The News Blog of Marco LaNave

The city council of Elko New Market reinstated the city's police department with a unanimous vote on Thursday, two weeks after a 3-2 vote in favor of its termination, the Star Tribune reported.

Nearly 200 residents from the town of 3,800 came to the council meeting to protest the initial vote that would have eliminated the department on May 13, and the council changed its decision after four hours of discussion, the Pioneer Press reported.

Council members said that personnel, as well as financial, issues factored into the initial decision. Last year, the Lakeville Police Department investigated inappropriate conduct within the Elko department, the Star Tribune reported.

The council decided to conduct personnel reviews of Sgt. Steve Malecka, who has been placed on administrative leave, and Chief Richard Jensen, the Pioneer Press reported.

The city will seek an independent evaluation of the costs of sustaining a local police force or setting a contract with the county sheriff's office, the Star Tribune reported.

Scott County Sheriff Kevin Studnicka said the council had poorly presented the decision to the Elko department and residents, the Star Tribune reported. County Commissioner Tom Wolf also expressed doubts about the council's initial decision.

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On Friday, a Ramsey County judge will review a temporary injunction request by the City of St. Paul against members of the Sureño 13 gang at the Cinco de Mayo festival in West St. Paul, the Pioneer Press reported.

Under the proposed injunction, gang members could attend the festival May 1-3, but would be prohibited from associating with each other, showing gang signs, wearing gang clothing, or trying to recruit gang membersz within a safety zone around the festivities, the Star Tribune reported.

The City is attempting to get an injunction for the first time since a 2007 law allowed judges to declare a gang a public nuisance and approve injunctions, the Pioneer Press reported.

To substantiate a nuisance charge, the city must prove that gang members have been involved in gang activities three times within the last year, the Pioneer Press reported. Officials submitted documentation of 13 incidents.

They also suspect that a gang member was responsible for a drive-by shooting at last year's event, Minnesota Public Radio reported.

Seven adults and three juveniles are included under the injunction. Three adults told the Pioneer Press that they were not gang members.

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After the 3,600 residents of St. Charles, Minn., were evacuated because of a fire at a local meat-processing plant on Friday, they were allowed to return beginning Saturday morning, the Pioneer Press reported via The Associated Press.

At North Star Foods on Friday morning, a fire started over an oven, according to plant manager Mark Eads, the Star Tribune reported. Over 100 people were in the building, but they were quickly evacuated.

Concern developed that the fire would reach two tanks at the plant containing 30,000 pounds of anhydrous ammonia, potentially causing an explosion and the release of toxic chemicals into the air, the Star Tribune reported.

By early afternoon, residents were being told to evacuate the town, the Star Tribune reported.

The state fire marshal is still investigating the cause of the fire, the Pioneer Press reported.

On Saturday, it was found that about 75 percent of the plant was "substantially damaged," the Pioneer Press reported.

North Star Foods, which has operated since 1971, is the second largest employer in St. Charles, with around 150 workers, the Pioneer Press reported.

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Democrat Al Franken was confirmed as the winner of the 2008 U.S. Senate race, a three-judge panel unanimously decided on Monday, the Pioneer Press reported.

After Franken won a recount that concluded in January, Republican Norm Coleman challenged the result that could end his senatorial service after one term.

The panel said that Franken may receive an election certificate, the Pioneer Press reported.

The judges rejected Coleman's argument that inconsistent standards were applied when counting absentee ballots, the Star Tribune reported.

Coleman was attempting to have at least 1,300 ballots opened, Minnesota Public Radio reported. The judges said he did not prove that double-counting had occurred.

Only 351 ballots were opened and counted last week, the Pioneer Press reported.

Coleman said in an interview on Monday that he planned an appeal to the Minnesota Supreme Court, the Star Tribune reported. He will have 10 days to do so, MPR reported.

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A homeowner on Prior Lake reported finding zebra mussel shells along the beach of the lake, prompting an announcement on Friday by the Department of Natural Resources, the Star Tribune reported.

The DNR said that it will search the lake for more zebra mussels before determining that it is infested with the pest, the Pioneer Press reported.

Zebra mussels can disrupt and choke out native species, the Star Tribune reported. They currently infest nine lakes in Minnesota, as well as the Mississippi and St. Croix Rivers.

They are native to Eastern Europe, and came to North America by clinging to ships. They were first discovered in Minnesota in a Duluth harbor 20 years ago, the Pioneer Press reported.

