MN News

CLINTON-MIDWEST        Clinton to campaign across Midwest in final week        ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – Former President Bill Clinton is headed for the Midwest this week to campaign for Democratic President Barack Obama in a swing that will take him to Minnesota, Iowa and Wisconsin.        The Clinton campaign events will partially fill a void for Obama, who has taken himself off the road temporarily to deal with superstorm Sandy.        Clinton’s itinerary will also take him to Colorado, Ohio, Virginia and New Hampshire.        Minnesota has been getting increasing attention as both Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney launch late TV commercials. But Obama is still favored to collect the 10 electoral college votes. Clinton is scheduled to hold two rallies in Minnesota Tuesday – at the University of Minnesota’s McNamara Alumni Center in Minneapolis, followed by a rally at the University of Minnesota Duluth’s Kirby Student Center.

GAY MARRIAGE-RALLY        Marriage amendment opponents rally at U of Minn.        MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Opponents of Minnesota’s constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage are pushing to get out the vote as the race enters its pivotal final week.        Hundreds rallied for Minnesotans United for All Families at the University of Minnesota Monday. Speakers included Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken along with Vikings punter Chris Kluwe (KLOO’-wee), who called the proposed gay marriage ban “stupid.”        Minnesotans United hopes to reach a million voters in the next week, urging them to go to the polls.        Minnesota for Marriage, which supports the amendment, plans no rallies. But a spokesman says the campaign’s get-out-the-vote effort is in full swing, too.        Backers of the amendment say it’s needed to make sure that voters, not elected officials or judges, can decide the definition of marriage in the future.

SUPERSTORM-HOCKEY TEAM STRANDED        Storm strands SCSU women’s hockey team in RI        (Information in the following story is from: KARE-TV, http://www.kare11.com)        MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – The St. Cloud State women’s hockey team is stranded in Rhode Island, thanks to superstorm Sandy.        The Huskies were supposed to catch a flight out of Boston Monday after playing a weekend series against Providence College.        But coach Jeff Giesen tells KARE-TV Boston shut down the airport. Giesen says the team was thinking of taking a bus home, but roads are being closed.        So the 22 players and five staff members are stuck in their hotel rooms in Providence, R.I. They might not be able to catch a flight out of Boston until Thursday.        Giesen says the team is going to try to get some practice time at Providence and see if the college can help them do some laundry.        St. Cloud State’s home opener is scheduled Friday night.

SUPERSTORM-SHIP-MINNESOTA        Minn. woman says son survived tall ship sinking        (Information in the following story is from: KARE-TV, http://www.kare11.com)        NISSWA, Minn. (AP) – A Minnesota woman is breathing easier knowing her son survived the sinking of a tall ship off the coast of North Carolina.        Jo Svendsen of Nisswa (NIHS’-wah) learned Monday that her son, John Svendsen, was among crew members rescued from the HMS Bounty.        John Svendsen was first mate aboard the Bounty, which sank in turbulent waters as superstorm Sandy roared ashore.        Jo Svendsen worked the phones all morning trying to find out if her son was among the crew members who were rescued. KARE-TV reports she finally heard from relatives on the East Coast that her son had been rescued by the Coast Guard.

WOLF HUNT-MINNESOTA        Minn.’s last wolf hunt licenses sell out quickly        (Information in the following story is from: Minnesota Public Radio News, http://www.mpr.org)        ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – Minnesota has quickly sold out its remaining wolf hunt licenses for the early season.        Minnesota Public Radio News reports the licenses sold out within five minutes Monday afternoon. The sale was first-come, first-served.        The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources offered more than 600 licenses that were not purchased by hunters who won the chance to buy them through a lottery.        Minnesota’s first regulated wolf hunt starts this Saturday. A separate hunting-and-trapping wolf season begins Nov. 24.        Last week, the Minnesota Supreme Court rejected an effort to block the state’s wolf hunting season.

DIAPER DISCIPLINE        Minn. man pleads guilty in girl’s ‘diaper duty’        (Information in the following story is from: Star Tribune, http://www.startribune.com)        ANOKA, Minn. (AP) – A Fridley man has pleaded guilty to forcing his girlfriend’s 12-year-old daughter to run outside in a diaper, with her head shaven, as punishment for a failing grade.        The Star Tribune reports the 34-year-old man entered his plea Monday, the same day his trial was expected to start in Anoka County.        The man pleaded guilty to gross misdemeanor aiding and abetting malicious punishment and to a misdemeanor domestic assault case from 2010 for repeatedly hitting the girl in the legs with a belt.        He could receive up to two months in jail when he’s sentenced next month.        Last week the girl’s 38-year-old mother entered a special plea to gross misdemeanor malicious punishment of a child for the diaper incident. She could receive up to three months in jail.

GANG MEMBERS-INTIMIDATION        10 charged in scheme to intimidate witnesses        MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Ten people have been charged in a scheme to intimidate witnesses to recant testimony in a murder trial that sent three men to prison for life.        Authorities announced the charges Monday, saying the tactics used by the suspects were heinous – and included beating up witnesses in prison, threatening to kill family members, and bribery.        In one case, a man was attacked by gang members in prison, and told he would be attacked every day until he signed an affidavit recanting his testimony.        Authorities said Lamonte Rydell Martin, 24, was the scheme’s mastermind and faces 12 counts, including witness tampering. He is serving a life sentence for the execution-style killing of 19-year-old Christopher Lynch in 2006.        It appeared that Martin did not have an attorney as of Monday.

DOUBLE HOMICIDE        Minneapolis police investigating double homicide        (Information in the following story is from: Star Tribune, http://www.startribune.com)        MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Minneapolis police are searching for a male suspect after a woman and a teenage boy were found stabbed to death in a north side home.        Police Sgt. Stephen McCarty says the bodies of the victims were found about 4:30 a.m. Monday in a home across the street from Bethune Elementary School.        Authorities have not released the names of the victims. McCarty tells the Star Tribune authorities are still sorting out whether the two are related.        Police received a 911 call about the stabbings from a neighbor who was contacted by someone in the home.        No arrests are reported.

SUPERSTORM-MINNESOTA AID        MN sends emergency crews to MA, NY        (Information in the following story is from: Star Tribune, http://www.startribune.com)        MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Minnesota has sent emergency teams to Massachusetts and New York state to help in the response to superstorm Sandy.        Massachusetts got two teams totaling five people through a mutual aid agreement between several states. They include officials from the Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, the City of Excelsior, Allina Medical and Hennepin County. They’re working out of a command center in suburban Boston.        The Minnesota Incident Command System, which typically deals with wildfires, has sent teams totaling 33 people to Massachusetts and New York. They include a 20-person saw crew sent to Fort Devens, Mass., equipped to help open roads and remove trees toppled by the storm.  They also include an 11-person incident management team sent to Albany, N.Y., that will work in Albany and on Long Island.

ISLAMIC CENTER-ST ANTHONY        Feds probe rejection of St. Anthony mosque        MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Federal authorities have launched a formal civil rights investigation into the city of St. Anthony’s decision to reject a planned mosque.        City council officials rejected plans for Abu Huraira Islamic Center in June, prompting the Minnesota chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations to request an investigation.        In most civil rights cases, the U.S. Attorney’s Office makes initial inquiries to see if a case has merit. If it does, a formal investigation is launched.        On Monday, CAIR-MN said it applauds the Department of Justice’s commitment to take a stance against anti-mosque bigotry.        City Council member Hal Gray says the issue is about land use. The mosque wanted to open in an area dedicated to light industrial use. He says the decision “doesn’t have anything to do with their religion whatsoever.”

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