T. Higley

Ford will close it's St. Paul auto plant in Sept. 2009 union officials announced Monday.

The plant was originally scheduled to close this year, but demand for the Ranger went up. The Ranger is the only vehicle made at the St. Paul plant and much of the demand for the small trucks was coming from Canada because of the decreasing value of the U.S. dollar, the Star Tribune reported Monday.

In contrast with most other automakers, Ford actually had a rise in sales in February. The Ranger was selling 27 percent more than a year ago, but Ford's overall sales slipped 6.9 percent in February. GM's light-vehicle sales dropped 12.9 percent and Chrysler was down 14 percent.

"Primarily it's driven by the weak economy,'' said Mirko Mikelic, who helps manage $22 billion at Fifth Third Asset Management in Grand Rapids, Mich. "It's been difficult for people to refinance and get credit.''

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Four people were shot and three were killed in three separate incidents this weekend, the Star Tribune reported Sunday.

One woman was killed and another hospitalized early Sunday morning in Minneapolis reported the Pioneer Press. A 28-year-old man was arrested in connection with the incident and is being held at the Hennepin County Jail, the police told the Star Tribune. None of these people were identified by Sunday night.

Around 6 p.m. on Saturday Gustavo Ortega, 18, of Bloomington, was killed in a drive by shooting in Richfield. The Star Tribune reported that police were investigating leads in the case.

A juvenile whose identity was not released was also killed Saturday around 2 p.m. in Minneapolis. There have been no arrests in the case and police are investigating whether the shooting is connected with the Richfield drive by.

Posted by higl0010 at 11:02 PM | Permalink

A 17-year-old 17,Central High School senior has donated more than $13,000 to an organization that cares for refugees in Lebanon, the Pioneer Press reported Sunday.

Daniel Chahla of Merriam Park runs an online computer repair service called First-VM (accessible at firstvm.com) in the time he has in between homework and college applications.

During a 2006 trip to Lebanon, where his parents were born, Chahla saw the poverty and chaos of the war-torn nation. According to the Pioneer Press, Hezbollah attacks flared while the St. Paul high school student and his sister were there, and they had to be evacuated by a U.S. military helicopter to a battleship in the Mediterranean Sea.

"It hit home," he said. "I wanted to do something."

Chahla was awarded $20,000 recently as a Horatio Alger national scholar for his commitment to serving others. He was also named a distinguished finalist for the Prudential Spirit of Community Award, which salutes volunteers.

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in 2000, Lt. Gov. Carol Molnau authored and helped pass a bill that put Hwy. 212 within a mile of real estate she then sold for $3.3 million, the Star Tribune reported on Saturday.

Molnau, the then-chairwoman of the House Transportation Finance Committee, did not share the proximity of her land to anyone while the bill was in passage. Eight days after the bill was passed, she and her husband sold the property for "six times its estimated market value" to developer Pulte Homes of Minnesota, according to the Star Tribune.

She did not reveal her dealings with develpers because she "believed the legislation would have no effect on her property value or benefit her financially. She said ongoing development surrounding her property was the driving force behind the increasing value of her land."

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According to a study connected with the Minnesota DNR, fewer people are spending time outdoors the Pioneer Press reported Sunday.

The Star Tribune also reported on the issue Feb. 10, attributing the cause of the dwindling numbers of outdoors-people to "people -- especially kids -- may be spending more leisure time with computers, televisions and other electronics."

The study, which the Star Tribune accredited to the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, showed that the percentage of people recreating outdoors has gone down in the past then years. "From 1996 to 2006, per capita angling was down 16 percent, hunting was down 9 percent and park visitation was down 10 percent."

This trend could mean trouble for parks and wildlife and the people who make their living conserving natural settings, but compared with the rest of the nation, in Minnesota the outdoors are used more frequently.

Posted by higl0010 at 5:38 AM | Permalink

A fire at a dairy store in Blaine on last month was an arson and a possible hate crime, the Star Tribune reported Friday.