Officials are concerned that the heavy traffic on Prior Lake might make it likely for the zebra mussels to spread to other lakes in the area and the state, the Pioneer Press reported.

But the DNR does have several recommendations about transferring boats from one lake to another, the Pioneer Press reported. They are designed to decrease the risk of spreading unwanted species between lakes.

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President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia expressed a desire to see Liberians in the United States return to their homeland as part of a visit to the University of Minnesota on Friday, the Pioneer Press reported.

Speaking to an audience that included many Liberian-Americans among the several thousand at Northrop Auditorium, Sirleaf said that she would like to see Liberians begin to return to their country, while acknowledging that might not be universally possible, the Star Tribune reported.

Sirleaf, who was elected in 2006 as the first female leader of an African country, also said she supported President Barack Obama's extension of the time for Liberians living in the United States to maintain temporary status, Minnesota Public Radio reported.

Sirleaf highlighted the progress of Liberia coming out of a civil war, including improvements in infrastructure and public services, MPR reported.

Minnesota is home to one of the largest Liberian populations in the United States, which was part of what sparked excitement leading to Friday's event, the Pioneer Press reported.

After her speech, Sirleaf met with several Twin Cities leaders in the private and public sectors to discuss potential relationships with Liberia, the Star Tribune reported.

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Nearly one in four Minnesotans under age 65 did not have health insurance at some time during the last two years, according to a Washington, D.C., health care advocacy group that stated the finding on Tuesday, the Pioneer Press reported.

Families USA found that just over 24 percent of Minnesotans under 65 did not have health coverage at some time in 2007-2008. That percentage was the lowest among the 49 states studied, the Star Tribune reported.

The nationwide study found that one third of Americans were uninsured for some period during 2007-2008.

Examining any lack of coverage over a two-year span differs from the approach of the U.S. Census Bureau, which only counts people who went a full year without health insurance. In 2007, one in 10 Minnesotans did not have health insurance, while one in seven people nationwide did not have insurance, the Star Tribune reported.

The study found that 80 percent of Minnesotans who were uninsured at some point during the two years were employed, the Pioneer Press reported.

Families USA did not include Massachusetts in the study because the state changed its health care access policies within the two-year period, the Star Tribune reported.

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It took 112 years to break the flood-level record in Fargo, N.D., but it could be just a matter of weeks before it is broken again.

The National Weather Service announced that the current flooding of the Red River, which stood under 36 feet on Friday, could reach a second crest of 41 feet April 15-22, the Forum of Fargo-Moorhead reported. That level would top Saturday's record of 40.8 feet, as well as the 1897 mark of 40.1 feet.

The weather service said there was a 75 percent chance that the river would reach 41 feet, and a 25 percent chance that it would reach 42.8 feet, the Forum of Fargo-Moorhead reported.

Fargo had raised its protection to 43 feet, the Pioneer Press reported via The Associated Press.

Snowmelt and rain are expected to contribute to the rise over the next month, the Pioneer Press reported.

Precipitation in March was a major factor in the flooding, as rainfall was 60 percent above a 127-year-old record for the month, the Pioneer Press reported.

Fargo officials said they are prepared for another round of holding back the water, the Pioneer Press reported.

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The Minnesota Senate voted on Thursday to repeal a 15-year-old moratorium on nuclear power plants, the Star Tribune reported.

In a 42-24 vote, the Senate voted to end a ban passed in 1994 that prevented new nuclear power plants in Minnesota, the Pioneer Press reported. The House has yet to vote on the issue, but the House energy committee recently voted to uphold the ban.

Senator Steve Dille, R-Dassel, who proposed the bill, said that nuclear power must be considered because it does not produce carbon emissions, and is cheaper than some alternatives, the Star Tribune reported.

But Dille said he was surprised that the amendment to an energy bill actually passed, and told the Pioneer Press that the legislation remains a "long shot."

Yet no company is ready to act quickly if the ban is lifted. Xcel Energy Inc., operates the state only two nuclear plants in Monticello and Red Wing, and currently has no plans for more, the Pioneer Press reported.

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Somali children are more likely to be in preschool autism programs in Minneapolis than their non-Somali peers, according to a study released by the Minnesota Department of Health on Tuesday, the Star Tribune and Pioneer Press reported.

