MN News
Sun, 04 May 2008 7:42:50 CDT

Latest Minnesota news, sports, business and entertainment:
POWERBALL-MINNESOTA
NEW: Winning Powerball jackpot ticket sold in Minnesota; worth
$180.1 million
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - A ticket sold in Minnesota is the lucky
winner of last night's Powerball drawing and a jackpot worth 180.1
million dollars.
The winning ticket matched all six numbers drawn, which were:
2-28-36-42-46, and the Powerball was 40. The Power Play number was
three.
The prize drops back to an estimated five million dollars for
Wednesday.
No $200,000 winners or Power Play Match 5 winners were sold in
Minnesota.
---
(two, twenty-eight, thirty-six, forty-two, forty-six; Powerball
forty)
---
On the Net:
Multi-State Lottery Association: http://www.powerball.com
BRIDGE COLLAPSE
NEW: New 35W bridge may open three months early
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - Construction managers say the work on the new
Interstate 35 bridge is progressing so well that they expect to
open it by mid-September instead of late December.
Managers for Flatiron Constructors say the bridge is 65 percent
complete, and they could begin hanging concrete segments over the
Mississippi River as soon as May 14th or 15th. That's three months
earlier than originally scheduled.
Flatiron's reward for getting the job done early could be an
extra 20 million dollars in federal funds.
The Minnesota Department of Transportation, which has mainly an
oversight role, is more cautious about when the bridge will be
completed. Spokesman Kevin Gutknecht says there's no question
they're ahead of schedule, but a lot of work remains to be done.
---
Information from: Star Tribune, http://www.startribune.com
GUNFLINT GREEN UP
NEW: Some 500 volunteers plant trees along Gunflint Trail
ALONG THE GUNFLINT TRAIL, Minn. (AP) - An overnight snowfall
complicated but did not stop a major reforestation project along
the Gunflint Trail in northeastern Minnesota.
An estimated 500 volunteers from around the state gathered for
the Gunflint Green Up, a project to plant around 75,000 pine
seedlings in areas burned by a wildfire that broke out one year ago
this weekend.
Two inches of new snow covered the target areas yesterday
morning, making for slippery walking over the rocky terrain. But
forestry experts said the added moisture will be good for the
seedlings, and most of the snow melted as they day went on.
The Ham Lake fire burned nearly 120 square miles in northeastern
Minnesota and western Ontario. It was rated the most destructive
forest fire in Minnesota since 1918. It damaged or destroyed more
than 130 structures in Minnesota, including six permanent homes and
22 seasonal cabins. But no one was killed or seriously injured.
MILLE LACS-LOOSE NETS
NEW: Fishing nets get trapped in ice, go missing on Mille Lacs
GARRISON, Minn. (AP) - A dozen gillnets set by Chippewa Indian
bands became trapped in ice floes and went missing last week on
Lake Mille Lacs (mill-LAX').
A spokeswoman for the Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife
Commission says the 100-foot nets disappeared after winds shifted
Tuesday and Wednesday on the west side of the big lake.
Officials aren't sure if the nets that remained missing as of
Friday are still catching fish, or became balled up instead. Band
members will try to recover the nets when ice conditions are
favorable.
The unrecovered nets have stirred hard feelings around the lake,
where some are still unhappy with a 1999 U.S. Supreme Court
decision affirming Chippewa hunting and fishing rights under an
1837 treaty.
Tribal officials have subtracted 400 pounds of walleyes from
their 122,500-pound quota to make up for fish lost in the missing
nets.
---
Information from: St. Paul Pioneer Press,
http://www.twincities.com
KIFFMEYER-OLSON
NEW: Kiffmeyer wins GOP endorsement over current Rep. Olson
BIG LAKE, Minn. (AP) - Former Minnesota Secretary of State Mary
Kiffmeyer has won the Republican endorsement over incumbent Mark
Olson in state House District 16B.
Olson was convicted last summer of a domestic assault charge
against his wife, and was expelled from the House GOP caucus by his
fellow Republicans. Kiffmeyer secured the endorsement on the second
ballot during the district convention at Big Lake High School.
The district Republican chairman says Kiffmeyer fell just one
vote short of winning on the first ballot.
