The Kelley Collection

WWII bombs defused allowing 45,000 evacuated residents to return

2011-12-05T02:01:58Z

Bomb squads safely diffused two WWII-era explosives, allowing 45,000 evacuated residents of Koblenz, Germany to return home.
Hundreds of volunteers helped to evacuate two hospitals and seven senior living facilities, among the tens of thousands of evacuees.
"It's the largest German evacuation since the end of the war," says Ronald Eppelsheim, fire brigade spokesman, according to CNN.
The 65-year-old bombs were discovered when the water levels of the Rhine River dropped low enough to uncover the explosives.
The fire brigade constructed a wall of 2500 sandbags to drain the area of the river to allow the bomb-disposal squad to accept the bombs.
Last year, a bomb exploded in the German town Gottingen, killing three members of a bomb-disposal squad.

Student with HIV sues private residential school for denied admission

2011-12-04T16:46:31Z

An 8th grader is suing a Pennsylvania private residential school for discrimination after being denied admission because he has HIV.
The boy is alleging that the Milton Hershey School in Hershey, Pennsylvania has violated multiple anti-descrimination laws that protect people who are HIV-positive.
"This young man is a motivated, intelligent kid who poses no health risk to other students, but is being denied an educational opportunity because of ignorance and fear about HIV and AIDS," says Ronda B. Goldfein, an attorney for the boy, according to CNN.
In response to the lawsuit, the school is seeking a federal court review of its decision to deny enrollment to the boy.
Spokes woman for the school, Connie McNamara, told CNN, "We believe we made the right, legal decision under the law."

Cain suspends presidential bid

2011-12-04T01:05:36Z

Presidential candidate Herman Cain announces in a press conference Saturday that he will be suspending his campaign.
This comes after yet another woman came forward with allegations of extra-marital affairs involving Cain, allegations he continues to call "false and untrue."
"I am not going to be silenced and I will not go away," says Cain, according to CNN, who announced a new website, TheCainSolutions.com, that will continue to advocate his platform.
Cain's poll numbers took a sharp drop over the past few weeks as multiple women made accusations against him of unwanted sexual advances, causing him to re-evaluate his run for the presidency.
He says that he will be giving his endorsement to another Republican candidate soon.

Policy changes after Maple Grove students burned in science class

2011-12-03T21:11:00Z

The Osseo School District has changed their policy on some science experiments after one student was severely burned on Thursday.
15-year-old Dane Neuberger is recovering at Hennepin County Medical Center from second-degree burns to his face.
"It's better today. At least I can recognize myself," Neuberger says, according to KARE-11.
In what was supposed to be a routine methane experiment, Neuberger was burned when flames shot toward him when the teacher ignited the gas.
A spokesperson for the school district says they have suspended any experiments involving methane for the time being.
Although the science teacher did not want to comment on the events, one parent told KARE-11 that he was a "terrific teacher."

4 students burned in science experiment Maple Grove Junior High

2011-12-01T23:27:44Z

Three of four students are released from Hennepin County Medical Center after a science experiment gone wrong thursday morning.
Laurel Anderson, principal of Maple Grove Junior High says the four 9th graders were burned in an accident involving a flammable gas and nearby papers that apparently caught on fire.
Two students, who didn't witness the accident, told KARE 11 that they heard the teacher was performing an experiment that involved igniting methane.
The school district did not confirm that report.
The victims' injuries ranged from mild to severe burns, but none were considered life-threatening.
The rest of the students in the classroom were not injured.

Wayzata student is Sleep Out king

2011-11-21T01:29:58Z

After seven years, Peter Larson has braved frigid temperatures by sleeping outside in a cardboard box to increase awareness of homelessness and other basic needs in communities in the west metro.
Having raised nearly $390,000 for the Interfaith Outreach and Community Partners (IOCP) fundraiser Sleep Out already, Larson hopes to raise another $100,000 in this, his eighth year participating in the program.
When he was 6 years old, Larson learned about the fundraiser when a supporter visited his Cub Scout pack.
"He told us $575 could keep a family in their home for a month," said Larson, according to the Star Tribune. "I thought, 'I can do that.'"
Larson has caught both local and national media attention for his efforts, and last year was a state honoree for the Prudential Spirit of Community Award.
"It makes me feel good that hundreds of families have been able to stay in their homes by my doing this," he said.