While 0.2 to 0.7 percent of non-Somali children ages 3 and 4 were in preschool autism programs from 2005 to 2008, 0.9 to 1.5 percent of Somali children of the same age were in the programs, the Star Tribune reported.

The study confirmed a suspicion among the Somali community that Somali children were enrolled in the autism programs at a higher proportion than non-Somali children, the Pioneer Press reported.

But the study did not prove that Somali children are more likely be autistic than non-Somali children, or answer why a higher proportion of Somali than non-Somali children are enrolled in the programs, the Star Tribune reported.

Instead, officials said that the finding prompts further research, which could include a broader state-wide survey of autism, as well as examination of autism screening, the Pioneer Press reported.

Some researchers see the finding as pointing to an opportunity to study the causes of autism in a focused population, the Star Tribune reported.

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President Barack Obama said on Saturday that his administration is lending a hand to the flood-affected areas of Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota, and he is keeping an eye on the situation, the New York Times reported.

Obama has declared a major disaster in the area. The Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Department of Health and Human Services, and many other agencies and organizations are contributing to the efforts in the Red River Valley, and the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security said the government is prepared to house and feed up to 30,000 people for a week, Inquirer.net reported via Agence France-Presse.

The National Weather Service said the River may have crested on Saturday in the Fargo, N.D.,-Moorhead, Minn., area, as the water level dropped under 40.7 feet after being over 40.8 feet earlier in the morning, the Forum of Fargo-Moorhead reported. The level is still above the 112-year-old record of 40.1 feet, but below an earlier prediction of 43 feet.

While there is optimism that the level is declining, a National Weather Service meteorologist cautioned that it could fluctuate by up to a foot over the next week. Continuous water pressure against the levees will be a concern over the next week, the Star Tribune reported.

President Obama credited the volunteers, including many college and high school students, for their continuing efforts to aid their community, the Times reported.

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A state senator from St. Cloud, Minn., introduced a bill on Tuesday that would merge three counties around the city, the Star Tribune reported.

Sen. Tarryl Clark, DFL-St. Cloud, introduced legislation to merge Stearns and Benton counties and part of Sherburne County, which would put St. Cloud, currently divided by three counties, into a single county, the Star Tribune reported.

Rep. Larry Haws, DFL-St. Cloud, and Rep. Larry Hosch, DFL-St. Joseph, are in support of the bill, which carries the provisional name "Lake Wobegon County," but have not introduced any legislation in the state House, the Pioneer Press reported.

The idea is not new, but several officials in the affected counties have concerns about a merger, as they said that the process of integrating laws, services, and government of three counties would be costly, the St. Cloud Times reported.

St. Cloud Mayor Dave Kleis said that benefits to a merger include proposal would make law enforcement more efficient in the long run, the St. Cloud Times reported.

The legislators view the legislation as leading to dialogue about the merger, the Pioneer Press reported.

Governor Tim Pawlenty has proposed the creation of 15 regional centers for human services, rather than the current 87 county centers, the St. Cloud Times reported.

Although several Minnesota cities are split between two counties, St. Cloud is the only one divided by three, the Pioneer Press reported. A public meeting to discuss the issue will take place on April 4 in St. Cloud.

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Intense preparation has taken place and is ongoing in the Fargo, N.D., and Moorhead, Minn., areas and throughout the Red River Valley, in anticipation of potentially record-breaking flooding this week, the Forum of Fargo-Moorhead reported.

The river could rise above 40 feet in the Fargo-Moorhead area as the flooding sets in later in the week, threatening the 1997 record level of 39.57 feet, and the Fargo record of 40.1 feet from 1897, the Forum reported.

The entire community, from college football players to high school students to inmates, have been called upon to help in the protection efforts, particularly sandbagging, the Forum reported.

All three colleges in the area - Concordia College, Minnesota State University-Moorhead, and North Dakota State University - canceled classes on Monday, Minnesota Public Radio reported. Students, faculty, and staff were asked to volunteer with the flood preparation.

Efforts began on Sunday to make and distribute up to 2 million sandbags for the city, the Forum reported. Officials said they need at least 350 people working continuously.

The National Weather Service said on Sunday that the river was 3 feet above flood level, the Pioneer Press reported via The Associated Press.

In Breckenridge, Minn., volunteers worked on Monday to protect the city, reaching a level 1 foot above the expected flood level, the Star Tribune reported.

