MN News

DAYTON-GUN LAWS        Dayton says he’s open-minded on Minn. gun laws        ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – Governor Mark Dayton says he’s willing to listen to legislative proposals to alter Minnesota’s gun laws.        But the Democratic governor says he has no immediate changes that he plans to present to the 2013 Legislature. Dayton told reporters Monday that he’s not sure what additional gun regulations the state could impose without infringing on the U.S. Supreme Court-recognized Second Amendment right to bear arms.        Debate over the nation’s gun laws has ramped up after a school shooting in Connecticut last week killed 26 people, mostly children.        The governor says some of the focus should be on the response capability in schools and other public buildings. He says he’ll move to reinstate funding to a school safety advisory panel within the Department of Education.

HOMEOWNER-FATAL SHOOTINGS        Bail lowered for Minn. man accused of killing 2        (Information in the following story is from: The Daily Dispatch, http://www.brainerddispatch.com)        LITTLE FALLS, Minn. (AP) – A judge has lowered bail for a Little Falls man accused of killing two teenage cousins who broke into his rural home.        The judge Monday reduced conditional bail for 64-year-old Byron David Smith to $500,000 bond or $50,000 cash. It originally was set at $1 million bond or $100,000 cash.        Conditions of release include Smith surrendering his passport and any firearms and remaining in Minnesota. Smith surrendered his passport in court Monday.        Unconditional bail, set at $2 million bond or $200,000 cash bail, was not changed. Smith was still in jail as of mid-afternoon Monday.        Smith told police he shot and killed 18-year-old Haile Kifer and 17-year-old Nick Brady in self-defense after they invaded home on Thanksgiving. He’s charged with two counts of second-degree murder.

GROCERY STORE-POLICE SHOOTING        Robbery suspect shot by St. Paul police dies        ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – A gunman who robbed a St. Paul grocery store has died after he was shot by at least one police officer.        Police were called to the robbery at Kowalski’s Markets just after 8:30 a.m. Monday. As officers arrived they learned the suspect had left the store through a rear entrance. Officers saw the suspect and ran after him.        Police fired and struck the suspect. Paramedics took the Brooklyn Park man to Regions Hospital, where he died.        Investigators are working to positively identify the suspect before releasing his name.        A St. Paul police spokesman says no one else was hurt. The names of the officers are not expected to be released until late Tuesday morning.

CHILD ABUSE DEATH-ANOKA        Minn. mother pleads guilty in son’s death        (Information in the following story is from: St. Paul Pioneer Press, http://www.twincities.com)        ANOKA, Minn. (AP) – An Anoka mother has pleaded guilty to second-degree manslaughter in the death of her 3-year-old son last year.        Forty-one-year-old Elizabeth Moorman also pleaded guilty to child neglect Friday.        Moorman’s ex-boyfriend, Anthony Urban, pleaded guilty in April to second-degree murder in the boy’s death.        The boy was flown to HCMC on August 30th, 2011. Urban told police he punched the boy in the side of head after the boy tried to bite him. The boy fell and hit his head on the bathroom floor.        Urban told police Moorman neglected to take the boy to the hospital until the next evening because she had warrants out for her arrest. The boy died days later.        The St. Paul Pioneer Press reports Urban is scheduled for sentencing January 11th and Moorman February 8th.

MINNESOTA-ELECTORAL COLLEGE VOTES        Minn.’s electoral college officially records win for Obama        ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – Tradition trumped suspense Monday as members of the Electoral College cast their final, official votes in the presidential election in Minnesota.        Obama won well more than the 270 votes required to win the White House nationwide on November 6th. California’s 55 electoral votes – the largest cache in any state – helped put the Democratic president officially over the top by late Monday afternoon.        The rite played out in state capitols involved party luminaries and tireless activists carrying out the will of their state’s voters. The popular vote from state-to-state dictates whether Democratic and Republican electors get the honor. But the outcome wasn’t in doubt.        Obama is projected to receive 332 votes to Romney’s 206, barring defections.

