Recently in Local News Category

                         A group of anti-war protesters marched downtown Minneapolis, criticizing the war in Afghanistan during the rush hour traffic, Wednesday night.
                         About 100 protesters marched down Hennepin Avenue trying to get attention of people, expressing their opposition toward President Barack Obama's decision to send 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan, reported the MN Daily. 
                         Protester Kevin Smith said, "We really think Barack Obama has let us down and it's common madness as normal when it comes to politics," Fox News reported.
                         The march started at the Loring Park around 5:30 p.m., continued through downtown for nearly two hours and returned to the park.
                         Minneapolis police arrested 11 war protesters for unlawful assembly Wednesday night, Kare 11 News reported. The protesters said the purpose of the march was to disrupt traffic flow to publicly declare their opposition on increasing the troop size for Afghanistan war.
                         "People are dying for this," one of the arrestee, Bryan Berry said. "We need to open our eyes and say that that's not right."
                          The march was organized by Direct Action to Stop War and Occupation (DASWO), a local anti-war organization.

 

                            A 16-year-old St. Paul boy has been charged with second-degree manslaughter for shooting his friend on Thanksgiving day, which killed him.

                            According to a juvenile petition filed Tuesday in Ramsey County District Court, Cody Isaiah Nelson shot and killed 15-year-old Darion Joseph Smith, of St. Paul, the Pioneer Press reported.

                            A 19-year-old Daniel T. Cornell, of St. Paul, is also charged in Ramsey County District Court with three counts in relation of Smith's death, Star Tribune reported.

                            The fatal shooting happened at a house party on Thanksgiving morning, while they were playing Russian roulette game with an unloaded .22-caliber handgun, MPR News reported. According to a criminal complaint, Nelson said he did not know the gun was loaded wen he pulled the trigger. 

                            Nelson was also charged in a separate juvenile petition with two counts of second-degree assault for allegedly firing shots into an occupied home one night earlier.

                            Smith was a student at St. Paul Central High School.

                            Ramsey County Attorney Susan Gaertner said in a statement, "This fatal shooting seemed to be the inevitable tragic conclusion of young people handling a gun with wanton disregard for life."

 

 

                          A St. Paul couple were honored Monday for saving a man's life, receiving Chief's award from St.Paul Police Department.
                          The award is the highest honor given to non-sworn personnel in the department, said spokesman Sgt. Paul Schnell. Ryan and Amy Sportel received an award on Monday for their action, saving man's life on Aug. 27, reported the Star Tribune.
                          While caring for their 11-day-old baby, the couple helped a 60-year-old Terry Bushard, who had a heart attack while he was driving, which led to a car crash last August, reported the Pioneer Press.
                           According to the Star Tribune, Ryan and Amy Sportel, administered CPR to Bushard until paramedics arrived, Star Tribune reported.
                           Ryan Sportel, 34, works as a nurse anesthetist at the Fairview Red Wing Medical Center and Amy Sportel, 31, is a nurse in the intensive care unit at United Hospital in St. Paul.
                           St. Paul police chief John Harrington said, the couple's action was "quite truly was life-saving intervention. If it had not happened, another St. Paulite would have perished that day."
                          

                          St. Paul police arrested an adult and a juvenile based on recorded video, which was posted on YouTube about random muggings in Minneapolis and St. Paul.
                          Police watched the viral video of teenage group of boys attacking people on the street on the YouTube, which was removed on Tuesday afternoon. They had enough time to identify the suspects to file a search warrant on Wednesday, reported the CBS News.
                          According to police report, a 19-year-old was booked into Ramsey County jail and a 17-year-old was booked into juvenile detention center on Tuesday on suspicion of assault and robbery, reported the Star Tribune.
                          Minneapolis Police Chief, Tim Dolan said, "I'm hoping these things were staged... they are very concerning."
                          The concerning video presented the real names of the suspects and shows the action of groups taking turns saying, "Watch this," before hitting victims, running away while laughing.
                          Mohamed Abdi, 19, recorded the assaults with his digital camera, edited and uploaded by his labtop computer, Pioneer Press reported.
                         

 

                               Unidentifed man was found dead in Northern Minneapolis today morning, police is investigating the case under the suspicious circumstances.

                               According to the Pioneer Press, Emergency responders were called to help an unconscious man, but found him dead when they arrived.

                               The police found the man around 5 a.m. in the 1000 block of Lowry Avenue Northeast, Star Tribune reported.

                               Kristi Owens, neighbor said, "He was stabbed and they found him in the alley that they may have found the guy, I guess he had cuts all over him."

                               The cause of death or the identity has not yet been released by the Hennepin County medical examiner's office.