Harsh weather could complicate the city's efforts as the week progresses. Snow and freezing temperatures are expected as early as Tuesday, the Forum reported.

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The Minnesota Department of Transportation announced on Friday that $40 million would go to 11 road and bridge projects throughout the state, Minnesota Public Radio reported.

The funds are part of the $180 million for 60 projects announced last month, MPR reported.

Funding of the 11 projects will be allotted within 30 days, the Pioneer Press reported. Transportation Commissioner Tom Sorel said that up to 1,000 people will work on the projects.

The Department announced on Thursday that an additional $75 million in federal stimulus money will be directed to 53 projects throughout the state, the Star Tribune reported.

Department spokesman Kevin Gutknecht said the projects can now be completed a year or two before they were scheduled to be, MPR reported.

With 102 more projects awaiting funding, a list of those to be funded in the Twin Cities area will be announced later this month, the Pioneer Press reported.

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Two local Somalis testified to the U.S. Senate Homeland Security Committee on Wednesday as part of its investigation into possible terrorist recruitment in the United States, the Pioneer Press reported.

Osman Ahmed, president of the Riverside Plaza Tenants Association in Minneapolis, and Abdirahman Mukhtar, a community center youth program manager, gave testimony regarding the recent disappearance of several Somali youth, who have returned to Somalia, the Star Tribune reported.

Shirwa Ahmed, 27, of Minneapolis became the first known suicide bomber from the United States when he blew himself up in Somalia last October. Up to 20 Somalis have disappeared from the Twin Cities area, many of whom are believed to have joined Al-Shabaab, an organization that is alleged to have ties with al-Qaida, the Star Tribune reported.

One young man who returned to Somalia was Burhan Hassan, a nephew of Osman Ahmed, Minnesota Public Radio reported.

Osman Ahmed told the committee, led by Sen. Joseph Lieberman, I-Conn., that his nephew attended the Abubakar As-Saddique mosque in Minneapolis, and said that a minority group introduced his nephew to extremist ideologies, the Star Tribune reported.

Mukhtar testified that the actions of Shirwa Ahmed and other violent extremists are contrary to Somali culture and Islam, the Star Tribune reported.

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The Hamline-Midway Library in St. Paul might not be closed until the end of the year, Mayor Chris Coleman and library director Melanie Huggins said Tuesday at a meeting with neighborhood residents, the Pioneer Press reported.

With 100 residents gathered in the library's basement auditorium, Coleman and Huggins explained the budget challenges for the city and the possibility of closing the library, the Star Tribune reported.

Coleman has suggested addressing a $44 million budget shortfall for 2008-10 by cutting 14 percent of funds across all departments, the Star Tribune reported. This included a $2.1 million reduction for libraries, cutting jobs, hours, funding for books and materials at libraries, and closing the Hamline-Midway Library by the summer, the Pioneer Press reported.

Coleman and Huggins said they have not made a final decision, but Coleman said he was not planning for anything to happen to the library building until the end of the year, the Pioneer Press reported.

As residents expressed concerns about the changes or closing of the library, Coleman and Huggins proposed that the library find ways to collaborate with other institutions or organizations to use the library space, the Star Tribune reported.

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A University of Minnesota research team found that a common food additive was successful in preventing transmission of a virus that causes AIDS in monkeys, the Star Tribune reported. The findings were published in Nature on Wednesday.

Dr. Ashley Haase and Patrick Schlievert treated female rhesus monkeys with a gel containing glycerol monolaurate (GML) before exposing them to HIV. Two weeks later, none of the five monkeys had contracted HIV. In a control group that was not treated with the gel, four out of five had contracted the virus after the same time period, Minnesota Public Radio reported.

But researchers found that one monkey that was treated with the gel did develop the virus months later. The researchers suspected that this was due to later exposure, or a bit of undetected virus slipping by, the Star Tribune reported.

HIV utilizes the immune system's response to an infection to spread the virus throughout the body. GML freezes the cells that trigger a response by the immune system, therefore cutting off the usual way for the virus to spread, MPR reported.

The treatment would not help those who have already contracted the HIV virus, but would help to prevent the spread of HIV among uninfected people who may become exposed, the Star Tribune reported.

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The Minnesota Supreme Court ruled in a 5-0 decision that Al Franken cannot be certified as the winner of the U.S. Senate election until all legal challenges in state courts have been resolved, the Star Tribune reported.

