LOCAL

 ELY CRASH
     2 killed in northeastern Minn. crash
    
     ELY, Minn. (AP) - Two people have died in a crash on a wet
highway in northeastern Minnesota.
     The State Patrol says two cars collided on Highway 1/169 west of
Ely in St. Louis County Thursday about 5:30 p.m.
     Authorities say a 57-year-old Ely man driving a Ford Taurus
crossed the center line on the slick highway and collided head-on
with a Cadillac Seville driven by a 28-year-old Ely woman. Both
drivers died. The Star Tribune reports a passenger in the Cadillac
suffered non-life threatening injuries.
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     Information from: Star Tribune, http://www.startribune.com
    
 TWINS-TICKETS
     Single-game Twins tickets go on sale Saturday
    
     MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - Minnesota Twins fans will finally get a
chance to order single-game tickets for the team's first season in
its new outdoors stadium on Saturday.
     The team says they will start selling seats at 9 a.m. through
the team's Web site, telephone system and at the ticket office at
the new Target Field.
     The team says ticket availability is expected to be more limited
in the new stadium than in the Metrodome, in part because there are
about 15,000 fewer seats.
     The home opener on April 14-15 against the Red Sox is sold out
after tickets for the series were made available through a special
online ticket sale in February.
     The team expects longer-than-average wait times for both
telephone numbers and Web site Saturday.
     Tickets can be purchased through www.twinsbaseball.com or by
calling 800-33-TWINS
    
 MISSISSIPPI ISLANDS
     Feds need names for new Mississippi islands
    
     MADISON, Wis. (AP) - Federal wildlife officials say they need
the public's help to name new islands in the Mississippi River.
     The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service began building nine new
islands in a 3,000-acre backwater between Stoddard and Brownsville,
Minn., in 2006. The work is part of a wildlife habitat
reconstruction project and is expected to continue for at least two
more years.
     The wildlife service wants suggestions for names that reflect
the area's geology, history or fish and wildlife. Entries are due
by April 9. Winners will receive certificates.
     Entries should be mailed to the Upper Mississippi River National
Wildlife and Fish Refuge Island Naming Contest, 555 Lester Ave.,
Onalaska, Wis., 54650.
    
 SOLDIERS RETURNING
     Minn. National Guard pilots due home
    
     ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) - Five soldiers from Minnesota's National
Guard Detachment 39 are returning home after a one-year stint in
Afghanistan.
     Detachment 39 is made up of pilots and system operators who
conducted continuous combat flights throughout Afghanistan. Their
aircraft were equipped for centralized intelligence collection and
analysis by providing infrared imagery. The detachment logged more
than 600 flight hours and conducted some of the most high-profile
missions in Afghanistan.
     The soldiers are expected to fly into the Army Aviation Support
Facility in St. Paul around lunctime on Friday.
    
 SNOWMOBILE TRAILS
     Rain, warm weather erode Minn. snowmobile trails
    
     ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) - The Department of Natural Resources is
warning that snowmobiling conditions may be unsafe in many parts of
Minnesota.
     The DNR says the recent rain and warm weather have been eroding
snowmobile trails, causing conditions to deteriorate rapidly.
     Earlier this week, snow conditions were still good in northern
Minnesota. But the DNR says that situation has changed dramatically
in the last couple of days.
     Local clubs have closed many trails, and the DNR says this
probably will be the last week that state trails are groomed.