MN News
Sun, 23 Mar 2008 10:42:02 CDT

SLA-OLSON
NEW: Former SLA member Olson back in custody in California
LOS ANGELES (AP) - A California Corrections official says former
1970s radical Sara Jane Olson was wrongly released from prison
because of an "administrative error."
The former Symbionese Liberation Army member was taken into
custody just days after she was freed from a prison. A corrections
official had said earlier that Olson was granted interstate parole
and was on her way to Minnesota, where she had lived before being
arrested.
An official says an outcry that followed Olson's release spurred
a thorough review of her parole and a 2004 miscalculation was
discovered that resulted in her release a year too early.
After years on the run, Olson was arrested in 1999 in St. Paul,
where she had lived as a social activist, doctor's wife and mother
of three daughters.
JAILHOUSE BEATING
Witness beaten after being put in same cell as defendant
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - A Minneapolis man was beaten in Hennepin
County Jail after being placed in the same cell as the man he was
set to testify against.
Steven Hawkins had two black eyes when he took the stand to
testify against Val Diggins in a double-murder case.
Prosecutors say the two were inadvertantly placed in the same
holding cell on Tuesday while awaiting separate court appearances.
Hawkins says Diggins smashed his head into a bench and broke
bones in his face.
Hennepin County authorities say they will pursue charges against
Diggins in the alleged beating.
Diggins has pleaded not guilty to murdering two crack dealers in
north Minneapolis.
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Information from: Star Tribune, http://www.startribune.com
OUTSTATE ECONOMY
Survey: Outstate MN especially glum about economy
ROCHESTER, Minn. (AP) - As the economy continues to struggle,
residents in outstate Minnesota appear to be even more anxious than
those in the metro area.
A new poll says only 19 percent of Minnesotans outside the
seven-county metro area believe they will be better off financially
a year from now. Thirty-five percent think they will be worse off.
That's even more pessimistic than their metro-area counterparts.
Twenty-six percent feel they will be better off a year from now.
The poll was commissioned by the think tank Minnesota 2020.
Outstate Minnesota residents say health care, jobs and education
were their top three concerns.
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Information from: Post-Bulletin, http://www.postbulletin.com
AMBER ALERT-SENTENCE
Man gets 60 years from molesting relatives
HASTINGS, Minn. (AP) - A convicted sex offender has been
sentenced to 60 years in prison for molesting two young female
relatives.
Stephen Michael Michuda received the maximum sentence allowable
on Friday. He touched off an Amber Alert by taking his 14-year-old
daughter from her home in Inver Grove Heights in February.
He pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree criminal sexual
conduct.
The Dakota County judge said at sentencing that Michuda was "an
ingrained sex offender."
Prosecutors say Michuda molested the two girls over several
years and forced another juvenile relative to act as a lookout.
Michuda acknowledged to the court that he had a problem. He says
he wants to get treatment.
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Information from: St. Paul Pioneer Press,
http://www.twincities.com
EXPELLED FROM MOVIE
Man interviewed in movie is not allowed to see it
BLOOMINGTON, Minn. (AP) - P.Z. Myers was interviewed in a movie.
He's even thanked in the credits. He just wasn't allowed to
actually watch it.
Myers tried to attend a free screening of the movie "Expelled"
on Thursday at the Mall of America. But the film's promoters
expelled him.
Myers is an associate professor at the University of
Minnesota-Morris. He is also an atheist. The movie argues that
schools should teach creationism as an alternative to evolution.
Myers is interviewed in the film. He then went to the screening,
but says he was kicked out about 15 minutes before the show
started.
So he will have to wait to see his big-screen debut when the
movie opens nationwide April 18.
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Information from: St. Paul Pioneer Press,
http://www.twincities.com
(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
AP-NY-03-23-08 0230EDT

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