Although Franken's legal team had argued that a 225-vote margin over Norm Coleman should be enough for him to receive an election certificate, but Gov. Tim Pawlenty and Secretary of State Mark Ritchie had said it could not be issued until the end of legal proceedings, the Pioneer Press reported.

In a 5-0 opinion, the Supreme Court cited state law prohibiting issue of an election certificate until the legal cases have been concluded in state courts. The Court also cited federal law that does not require certification by the time the term begins in January. The Court said that the Senate could not seat Franken without certification, either, the Star Tribune reported.

On Friday, Franken's attorneys argued in the case over absentee ballots that Coleman's team had not presented enough evidence to warrant consideration of enough ballots to make up the 225-vote margin, the Pioneer Press reported.

The three-judge panel is expected decide soon about a motion to dismiss part or all of Coleman's case to consider more absentee ballots, the Pioneer Press reported.

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A winter storm swept through Minnesota on Thursday, and was projected to leave 6 to 10 inches of snow in the area, the Pioneer Press reported.

The cities of St. Paul and Minneapolis declared snow emergencies, which came into effect at 9 p.m., Thursday, the Star Tribune reported. Several suburbs did the same.

The Pioneer Press reported there had been two traffic fatalities, including a snowplow striking and killing a pedestrian in Minneapolis.

The snowfall had a major effect on transportation, causing several dozen car accidents, traffic jams, airport delays, and metro bus slowdowns, the Pioneer Press reported. St. Paul Regions Hospital had treated several slip-and-fall victims by late afternoon Thursday.

The University of St. Thomas and the University of Minnesota both canceled late-afternoon and evening classes on Thursday, the Star Tribune reported. Many districts throughout the state ended the school day early.

Temperatures are not expected to climb above freezing until Tuesday, the Star Tribune reported.

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A Minneapolis mosque has scheduled an open house, with prayer and dinner, for Wednesday evening, supposedly in response to rumors that Somali-American youth were leaving the Minneapolis area and returning to Somalia to join militias, the Star Tribune reported.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations-MN has invited FBI Director Robert Mueller to the open house at the Abubakar As-Saddique Islamic Center, after Mueller said Monday that a Minneapolis man had become the first U.S. citizen to carry out a terrorist suicide bombing, after he was "radicalized in his hometown in Minnesota," the Pioneer Press reported via the Associated Press.

An FBI special agent in Minnesota said that Mueller would not be able to attend the event on such short notice, the Star Tribune reported.

An Abubukar spokesman said Monday that the mosque had nothing to do with the disappearances of several Somali youth from the Minneapolis area, after which the mosque had received hate calls and emails, the Star Tribune reported.

CAIR-MN spokeswoman Jessica Zikri said the event is open to people of all faiths and will demonstrate that Muslims share the same concerns as other Minnesotans, the Star Tribune reported.

The open house will include an Islamic prayer and a dinner of Middle Eastern and African food. Guests will include local police commanders. The event will include speeches, and a question-and-answer session, the Star Tribune reported.

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Mercury concentrations in northern pike and walleye have increased since the mid-1990s, after a substantial decrease over the previous decade, according to a study released Tuesday, the Pioneer Press reported.

The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency conducted the study, which was published last week in Environmental Science & Technology. The data were collected from fish in 845 Minnesota lakes, the Star Tribune reported.

The results are surprising, MPCA scientist Bruce Monson told the Pioneer Press. The increase in methylmercury is a concern, because it contaminates fish, and can harm humans or other plants and animals.

Monson and the other MPCA scientists have concluded that the primary source of the mercury is unlikely to be local, since the observed increase is statewide, the Star Tribune reported.

Increased mercury emissions worldwide, as well as global climate change, contribute to the problem. Emissions in Minnesota, however, have decreased significantly over the past two decades, the Pioneer Press reported.

The mercury in the atmosphere can be converted into methylmercury by aqueous bacteria, and enters the food chain, resulting in high concentrations among large predatory fish, the Star Tribune reported.

The MPCA scientists are advocating for addressing the issue by reducing mercury emissions internationally, the Star Tribune reported.

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A task force of two dozen legislators and interest leaders presented a plan Monday for a Green Enterprise Authority, the Pioneer Press reported.

After nearly a year of research, the Green Jobs Task Force made recommendations about how the state economy can integrate green jobs, the Star Tribune reported via The Associated Press.