MINNEAPOLIS FIREFIGHTERS        Mpls. to accept applications for new firefighters        MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – The Minneapolis Fire Department plans to accept applications for new firefighters next year, for the first time since 2006.        The department is planning to fill openings as many longtime firefighters retire in coming years.        The last time the department opened up an applications process was in 2006. The city received about 1,800 applications.        Firefighters must be 18 or older at the time of application, have a valid driver’s license, be able to read at a 10th-grade level and have a high school diploma or GED equivalent.        Applications will only be accepted in person and only on three days – January 31st and February 1st through 2nd, 2013. Applications must be made at the Northeast Armory in northeast Minneapolis.

ELECTRONIC PULLTABS-AIRPORT        Electronic pulltabs coming to Twin Cities Airport        MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Air travelers will soon be able to play electronic pulltabs at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.        The Metropolitan Airports Commission on Monday approved installing electronic pulltabs at airport bars.        Minneapolis-based Express Games MN was selected as the first distributor to offer electronic pulltabs at the airport.        Express Games CEO Jon Weaver says the pilot program will start January 2nd at six bars at the airport.        Weaver says his company will offer electronic pulltabs at both Terminal 1 and Terminal 2.        The electronic gambling games are being counted on to help pay Minnesota’s share of a new Vikings stadium. Electronic pulltabs went into operation at Minnesota bars and restaurants in September.

WILD RICE-RULING        Dismissal affirmed of challenge to wild rice rule        ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – The Minnesota Court of Appeals has upheld a lower court’s dismissal of a Chamber of Commerce lawsuit that challenged the state’s water quality standards for protecting wild rice stands.        A three-judge panel ruled Monday that the Chamber’s lawsuit was premature because the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency has not taken any steps to enforce the wild rice standard against the iron mining companies the business group represents.        The 1973 standard – based on research conducted in the 1940s – limits discharges of sulfates into wild rice waters to 10 milligrams per liter.        The Court of Appeals also says the lawsuit is moot because the Legislature last year commissioned a major study to determine whether the standard needs to be updated. The MPCA expects to complete the study late next year.

DRUG PROGRAM SANCTIONED        Minn. sanctions Mpls-based methadone provider        (Information in the following story is from: St. Paul Pioneer Press, http://www.twincities.com)        ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – State regulators have sanctioned a Minneapolis-based methadone provider for allegedly violating policies on dispensing methadone.        The Minnesota Department of Human Services placed Specialized Treatment Services on a three-year conditional license and ordered it to pay a $1,200 fine.        The agency cited STS for inappropriately authorizing adjustments of methadone doses, inappropriately giving a take-home dose, using pre-signed authorization forms and failing to have a registered nurse on duty.        A department spokeswoman tells the St. Paul Pioneer Press the conditional status would apply to Specialized Treatment Services’ current facilities in Minneapolis and Brooklyn Park. It would also apply to any new facility opened during the three-year period. STS plans to open a new clinic in St. Paul.        Methadone is used to treat withdrawal from heroin and opiate addiction.        STS did not return a call Monday.

MARCIL NAMED COO        Marcil Jr. named COO of Forum Communications        (Information in the following story is from: The Forum, http://www.in-forum.com)        FARGO, N.D. (AP) – Bill Marcil Junior has been named executive vice president and chief operating officer of Forum Communications Company, which owns The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead.        Marcil will also continue as The Forum’s publisher.        Forum Communications is a Fargo-based multimedia information company that owns dozens of newspapers, television stations and radio stations in Minnesota, Wisconsin and the Dakotas. Marcil is a fifth-generation publisher of the family-owned Forum.        His father, William C. Marcil, is chairman of the company’s board of directors. On the Forum’s website he says that the younger Marcil’s election has been in the company’s “succession plans for a number of years.”        Lloyd Case remains Forum Communications’ president and chief executive officer. Other board members include Paul Amundson, Dennis Hall, John Hajostek, Steve McLister and Mark Prather.

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