At around 8:30 p.m. on Jan. 27, three men entered the store and set it on fire. The owner suffered minor burns and cuts. None of the men have been identified or apprehended so far.

A police report said that "an expletive directed to an "Arab" was found spray-painted on the west wall of the building" after the fire. The Star Tribune reported that the police believe the store owner is "Muslim or of Arab descent."

The Blaine police department and the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension are investigating whether the incident will be considered a hate crime. The classification of the crime will determine how the suspects, once apprehended, will be tried.

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The cause of the disease afflicting pork plant workers in Austin, Minn. is still unknown the New York Times reported on Tuesday.

Several experts are working to identify the source of the neurological and autoimmune ailments of at least 12 people who have worked in or near an area where the pig brain is extracted from the skull with compressed air.

Dr. Ruth Lynfield, the state epidemiologist identified the source of the problem when she noticed "aerosolization of brain tissue." The disease is thought to be acquired through the particles of brain tissue that were breathed in or absorbed through the skin.

But the cause of the neurological autoimmune reaction, in which the body reacts against itself as it would react against germs, is still unknown. Researchers do not know why the human body would react so strongly to pig brains.

The New York Times reported that "scores of tests for viruses, bacteria and parasites have found no signs of infection" and that "exposure to the hog brain itself might have touched off an intense reaction by the immune system, something akin to a giant, out-of-control allergic reaction."

Dr. Ian Lipkin of Columbia University has begun tests on blood from Minnesota patients, looking for a reaction to pig brain.

The Star Tribune reported that investigators have ruled out that the disease can be transmitted from person to person and doubt that it is some sort of foodborne illness.

The Star Tribune also reported that two other illnesses have been reported in Indiana and that Dr. Julie Gerberding, head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said "it's too soon to say for sure what could be causing it."

Posted by higl0010 at 5:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Presidential hopeful Barack Obama filled the Target Center in Minneapolis to its capacity of 20,000 people on Saturday reports Kare 11 News.

A diverse crowd waited outside in the cold for several hours to hear Sen. Obama speak. He was introduced by Minneapolis mayor RT Ryback, Congressman Keith Ellison and former Minnesota first lady Jane Freeman, who's late husband Gov. Orville Freeman gave the nominating speech for John F. Kennedy at the 1960 Democratic National Convention.

"Waves of emotion rippled through the crowd" when Obama mentioned the late Paul Wellstone, Kare 11 New reported, saying "it's clear he wants to lay claim to Wellstone's progressive legacy."

Attendees interviewed by the Star Tribune were very positive. "I've never seen this before from a politician," said Amy Axelson of Maplewood, "People are excited about the government again." Yvonne Cheek, of Minneapolis, said that Obama has "chosen to take the high road at all of these junctures where he could have went the other way."

Sen. Obama's speech touch upon familiar themes of change and new leadership his campaign has been championing. He never mentioned his opponent, Sen. Hillary Clinton, by name.

The following Sunday, minutes before Super Bowl XLII began, Clinton held a rally at Augsburg College in Minneapolis. The event was attended by 4,000.

She later appeared at the St. Paul restaurant Dixie's to watch the Super Bowl, the Star Tribune reported.

On Monday, starlet Scarlett Johansson will appear at Sweeney's Saloon & Cafe in St. Paul to encourage caucusing for Sen. Obama, the Star Tribune also reported.

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A man who admitted to drawing at least one swastika on the St. Cloud State University campus was identified by police Wednesday and arrested on Thursday reports the Star Tribune.

It was not known if the incident was related to other cases of anti-semitic vandalisms that have been occurring at the university in recent months. Over a dozen swastikas had been drawn and carved on the campus in November and December, one of them as recent as Monday the Pioneer Press reported.

The St. Cloud Times stated that the drawing was on a student's white board at the dormitory Stearns Hall. This was the incident that identified the current suspect.

According to the Star Tribune, police sent the case to the city attorney's office "for possible charges."

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