MN News

HOMEOWNER-FATAL SHOOTINGS        Minn. man says he ‘fired more shots than I needed’        LITTLE FALLS, Minn. (AP) – A Minnesota homeowner who shot two teenagers in the midst of an apparent Thanksgiving Day break-in told authorities he feared they had a weapon.        But Byron David Smith of Little Falls acknowledged in a criminal complaint that he fired “more shots than (he) needed to.” Smith also described “a good clean finishing shot” for one teen.        Smith was charged Monday with two counts of second-degree murder in the deaths of 18-year-old Haile Kifer and 17-year-old Nicholas Brady.

FATAL FIRE-ST CLOUD        Man found dead in St. Cloud house fire identified        ST. CLOUD, Minn. (AP) – A man found dead after a St. Cloud house fire has been identified as 23-year-old Kyle Kopischke.        According to St. Cloud police, Kyle Kopischke was found dead in a St. Cloud house at about 3:30 a.m. Saturday. He was a renter along with a 22-year-old who was taken to a hospital, where he was treated and released.        The Ramsey County Medical Examiner’s office plan to do an autopsy to determine the exact cause of Kopischke’s death. Police say Kopischke is originally from the town of Comfrey.        The St. Cloud Fire Department says the fire started in the kitchen of the residence and is believed to have been accidental.

HOMEOWNER-FATAL SHOOTINGS-SCHOOLS        Schools make counselors available after shootings        LITTLE FALLS, Minn. (AP) – Little Falls and Pillager schools made counselors available Monday for students and staff trying to cope with the shooting deaths of two cousins.        Classes in the Little Falls school district don’t resume until Tuesday, so Superintendent Stephen Jones says only a few people met with counselors Monday. But he says he expects a “vastly different situation” Tuesday when students return.        Haile Kifer was a senior at Little Falls High School. Jones says he hopes students take advantage of the counseling services Tuesday because it means the kids will be ready to get their feelings out.        Classes were back in session Monday at Pillager High School, where Nicholas Schaeffel was a student. Superintendent Chuck Arns says a few students sought help from school counselors and local clergy members there Monday morning.

MARINE KILLED-MINNESOTA-FUNERAL        Funeral for Minn. Marine killed in Afghanistan        (Information in the following story is from: WCCO-TV, http://www.wcco.com)        SHAKOPEE, Minn. (AP) – The funeral will be Wednesday for a Minnesota Marine killed last week in Afghanistan.        Lance Cpl. Dale Means of Shakopee was killed Nov. 18 by an improvised explosive device. The 23-year-old had been deployed to Afghanistan in July.        Means’ funeral will be held Wednesday morning at the Church of St. Patrick of Cedar Lake, near Jordan. WCCO reports that the service will include full military honors.        Means graduated from New Prague High School in 2007. He and his wife Andrea had been living near Camp Lejeune, N.C., where he was stationed.

ACCIDENTAL SHOOTING-BOY        Wis. boy, 9, out of hospital after shot by brother        (Information in the following story is from: WEAU-TV, http://www.weau.com)        SPRING VALLEY, Wis. (AP) – A 9-year-old Wisconsin boy has been released from a Minnesota hospital two days after his older brother accidentally shot him in the leg.        The shooting happened Saturday afternoon in the Pierce County town of Spring Valley, where the boys were visiting their father. WEAU-TV in Eau Claire reports that the boy was released from the hospital on Monday.        Pierce County deputies say the older boy, age 11, found a .357 caliber handgun in a gun cabinet and decided to show his brother how to load it but accidentally fired it instead.        The boy was taken to a hospital in Menomonie, and then airlifted to Regions Hospital in St. Paul. The boys’ names have not been released.

TAOPI’S RELUCTANT LEADERS        Longtime leaders of tiny Minn. town can’t retire        (Information in the following story is from: Post-Bulletin, http://www.postbulletin.com)        TAOPI, Minn. (AP) – A sister and brother will continue to run the tiny southern Minnesota town of Taopi (tay-OH’-pee) even though they didn’t much want the jobs anymore.        Jim Kiefer was mayor of Taopi from 1984 to 2008. Mary Huntley was city clerk from 1976 to 2008. That year, the Post-Bulletin reports they decided to switch jobs and were both elected in the town of 40 registered voters near the Iowa border.        This year Kiefer and Huntley decided to step down. But no one else signed up, so voters reelected both by write-in. Newcomer Eric Boe was also elected to the city council by write-in votes.        The mayor and council earn $25 per quarterly meeting. The clerk earns a $100 annual salary, though in 2013 that’s getting bumped to a whopping $600.

DOGS RESCUED-MINNEAPOLIS        Minneapolis animal control seizes 7 Great Danes        MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Minneapolis Animal Care and Control is helping find homes for seven Great Danes after seizing them from a hoarder’s home.        Animal control agents recently discovered the seven huge dogs in the home, which is more than is allowed under city ordinance. The agency says the home was filthy, and that the dogs were not socialized or receiving humane care.        Agents convinced the homeowner to give up the dogs.  Two puppies were adopted, and the remaining five dogs are being released to Great Dane Rescue of Minnesota and Wisconsin. That organization will care for and rehabilitate the dogs until they can be adopted.        Minneapolis Animal Care and Control says people should not take in more animals than they are able to care for, even if they are acting with good intentions.

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