EED’) Omar faces five terror-related counts at his federal trial in Minneapolis. Prosecutors say he encouraged young men to fight for al-Shabab which has been linked to al-Qaida. They also say he helped some men get airline tickets and helped pay for weapons.        Omar has said he’s innocent. His attorney says he’s never lifted a hand against the U.S.        Minneapolis has the United States’ largest population of Somali immigrants.        Opening statements are planned for Tuesday.

WEST NILE-MINNESOTA        Minn. reports 4 more West Nile cases        (Information in the following story is from: Minnesota Public Radio News, http://www.mpr.org)        ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – Four more cases of West Nile virus have been reported in Minnesota this past week. But the rate of infection is dropping.        The new illnesses mean that so far this year 65 cases and one death have been attributed to the mosquito-borne virus in Minnesota. Nationwide, there have been more than 3,500 cases and nearly 150 deaths blamed on the disease.        Health officials say hot summer weather across most of the nation is the likely cause for the widespread West Nile outbreak this year. As average temperatures fall, the number of new cases is expected to continue to decline.        Minnesota Public Radio News reports Minnesota averaged eight new cases a week in August and early September, but the rate of infection has dropped in the last two weeks.

CROP REPORT-MINNESOTA        Minn. farmers make quick progress on harvest        ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – Minnesota farmers continue to make rapid progress on corn and soybean harvests, thanks to dry weather.        According to the USDA’s Minnesota crop-weather report, corn was 53 percent harvested as of Sunday. That’s way ahead of last year’s 5 percent, which is also the five-year average.        Harvested corn had an average moisture content of 16 percent.        Soybeans were 76 percent harvested, compared with 26 percent last year and an average of 23 percent. Soybeans had an average moisture content of 10 percent.        Statewide, 6.9 days were rated suitable for fieldwork. Most reporting stations recorded no rain during the week.        Topsoil moisture supplies are rated 44 percent very short, 41 percent short and 15 percent adequate.        Sugar beets are 20 percent harvested, compared with 10 percent last year and 17 percent average.

FOOTBALL PLAYER ASSAULT        Man sentenced for assaulting Minn. football player        (Information in the following story is from: Post-Bulletin, http://www.postbulletin.com)        ROCHESTER, Minn. (AP) – A Detroit man has been sentenced to nine months in jail for assaulting a former Minnesota college football player.        Twenty-five-year-old Ricardo Thornton also will have to split paying more than $115,000 in restitution with another defendant.        The Post-Bulletin reports Thornton entered an Alford plea in April. An Alford plea allows defendants to maintain innocence while acknowledging the evidence is enough for conviction.        Thoronton is the second man sentenced in the 2008 assault that left former Rochester Community and Technical College football player Joe Geike (GUY’-kee) legally blind. The other defendant, Howard Risher of Houston, was sentenced in 2010 to six months in jail.        According to the complaint, Risher punched Geike, causing Geike to hit his head in a Rochester parking lot. Thornton then allegedly kicked Geike in the head.

KIDS IN CAR-DWI        Charge: Minn. woman in DWI crash had 5 kids in car        BURNSVILLE, Minn. (AP) – A Burnsville woman is accused of having five children in her car when she crashed while allegedly driving drunk last week.        The Dakota County Attorney’s office has charged 30-year-old Amy Mullin with child endangerment, criminal vehicular operation and two counts of drunken driving, all gross misdemeanors.        Burnsville police found Mullin at the scene of a two-car accident. She initially told police she had four children in the car, ages 2, 4, 5 and 9 months.        The Star Tribune reports Mullin then admitted that a 7-year-old also had been in the car, and that she lied because two children had been buckled together in the front seat.        Mullin registered 0.15 percent on a blood-alcohol test – nearly twice Minnesota’s legal limit.        Mullin tells WCCO-TV she hopes others learn from her story.

AIRPORT ACCIDENT-PLEA        Driver pleads guilty to striking boy at airport        (Information in the following story is from: WCCO-TV, http://www.wcco.com)        MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – A 61-year-old man has pleaded guilty to running over a young boy who was going to greet his soldier father at the Twin Cities airport.        Tommy Rodriguez pleaded guilty Monday to one felony count of criminal vehicular operation. A gross misdemeanor charge of third-degree DWI was dismissed.        Rodriguez was accused of hitting 6-year-old Zachary Drew with his sport utility vehicle in the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport parking ramp on Dec. 16.        The boy was heading to the airport to greet his father, who was returning from military duty in Iraq.        The SUV dragged Zachary 15 feet before crashing into a wall. The boy suffered a broken leg and facial injuries.        WCCO-TV reports sentencing for Rodriguez is scheduled for Nov. 16.

XCEL-SOLAR SUBSIDY        Minn. orders Xcel to retain solar subsidy        (Information in the following story is from: Star Tribune, http://www.startribune.com)        ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – Minnesota regulators have ordered Xcel Energy Inc. to retain a program that subsidizes small solar-power projects.        State Commerce Commissioner Mike Rothman decided Monday that the Minneapolis-based utility must retain its Solar Rewards program at the current $5 million-a-year level for the next three years.        Minnesota’s solar industry had feared a drop in orders if the program ended. So far, the program has helped 560 homeowners and businesses afford solar-panel systems since 2010.        Xcel wanted to drop Solar Rewards after 2013, saying it was not a good deal for ratepayers.        The Star Tribune reports the state commerce department’s energy resources division in August had recommended retaining Solar Rewards for now, and replacing it after 2015.        Rothman also agreed to reduce the incentive from $2.25 per kilowatt-hour to $1.50 per kilowatt-hour.

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