Fulton Brewery opens downtown

2011-11-20T23:28:25Z

Five years ago in a one-stall garage in the Fulton neighborhood of Minneapolis, four friends huddled together as they brewed their first batch of beer.
Now the Fulton Brewery opens its doors for business in the Warehouse District downtown.
"It's our dream to fruition in a way," said co-founder of Fulton Beer Jim Diley, according to the MN Daily. "We always said we wanted to build a brewery in Minneapolis."
Gov. Mark Dayton signed into law the "Surly Bill," which allowed the Minneapolis City Council to pass ordinances making it legal for breweries to sell their products on location.
After starting out in that one-stall garage, Fulton Beer upgraded to a two-stall garage, and now resides in their new downtown warehouse location.
"It's very surreal to think that two years ago, we hadn't sold a pint," Diley said. "And now we've built this brewery, we're selling beer out of it, and now we're about to open our doors to the public."
The grand opening of the Fulton Brewery was Friday, Nov. 18.
"We just want to keep brewing good beer, introducing people to craft beer and the rest will take care of itself," Diley said. "It's such an honor to be able to brew beer and have people respond in a positive way."

Minnesota men's basketball ranks 16th in revenue

2011-11-14T03:42:33Z

The Gophers men's basketball team finished 16th out of 339 NCAA schools in revenue for the 2009-10 season, generating almost $14 million.
The team made a profit of $8 million for the University after subtracting $5.7 million in expenses.
"I'd say this is pretty consistent with recent years," said Regina Sullivan, Associate Department Director for Basketball, according to the Minnesota Daily. "We've definitely seen an uptick in revenue since Tubby Smith's tenure."
2009-10 national champion Duke University generated the most revenue, at $26.5 million.
The Big Ten had six of the top-16 money-makers in the country. Michigan State, Illinois, Wisconsin, Ohio State, and Indiana all out-earned the Gophers.
The Gophers ranked 24th in attendance, with an average of13,241 fans.
"Our goal has been to always have Williams Arena be filled for our games," Sullivan said. "We've been able to do that for many years, and we're working our way back to getting close to that goal for this coming year."

With aging faculty, AHC prepares for high turnover

2011-11-14T02:53:31Z

Within the next five years, about 33 percent of the faculty at the six schools of the Academic Health Center will become eligible to retire.
Faculty members and deans have frequently expressed concerns for years about the aging staff at annual budget meetings.
At the Duluth branch of the University's medical school, 70 percent of the faculty is over 60 years old.
"It's a major concern to have that large of a turnover of their long-term faculty," said James Carey, interim associate dean of affairs for the Medical School, according to the Minnesota Daily.
The University is having to deal with the rapidly aging baby boomer generation, and with it, many retirees.
"Each time we lose somebody, we lose a whole library of information," said Judith Garrard, who has worked at the University for 40 years. "It's both the knowledge they've gained through their own research and teaching but also knowledge of the culture of academia."

U of M lion researcher turns to 'crowdfunding'

2011-11-14T02:06:05Z

A University of Minnesota ecology professor and lion expert is using "crowdfunding" to raise money to send thousands of photos over the internet of a lion study from the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania.
Craig Packer and his team of staff and students installed over 200 heat- and motion-activated cameras throughout the park.
The cameras "captures an incredible amount of images and we are now in position to share them with the public," Packer said, according to the Star Tribune. "But this is where our project has stalled and we could use the public's help."
Packer's team needs to raise $14,000 to set up internet access at their research station to transmit the images back to Minnesota.
The group is using the SciFund Challenge online, which lets people donate smalls amount to scientific projects. Fundraising began on Nov. 1 and ends Dec. 15.
"People who are interested in this type of work can actually donate and do their part in helping us complete this project," Packer said.

Death toll jumps from Turkey quake

2011-11-14T01:09:08Z

The death toll has risen to 40 from the 5.6-magnitude earthquake that shook Van, Turkey last Wednesday, according to the Turkish government.
A 7.2-magnitude earthquake last month left 604 people dead.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited destroyed areas Saturday, as snow storms slowed rescue efforts.
"It's not possible for us to survive the winter here," said Cezmi Falza, who house was badly damaged in the quake, according to CNN. " He has constructed a small hut of plywood and Styrofoam for his family to stay in.
"The Van winter is very cold and there's a lot of snow. Living in these shelters is impossible," he said. Ten to 15 family members sleep in the hut every night.
"We haven't gotten any aid," Falza said. "We got a lot of support from the people of Turkey, packages with everything from clothes to toothpaste. But the elected officials, the nongovernmental organizations are not making good use of it and were not good at coordinating those efforts."
Two Turkish journalists were among those who were killed in the quake.

