Recently in Local News Category

Minneapolis leaders are seeking funding to renovate Nicollet Mall for the first time since it's last rebuild in 1990, news sources reported.

Peter Brown, project consultant for repairing and redesigning the mall, told MinnPost that the goals would be to rebuild the boulevard to make it more sustainable in the long-term, as well as to update the technology.

The city is not waiting for confirmation of the requested $20 million in state bonding funds to start designing the street, but instead has announced a design contest for the corridor that will take place this summer, according to the StarTribune. MinnPost said the winning design should be selected in September.

Shakopee police arrested a suspect on Friday in connection with a Thursday shooting that left a high school student dead and two others wounded, news sources reported.

Police arrived at the 600 block of Gorman Street on Thursday night to find the three gunshot victims, one of whom was Marcos Antino Pantaleon, a 19-year-old Shakopee High School student, who was pronounced dead at the scene, according to Fox News. The other two victims were taken to Hennepin County Medical Center.

Police said the incident occurred when three men opened fire on several people in an apartment building on the block around 10:45, the Star Tribune said. The 27-year-old Minneapolis man who was arrested is one of three suspects for the crime, and the other two remain at large.

Three people died and five were injured when their minivan overturned on I-94 in north Minneapolis on Sunday, news sources reported.

The crash, which happened just after 1 p.m., also resulted in moderate damage to two other vehicles, according to the StarTribune. None of the passengers in those two vehicles were injured.

"There appeared to be somewhat minor contact between the vehicles, and the vehicle that had the eight occupants, as a result of the contact, kind of lost control and rolled," Lt. Eric Roeske, spokesman for the State Patrol, said to the StarTribune.

North Memorial Medical Center confirmed that three people were in critical condition in the hospital as of Sunday night, Kare 11 News reported.

Flea markets may make an appearance this summer thanks to an ordinance approved by a Minneapolis city council on Thursday, news sources reported.

The ordinance would allow flea markets to operate if properly licensed, and if they do not sell electronics, guns, or drug paraphernalia, MPR News said.

The move to legalize flea markets is a result of citizen's concerns and support for the idea at a public hearing, the StarTribune reported. According to MPR, flea markets have been outlawed for around 60 years.

Authorities confirmed that three were found dead in their home on Sunday morning in Zimmerman, news sources reported.

Deputies arrived at the home at at 13309 5th Ave S. after a call from a family member of those dead, the Pioneer Press reported.

In addition to the deputies, the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension was called in to assist in the investigation, though investigators told Fox 9 news they are not seeking any suspects right now.

St. Paul police arrested a man Sunday morning after a car chase that ended in a fiery crash, news sources reported.

The incident began when police tried to stop a Hyundai Elantra on Minnesota 36 near Victoria Street. The driver took the Dale Street exit and continued for about three miles before broadsiding an SUV, the Pioneer Press said.

The SUV immediately burst into flames upon impact with the Elantra, trapping both drivers in their cars until rescue crews could pull them out, ABC news reported. Both are being treated for substantial injuries at a St. Paul hospital.

The driver of the Elantra, 33-year-old Florencio Cordero, could face two felonies concerning criminal vehicular injury and fleeing from police resulting in bodily injury if he is charged, news sources said.

The Hennepin County Medical Examiner identified the two men killed in an illegal after-hours party Friday night, news sources reported.

Demetrius Harper, 32-year-old resident of Minneapolis, and Erick Felton, 23-year-old resident of Harrisburg, Penn., died on Friday from multiple gunshot wounds in a commercial building on the 3800 block of Fremont Avenue North, according to CBS news.

The city told CBS news that the building had been deemed illegal by zoning inspectors last November. The man listed as the owner of the building, a Minneapolis man named Maurice L. Harrison, was previously busted in 2011 for another party in a commercial space that turned up drugs, guns and alcohol, the Star Tribune reported.

Harrison was held overnight Friday on a gun charge, and will most likely face charges in the future, news sources said.

Xcel Energy customers from the Twin Cities and southern Minnesota will be able to share their opinons on Xcel's proposed rate hike of $285 million, news sources reported.

The Public Utilities Commission uses the hearings as a part of its months-long review process for approving rate increases, according to Minnesota Public Radio. The PUC has granted a nine percent increase since the original 10.7 percent increase request Xcel made in November.

The PUC is expected to make their decision on the rate increase in September, and the hearings begin Monday in the Brooklyn Center, Kare 11 news said.

Anti-bullying measures are taking hold in the Anoka-Hennepin School District after last year's lawsuit settlement for its failure to protect gay and lesbian students, news sources reported.

The Southern Poverty Law Center sued the district after receiving a call from Ann Lindsey, a Jackson Middle School teacher, saying the environment for the LGBT students in the district was "toxic", according to Kare 11.

In the year prior to Lindsey's call, seven students affiliated with the district committed suicide, four of whom Lindsey said identified themselves as gay, which is one reason Lindsey said she felt something had to be done, the Pioneer Press said.

The district was required to impliment several measures to protect their LGBT students, and students said the atmosphere has improved in the year since the lawsuit was settled, but that the district still has a ways to go, news sources said.

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack announced a four-week Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) General Signup to begin May 20, news sources reported.

The announcement was made at the National Pheasant Fest and Quail Classic held in Minneapolis, and is a result of the CRP's success during last summer's drought, the Associated Press said. The land provided emergency grazing areas for livestock as well as preventing erosion.

The signup will allow farmers to enroll environmentally sensitive land for periods of 10 years in hopes of benefiting wildlife, soils and water quality, the Pioneer Press said.