MN News
WINTER STORM Snowstorm expected to dump 4 to 8 inches in valley FARGO, N.D. (AP) – A major winter storm is barreling down on the Red River Valley, a few days ahead of the next National Weather Service outlook for spring flooding. Weather service officials say snow will be heavy at times and spread from west to east late through Monday evening. Total snow accumulations in North Dakota are expected between 4 and 8 inches by the time the storm moves out, with heavier amounts possible across northwest Minnesota. The storm comes on the heels of a system that dropped several inches of snow in the Fargo area Friday. Residents of the Fargo and Moorhead, Minnesota area had last year off from flood fighting after battling high waters for three straight years, beginning in 2009. The weather service will issue its next flood forecast Thursday.
EMERGENCY LANDING-WINSTED Pilot makes emergency landing in Winsted (Information in the following story is from: KMSP-TV, http://www.myfox9.com) WINSTED, Minn. (AP) – All six people on board walked away safely after a pilot made an emergency landing in farm field near Winsted west of the Twin Cities. The pilot deftly maneuvered the twin-engine Piper to a belly-flop landing on Wally Kerber’s soybean field after one of the engines lost power in mid-flight Friday evening. Kerber tells KMSP-TV he’s glad the plane landed where it did, even though the Winsted airport was no more than a mile away. He says there was plenty of room as long as the plane didn’t flip over. The plane is owned by West Metro Aviation. It was en route from Jamestown to nearby Buffalo, North Dakota. Most of the six people on board were employees of a local drilling company. The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating.
DRUG COURT RALLY Drug Court officials to rally at Minn. Capitol ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – Minnesota Supreme Court Chief Justice Lorie Skjerven Gildea will join other judges and Governor Mark Dayton at a rally to promote the state’s drug court system. The rally is set for 10 a.m. Monday at the Minnesota State Capitol Rotunda. Top prosecutors from Ramsey and Dakota counties will also be on hand, as well as hundreds of drug court participants. There are 50 drug courts in Minnesota, which serve adults, juveniles, families, veterans and others. The courts use a team approach and include treatment and strict supervision of certain non-violent, drug-using offenders to get them on a path toward rehabilitation. Court officials say drug courts have been proven to save lives, reunite families and save taxpayers money.
DAYTON-BUDGET TOUR Dayton to travel state to make case for his budget ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – Governor Mark Dayton will travel the state starting this week to make the case for his budget. The tour starts with a town hall meeting in Duluth on Wednesday. The governor’s office says additional dates and sites will be announced later. They’re all free and open to the public. Dayton’s office said in a statement Sunday that these “Meetings with Mark” are an effort to engage Minnesotans in personal conversations about his proposed spending increases on education, economic development and local government aid. The updated budget plan Dayton released on Thursday would levy a new income tax rate on the top 2 percent of earners to help erase a $627 million budget shortfall, bolster preschool through college education, and fund loans and grants for business expansions.
LACROSSE TEAM-MINNESOTA Minnesota woman injured in lacrosse team bus crash (Information in the following story is from: St. Paul Pioneer Press, http://www.twincities.com) ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – A Minnesota woman is in serious condition after a bus carrying her college lacrosse team veered off the Pennsylvania Turnpike and crashed head-on into a tree, killing a coach, the coach’s unborn child and the driver. Amanda Michalski from the Minneapolis suburb of Coon Rapids is a freshman attacker for Seton Hall University. She was airlifted to the Penn State Hershey Medical Center in Hershey, Pa., after the crash Saturday. Her lacrosse coach at Coon Rapids High School, Jeff DeJoy, says that her parents, Gary and Gretchen Michalski of Coon Rapids, are now with her. He says he hasn’t been able to confirm the extent of her injuries. Michalski graduated from Coon Rapids in 2012. DeJoy recalls her as a good goal scorer.
FORT SNELLING-HOMELESS VETS Fort Snelling buildings to become veterans housing (Information in the following story is from: Star Tribune, http://www.startribune.com) FORT SNELLING, Minn. (AP) – After decades of neglect, five old buildings at Fort Snelling will be renovated into apartments for homeless veterans and their families. The buildings saw service from the Spanish-American War to World War Two, and are going to be rehabbed. The Star Tribune reports the plans call for 58 affordable apartments for homeless veterans and their families. Construction is expected to start this summer and finish by summer 2014. The Fort Snelling plan is part of a larger effort by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to end veteran homelessness and reduce its inventory of vacant and underutilized properties. The VA plans to provide more than 3,000 units of permanent and transitional housing for veterans at 25 VA Medical Center campuses nationwide, and another 1,000 units are pending or underway.
ENBRIDGE-PIPELINE Enbridge seeks to pipe more Canada oil to Superior (Information in the following story is from: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, http://www.jsonline.com) MILWAUKEE (AP) – Enbridge Incorporated is seeking State Department approval for a sharp increase in its oil deliveries from Canada’s tar sands region to Superior, Wisconsin. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says government documents show Enbridge potentially could nearly double its capacity, indicating that the pipleline company has plans to transport more Canadian oil through Minnesota to Wisconsin than previously reported. Enbridge also would move more oil to Superior from North Dakota oil fields. The State Department reported in the Federal Register on Friday that Canada-based Enbridge wants to boost capacity from between 450,000 and 500,000 barrels a day to 570,000 a day. In a second phase, Enbridge is seeking to ship up to 880,000 barrels daily. No new pipelines would be built, but the company would upgrade its pumping stations in Minnesota and Wisconsin.
BOXER DEATH Boxing club resumes bouts 1 month after man died (Information in the following story is from: Grand Forks Herald, http://www.grandforksherald.com) GRAND FORKS, N.D. (AP) – Amateur boxing bouts have resumed at a Grand Forks-area club, one month after a North Dakota man collapsed in the ring and later died. Twenty-nine-year-old Jeremiah “J.J.” Moen of Grand Forks suffered a seizure and lost consciousness following the first round of his February 16th bout in East Grand Forks, Minnesota. He died on February 20th. The Forx Fighters club, which shut down for a week after Moen’s death, was back in action Saturday with 11 scheduled bouts at the East Grand Forks American Legion club. The Grand Forks Herald reports that club coach Eddie Obregon unveiled a plaque with Moen’s photo, paid for by the families of fellow boxers. Boxer Reid Nelson says Moen’s death has weighed on him and dedicated his Saturday match to his former teammate.