Kiffmeyer was secretary of state from 1999 to 2007. She says
Olson's legal troubles were "probably the predominating factor"
in her decision to run for his central Minnesota House seat.
Olson has said he might run as an independent if he were denied
the endorsement. He did not immediately return phone calls seeking
comment.
CONGRESS-2ND DISTRICT
NEW: Sarvi gets DFL nod to challenge Kline in Minn.'s 2nd Dist.
FARIBAULT, Minn. (AP) - Democrats have endorsed Iraq war veteran
Steve Sarvi (SAR'-vee) to run against Republican congressman John
Kline.
Sarvi beat businessman Peter Idusogie (IH'-doo-soggy) at an
endorsing convention in Faribault (FAIR'-boh).
Sarvi is a city administrator and former Watertown mayor who
served in Iraq and Kosovo with the Minnesota National Guard.
Kline is a retired Marine who is serving his third term in
Congress.
He represents Minnesota's Second District, which covers the
southern fringe of Twin Cities suburbs and stretches past St.
Peter, Faribault and Red Wing.
CAMPUS THREAT
NEW: Bond set at $15,000 for student accused of writing threat
CHICAGO (AP) - Bond has been set at $15,000 for a St. Xavier
University freshman accused of scrawling a threatening message in a
dorm restroom that closed the campus for several days last month.
Katherine W. Loberg of St. Paul, Minnesota, is charged with one
count of criminal defacement of property and one count of
disorderly conduct, both felonies.
A Cook County judge ruled yesterday that the 19-year-old will be
allowed to return to Minnesota with her mother if she has a mental
health evaluation and stays away from college campuses.
Prosecutors and Loberg's mother say she has struggled with
depression.
St. Xavier spokesman Joe Moore says Loberg has been placed on
immediate administrative suspension and is barred from campus.
SPRING BREAK-DEATH
NEW: Spring Break murder results in life in prison
DELAND, Fla. (AP) - A former Navy sailor has been sentence to
life in prison for shooting an 18-year-old Minnesota man during
last year's Spring Break in Florida.
Matthew Castro was found guilty Friday of killing Lance Ulland
of Austin, who died after answering Castro's knock on his Daytona
Beach motel door on March 18th of 2007.
A judge sentenced the 29-year-old Castro to life in prison
without the possibility of parole.
Castro took the stand and admitted to the shooting, but said it
was an accident.
Castro had been searching for a cocaine dealer who sold him a
$50 bag of salt. Ulland was not the man Castro was looking for.
WINONA CHIEF
NEW: Winona police chief to step down after 22 years in top job
WINONA, Minn. (AP) - The longtime police chief of Winona is
retiring next year.
Frank Pomeroy says he'll call it quits on March 31st of 2009 - a
day short of his 34th anniversary with the department, and with 22
years in the chief's job.
The local historical society says Pomeroy is the longest-tenured
police chief in Winona history. Local leaders say the police
department was in turmoil when Pomeroy took over and turned it
around, while also improving crime statistics in the past decade.
Pomeroy will be 61 when he retires. He gives credit to his staff
for his success.
---
Information from: Winona Daily News,
http://www.winonadailynews.com
CHURCH-LECTURE CANCELLED
NEW: Diocese cites doc's view on abortion in canceling lecture
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - A University of Minnesota professor's
invitation to speak at a Minneapolis Catholic church today has been
rescinded because of his views about abortion.
Dr. Steven Miles is a medical ethicist who was supposed to speak
about torture at an adult education class before the sermon at the
St. Joan of Arc Church.
But last week the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis
decided Miles wouldn't be allowed to speak. A statement from the
diocese said it was because of his "public advocacy of abortion,
which is fundamentally contrary to the teachings of the Catholic
Church."
Miles says his talk had nothing at all to do with abortion.
St. Joan of Arc has clashed with the archdiocese before,
including in 2004 when the church was forced to take gay pride
information off its Web site.
Miles now plans to deliver his talk Tuesday night at the College
of St. Catherine.
---
Information from: WCCO-TV, http://www.wcco.com
(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
AP-NY-05-04-08 0231EDT

WebReady^TM Powered by WireReady®NSI