MN News

MINNESOTA OFFICER KILLED        Man released in slaying of Minn. police officer        MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – A 34-year-old man accused in the killing of a central Minnesota police officer has been released without charge.        Authorities at the Stearns County jail confirm that Ryan Michael Larson was released shortly before noon Tuesday.        Larson was arrested in connection with the fatal shooting of Tom Decker last Thursday in the small city of Cold Spring about 75 miles northwest of Minneapolis.        The Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and the Stearns County Sheriff’s Office say prosecutors have determined that they don’t have enough documented evidence to charge Larson at this time.        The investigation is ongoing.        Decker, a father of four, had been with the Cold Spring department for six years. His funeral will be held Wednesday in nearby Collegeville.

MINNESOTA OFFICER KILLED-SUSPECT        Suspect in Cold Spring slaying says he’s innocent        (Information in the following story is from: St. Cloud Times, http://www.sctimes.com )        ST. CLOUD, Minn. (AP) – The man arrested in the slaying of a Minnesota police officer says he was sleeping at the time and authorities have the wrong man.        Ryan Michael Larson told the St. Cloud Times he is innocent in the death of Cold Spring police Officer Tom Decker.        Decker was shot Thursday night near a Cold Spring bar in what officials called an ambush. Police arrested Larson about an hour later.        Larson told the Times authorities have no evidence against him. He spoke to the newspaper Sunday, two days before he was released without being charged. Authorities said they didn’t have enough evidence to file charges at this time, but the investigation continues.        It’s not immediately clear if Larson has an attorney. The Associated Press’ attempts to reach him have been unsuccessful.

MINNESOTA OFFICER KILLED-FUNERAL        Up to 2,000 officers could attend Decker’s funeral        COLD SPRING, Minn. (AP) – Members of the public who wish to honor Cold Spring Officer Tom Decker are being encouraged to pay respects along a procession route.        Decker was killed Thursday in the line of duty. Authorities say he was ambushed and shot multiple times when he and his partner were checking on a man’s welfare.        Up to 2,000 officers from around the country could attend Decker’s funeral Wednesday. After the service, law enforcement will participate in two processions through the community.        The first will include officers and first responders from outside Stearns County. The second will include Decker’s casket, family and friends, and all Stearns County officers. Decker’s casket will travel from St. John’s Abbey through communities where he worked and lived. A horse-drawn carriage will then bring him to St. Nicholas Cemetery.

COACH’S SON KILLED        Plea deal in crash that killed Minn. coach’s son        GLENWOOD, Minn. (AP) – A 38-year-old man accused of driving drunk and killing a Minnesota coach’s son has agreed to a plea deal.        Dana Schoen (shohn) of rural Starbuck pleaded guilty Tuesday to amended charges in Pope County District Court.        The court administrator’s office tells the Independent of Marshall that Schoen pleaded guilty to three counts of criminal vehicular operation.        In July, Schoen’s pickup collided with an SUV carrying Southwest Minnesota State University men’s basketball coach Brad Bigler.        Bigler’s 5-month-old son, Drake, was killed. Bigler was critically injured. His wife, Heather, who was driving the SUV, and her 74-year-old grandmother, Sharon Schuler of Granite Falls, also were hurt        KMRS-AM reports Schoen’s plea deal includes an admission of a blood-alcohol content of 0.32 percent, four times Minnesota’s legal limit.        Sentencing is set for Jan. 25.

MINNEAPOLIS POLICE CHIEF        Harteau sworn in as Minneapolis police chief        (Information in the following story is from: Minnesota Public Radio News, http://www.mpr.org )        MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Minneapolis has sworn in Janee Harteau (juh-NAY’ HAR’-toh) as the city’s new police chief.        Harteau, a Duluth native, was sworn in as Minneapolis’ 52nd police chief at a ceremony Tuesday at City Hall. She is the first female and first openly gay police chief in Minneapolis history.        Harteau’s 13-year-old daughter stood next to her during the ceremony and pinned Harteau with the chief’s badge. Also close by was Harteau’s longtime partner, Sgt. Holly Keegel. Both Keegel and Harteau joined the Minneapolis Police Department in 1987.        Minnesota Public Radio News reports Harteau said her guiding principle as chief is that every officer’s actions should reflect how they would want their family members to be treated.        Harteau replaces Tim Dolan, who retired in November.

TWIN METALS        Twin Metals mine estimate boosted 19 percent        MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – The company planning an underground copper, nickel and precious metals mine near Ely in northeastern Minnesota has boosted its estimates of the reserves the site holds.        Toronto-based Duluth Metals says its final estimates are an average 19 of percent higher than an interim estimate in June. The company will use the data as it develops detailed plans for its Twin Metals mine, which it plans to build eventually just east of Birch Lake.        The new estimate is based on data from additional drill holes, which the company says confirm that the Twin Metals resource is one of the largest copper-nickel-precious metals deposits in the word, and one of the largest platinum and palladium resources outside South Africa.        Another company is developing an open pit nonferrous metals mine near Hoyt Lakes.

SEX OFFENDER PROGRAM        Recommendations advance for treating sex offenders        (Information in the following story is from: Star Tribune, http://www.startribune.com )        ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – Minnesota lawmakers will consider a recommendation to reform its costly, high-security sex offender program.        A task force headed by former Supreme Court Chief Justice Eric Magnuson is recommending the state replace its prison-like treatment of dangerous sex offenders with a network of less restrictive regional facilities.        The Minnesota Sex Offender Program confines and treats the most dangerous offenders under the court’s direction after they have finished their prison sentences. The number of offenders in the program has grown to more than 600. They are confined to high-security treatment facilities at a cost of about $120,000 per person annually.        A federal magistrate ordered the state to form a task force to study alternatives to the current program. The Star Tribune reports Human Services Commissioner Lucinda Jesson plans to meet with lawmakers in coming weeks to discuss the recommendations.

PEANUTS CREATOR-LETTERS AUCTION        ‘Peanuts’ creator’s love letters going to auction        NEW YORK (AP) – The late “Peanuts” creator Charles Schulz was once so infatuated with a woman 23 years his junior he sent her dozens of love letters. Many of the themes of that correspondence made it into some of his daily comic strips at the time.        Now those love notes from 1970-1971 are being sold on Dec. 14 by Sotheby’s in New York. They’re estimated to fetch up to $350,000, and are being offered by the family of Tracey Claudius.        She and Schulz two met in 1970.        She was 25. He was married and 48.        There are 44 letters, including 22 original drawings of some of the “Peanuts” characters, primarily Charlie Brown, Snoopy and Lucy.        Sotheby’s says it’s the most significant collection of Schulz correspondence and drawings to come to auction.        Schulz died in 2000.

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