Protesters arrested, challenged as police confront Occupy activists

2011-11-14T00:44:41Z

Police officers made several arrests at multiple Occupy Wall Street protest sites in cities across the country.
In Portland, Ore., police in riot gear confronted protester for hours, trying to get people to move off the street and onto the sidewalk. According to Portland police Sgt. Pete Simpson, more than a dozen people were arrested.
"All of us are working really hard at keeping the peace and protecting freedom of expression," said Portland Mayor Sam Adams, according to CNN. "I support a lot of what this encampment stands for. (But) it shouldn't be focused on port-a-potties and tents and encampment attracting criminal elements. I think this movement needs to evolve."
According to Adams, "a series of drug overdoses, an arsonist that used the camp as camouflage, and almost a 20% increase in crime surrounding the encampment" is what prompted the police action.
A video from the confrontation shows about 7,000 protesters on downtown streets.
In Salt Lake City, 19 people were arrested as police tried to clear an encampment near a downtown park, and 17 people were arrested in Denver when police in riot gear cleared tents and furniture away from the city's civic center.

Obituary: Ed Pauls, inventor of the NordicTrack

2011-11-06T20:27:35Z

It was during a particularly unpleasant training session in the 1970s that cross-country skier Ed Pauls came up with the idea for an indoor ski-training machine.
In his basement, Pauls invented NordicTrack. At first it was popular with skiers, but eventually became prominent among exercise enthusiasts on a wide scale.
"Early on, when we would sell one, my father would gather the family in a circle in the dining room to sing and dance in celebration," said his daughter, Terri Pauls, according to the Star Tribune.
After growing up on a dairy farm in Wausau, Wis., Pauls graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison as a mechanical engineer. He married his wife, Florence, in 1959 and the couple moved to Excelsior.
Pauls, 80, died last month from complications of Alzheimer's disease at his home in Montrose, Colo. He continued to ski until early last year.
He is survived by his wife, Florence; son, Glenn; daughter, Terri; and two grandchildren.

Obituary: Dr. David Utz, renowned Mayo Clinic urologist

2011-11-06T19:58:53Z

David Utz treated a wide variety of patients throughout his career, from everyday people to Hollywood celebrities, and even Ronald Reagan.
But according to his son, he was never wowed by his impressive clientele.
"He treated every patient the same," said William Utz, according to the Star Tribune. "I remember when I was about 6, he took me along to visit a little girl about my age, one of his patients, who was suffering from renal failure. He brought her a birthday present before she died."
A native of Rochester, Utz earned his medical degree from the St. Louis University School of Medicine and an advanced degree in urology from the University of Minnesota. There he served as a member of the Board of Regents from 1973 to 1979.
Utz led a surgical team in 1987 that performed prostate surgery on Ronald Reagan.
William Utz remembers his father's kind spirit, "He was great in heart and that was manifested by his kindness."
He is survived by his brother, four children, 15 grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren.

After Putin and Medvedev, Vladislav Surkov Is Russia's Power Broker

2011-11-06T19:18:59Z

Greatly overshadowed by his two superiors, Vladislav Surkov serves as a silent power in the Russian government.
Surkov, 47, the first deputy head of the presidential administration, is seen as the third-most powerful man in Russia, behind President Dmitri Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, and plays a crucial role in political activity in the Kremlin.
"He certainly seems indispensable now," said Maria Lipman, a political analyst at the Carnegie Moscow Center, according to the New York Times.
His job is to monitor the relationship between the presidential administration, Russia's parliament, regional leaders, political parties, and the media.
Surkov takes the role of the "gray cardinal," a discreet political manipulator who inspires fear. He has been accused of being a "puppet master" who prevents the growth of true democracy.
An interesting political character, Surkov has pictures of John Lennon, Che Guevara, Barack Obama, and Tupac Shakur framed in his office. He has written songs for a Russian rock band, and it is rumored that he is the author of the novel "Almost Zero," published under a pseudonym, in which the main character has similarities to Surkov himself.