                               Minneapolis Police confirmed the death was a murder, but they are looking for suspects, reported the 5 Eyewitness News. Sgt. Jesse Garcia said, "Something like this is pretty unique, and I'm sure it surprised all the neighbors."

                            

                              

 

                          The St. Paul school board narrowed down six superintendent candidates to three finalist after the interview on Saturday.

                          The finalists are Deborah Henton, 54, North Branch superintendent of schools, Charles Hopson, 51, deputy superintendent of the Portland, Ore., school district, and Valeria Silva, 48, district's chief academic officer, reported the Star Tribune.

                           The St. Paul Board members asked the same questions to candidates at public interview, such as, their views on diversity and dealing with the authority and board.

                           Silva, of Woodbury, had largest applause at the end of the question and answer session, Pioneer Press reported.

                           Mark Bezek, superintendent in Elk River Area Schools, Stan Mack, former superintendent in the Robbinsdale Area School District, and Nancy Stachel, chief of schools in SPPS has been eliminated.  

                           Ted Blaesing, who is assisting the search of the superintendent said, "I broke three hearts, and I had three others leap for joy."  

                          

                          

 

                               A teenage boy died after he was found being stabbed in South Minneapolis on Saturday morning.

                              According to The 6 News, Minneapolis police found 17-year-old Tim Jackson, serious inujured, when they were responding to a robbery call around 1:40 a.m., near 28th Street East and Hiawatha Avenue South.

                              Police said Jakson was taken to Hennepin County Medical Center, where he died, The Pioneer Press reported.

                              Jackson was a member of the Red Lake Nation Tribe and Little Earth of United Tribes, which is an Indian Community in Minneapolis, where he lived with his family before moving out, The 6 News reported.  

                              Sgt. William Palmer said it is unclear whether victim was walking on the Greenway when he was injured, reported the Star Tribune.

                              Minneapolis police are asking the public for information on this homocide case, reported the Kare 11 News.

 

 

                               One St. Paul soldier and 12 other people were killed from shooting on Thursday at Fort Hood Army Base, Texas.

                               A 23-year-old Kham Xiong, specialist was shot by an Army psychiatrist, Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, who fired pistol to the soldiers who were lined up to get a flu shot and eye exam at the Soldier Readiness Center, Pioneer Press reported.

                               The massacre ended when the shooter was shot down by a policewoman, The MPR News reported.

                               According to 5 Eyewitness News, another soldier from St. Paul, 21-year-old reservist Keara Bono Torkelson was shot in her back.

                               The Pioneer Press reported the incidence as the worst mass killing ever on a U.S. military base: total of 13 people were killed and 30 were wounded.

                               "I could understand if he died in Afghanistan or Iraq, where they are under attack and going head-to-head with the enemy," Xiong's father, Chor Xiong said. "I don't know how I can explain it to his younger brother," The Star Tribune reported.

                                Kham Xiong is survived by his wife and three children; his parents; and 10 siblings, The Pioneer Press reported.

 

 

 

                             The University of Minnesota's School of Veterinary Medicine will receive $55 million grant from the government to prevent pandemic disease around the world.

                             The university announced Friday that United States Agency for International Development will spend $185 million among next five-years, reported the Star Tribune. The researchers of the university will be granted for $55 million, which is the largest in the history of university.

                              The multicenter grant is part of the Emerging Pandemic Threat program, which the USAID, an independent government agency has started to provide aid to foreign countries, reported the MPR News.

                             Avian flu and SARS are some examples of human pandemics that began with animal diseases.

                             John Finnegan, dean of the U's School of Public Health said, "It's very much 'boots on the ground' public health -- helping to build that kind of infrastructure to prevent the infection and spread of these diseases," MPR News reported.

                             The program will focus primarily on Southeast Asia and South America starting at Jan., reported the Star Tribune.

                            

                            

 

                           The family of a college student filed a wrongful death lawsuit on Thursday for their son who died on a spring break trip to Mexico.

                           A 20-year-old University of St. Thomas freshman Josh Gundersona, from Stillwater, was found in a pool of blood in a Sheraton hotel bathroom in Puerto Vallarta, MPR News reported.

                           Josh Gunderson was in Mexico with Zachary Jensen, who reported the death to the hotel, tand Ashley Jones on the night of his death, WCCO reported.  

                           The Pioneer Press reported Elizabeth Gunderson Koll, mother of Gunderson, filed the lawsuit in Washington County District Court toward Jensen, Jason Jones, the father of Jones, and his company Sterling Systems, of Golden Valley.

                           The families attorney, John Magnuson said the autopsy shows it was a fight that killed him, MPR News reported. 

                           "Plain and simple, these folks just want to know what happened, and they're entitled to know."