Task Force co-chair Sen. Ellen Anderson said that the proposals would create 20,000 new jobs and retain 50,000 more by 2020, the Star Tribune reported.

In addition to helping to create green jobs, the Authority would be concerned with grant and loan programs, public renovations for energy efficiency, and water recycling, the Pioneer Press reported.

The Authority could include one or members of the state government, so as to utilize state agencies and finances, the Pioneer Press reported.

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St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman has selected a leader for the newly created Department of Human Rights and Equal Economic Opportunity, the Star Tribune reported.

Luz Maria Frias, who has been the director of external affairs, will lead a focused effort to address the interplay of economic issues in - and the city's relations with - minority communities, the Star Tribune reported.

The department's goal is equal opportunity, which will be promoted through work on human rights, minority outreach, and city contracting, the Pioneer Press reported.

Several issues have surfaced over the years leading to the creation of the department. An audit determined that businesses owned by women or minorities received less than 7 percent of the money of all city contracts in 2006, the Star Tribune reported.

Frias, who will begin a three-year term on Feb. 23, was not originally a finalist for the position, the Pioneer Press reported. But the mayor and the search committee leader said they were pleased with the selection of Frias, the Star Tribune reported.

The mayor and the city's Human Rights Commission will oversee the new department, the Pioneer Press reported.

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A Michigan power company released plans on Monday for a $10-12 billion green power line that would span the Upper Midwest, the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reported.

ITC Holdings Corp. of Novi, Mich., said that its plans for the 3,000-mile Green Power Express are consistent with ideas expressed by President Barack Obama for harnessing of wind energy in the Midwest for transmission to densely populated areas, the Star Tribune reported.

ITC estimated that the project could save the equivalent of carbon emissions from several large coal-fired power plants, the Star Tribune reported.

The project is estimated to take around ten years to complete. ITC Chairman and CEO Joseph Welch said that the company hopes to have the Green Power Express built by 2020, the Journal-Sentinel reported.

There is some concern, at least in Wisconsin, that the proposed power lines would carry 765,000 volts of electricity, which is over twice the amount carried by Wisconsin's highest-voltage lines, the Journal-Sentinel reported.

ITC submitted an application on Monday to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, and will probably need to have the project approved by the involved states, the Star Tribune reported.

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Two former Ramsey Country sheriff's officers were sentenced Friday to over two years in prison for failing an FBI integrity test over four years ago, the Star Tribune reported.

Former St. Paul police officer Timothy Rehak and former Ramsey County sheriff's spokesman Mark Naylon were sentenced to 35 and 30 months in prison, respectively, the Pioneer Press reported.

Upon suspicion that the two men in the sheriff's special investigations unit had interfered with drug investigations, the FBI planted $13,500 in a St. Paul hotel room, and an informant told Rehak and Naylon that an arrested drug dealer had left drugs and money in the room, the Star Tribune reported.

Videotapes caught the two taking $6,000 of the money before their supervisor inspected the room. The attorneys for Rehak and Naylon argued that the men had played a practical joke on their supervisor, and had not violated the law, since the money was returned to the FBI, the Pioneer Press reported.

But U.S. District Judge Patrick Schiltz was unconvinced, and in sentencing the two Friday, he emphasized that their action was a reprehensible betrayal of public trust. He also fined each of them $7,500 and ordered them to report to the U.S. Marshals Service on March 9 to serve their prison time, the Pioneer Press reported.

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Not much could be cleared up between the Minnesota Legislature and the governor's office regarding funding for a teacher development and compensation program, after the state legislative auditor's office released a report that did not give it an explicitly positive or negative assessment, Minnesota Public Radio reported.

Quality Compensation - or Q-Comp - began in 2005 as a program to give state funding to school districts for teacher development and higher teacher salaries based on quality, the Star Tribune reported.

The report was presented Tuesday to the Minnesota Senate by the legislative auditor's office, which said that there was not enough evidence to determine whether the program positively or negatively affects student performance. The report also said that school administrators have a more positive view of the program than teachers have, and that both groups have a more positive view of the development component of Q-Comp than the increased salary component, the Star Tribune reported.

The state has spent $143 million on Q-Comp since it began. Governor Tim Pawlenty has proposed $41 million in increased funding for the program over the next two years. With the state's budget deficit, many legislators are not supportive of a spending increase for a program that might not have demonstrated a positive effect on schools. Others see Q-Comp as a project that can still improve the quality of public education. