MN News

RESISTING GUN RIGHTS-MINNESOTA        Minn. sheriff vows to ignore new gun restrictions        PINE CITY, Minn. (AP) – A Minnesota sheriff says he would refuse to enforce any new state or federal regulation that restricts guns.        Pine County Sheriff Robin Cole sent an open letter to residents this week, saying he doesn’t believe the federal government has a right to order states to follow mandates that violate the U.S. Constitution.        Cole wrote that he would view any such mandate illegal and refuse to carry it out. He says he believes it is a “moral sin” to erode freedom through administrative rules.        Cole told The Associated Press on Wednesday that he is categorically opposed to any proposal that would infringe on one’s constitutional rights. He says he wrote the letter because citizens have been afraid of what the future holds.        He says the issue doesn’t apply to just guns.

VISUAL ARTS COLLEGE-CLOSING        St. Paul’s College of Visual Arts to close        (Information in the following story is from: Minnesota Public Radio News, http://www.mpr.org)        ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – The College of Visual Arts in St. Paul says it will close its doors on June 30th.        Administrators say the school was unable to weather the economic downturn and continue to meet the financial and academic needs of its students.        The four-year art and design school serves 170 students and employs 29 full-time staff as well as 45 adjunct professors.  The school was founded in 1924 and became a four-year institution in 1996.        Minnesota Public Radio News (http://bit.ly/10zDVeT) reports enrollment went down sharply last year. This past fall the school took on 50 first-year students, when it had hoped to have 80.        CVA has reached an agreement with the Minneapolis College of Art and Design to take students who would be seniors next year.

VIKINGS STADIUM-GAMBLING        Lagging Vikings stadium funds concern lawmakers        ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – A leading DFL lawmaker says he’s increasingly concerned about the reliability of tax revenue from electronic gambling machines that’s supposed to help pay for construction of a new Minnesota Vikings stadium.        The House Commerce Committee met Wednesday to review the rollout of electronic pull-tab games in bars and restaurants. Tax revenue from those games is supposed to fund the state’s $348 million share of the $975 million Vikings stadium to be built in downtown Minneapolis, but that revenue fell short of projections by $18 million through the end of 2012.        Backers of the new games say they need time to get more popular and expand to other bars, but committee chairman Rep. Joe Atkins says lawmakers only have a few months to decide whether to retool the stadium legislation.

COURTHOUSE JUMP        Minn. man jumps off balcony to avoid urine test        (Information in the following story is from: Star Tribune, http://www.startribune.com)        HASTINGS, Minn. (AP) – Authorities say a defendant jumped off a second-floor balcony inside the Dakota County Courthouse to avoid taking a urine test.        The 22-year-old Hastings man bolted from a deputy, jumped off the balcony and landed on his face Wednesday.        The man had pleaded not guilty to misdemeanor theft. Chief Deputy Tim Leslie says the judge had ordered the man to undergo urinalysis to test for drug or alcohol use.        After a deputy escorted the man upstairs for testing, he ran away and jumped off the balcony. He landed on the first floor in a children’s play area. The area was empty and no one else was hurt.        The man was taken to a hospital with a broken arm, bruises and a possible broken bone in his face.

CRASH WITH KIDS-SENTENCE        Minn. mom who crashed with kids gets probation        (Information in the following story is from: Star Tribune, http://www.startribune.com)        HASTINGS, Minn. (AP) – A Rochester woman accused of driving drunk when she crashed with her five children in the car won’t have to serve jail time.        But 31-year-old Kyra Lindsey faces a nearly yearlong sentence if she doesn’t follow rules outlined at her sentencing Wednesday in Dakota County.        Lindsey pleaded guilty in November to criminal vehicular operation and child endangerment, both gross misdemeanors. She was charged after she crashed on Highway 52 near Hampton on February 28th, 2011. Her children – ages 3 months to 9 years – were not seriously hurt.        The Star Tribune reports the judge gave Lindsey credit for five days she spent in custody. She also was ordered to serve a year of probation, use no alcohol or drugs, and spend 15 days on electronic home monitoring.

BANK EMBEZZLEMENT-SENTENCE        Ex-Minn. bank employee sentenced for embezzling        MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – A former bank employee will have to pay $1 million restitution for embezzling from customers of the Marshall bank where she worked.        Forty-eight-year-old Barbara Kaye Rechtzigel of Belview also was sentenced Wednesday in federal court to two years in prison.        Rechtzigel pleaded guilty in August to one count of embezzlement by a bank officer. She worked as senior operations manager at Minnwest Bank until she was fired in June.        In a plea agreement, she admitted embezzling money by creating false paperwork to make customers believe their CDs were renewed and earning interest, when she was actually taking the money.        The bank reimbursed customers more than $1 million.

EX-MINNESOTA PLAYER-ARRESTED        Ex-college player arrested on drug charge in Texas        HOUSTON (AP) – A former University of Minnesota wide receiver who quit the team after accusing the head coach of abusive behavior has been arrested in Houston on a marijuana possession charge.        According to Harris County court records, A.J. Barker was arrested Sunday on a misdemeanor charge of possessing less than two ounces of marijuana. Barker is free on $500 bond. He is to appear in court February 14th.        His father, John Barker, declined to comment about the arrest when contacted by telephone at his St. Paul home.        A.J. Barker had been leading the team in catches when he abruptly quit in November. In an email which he posted on a personal blog, Barker accused Minnesota coach Jerry Kill of demeaning him and questioning his family background. Kill denied the accusations.

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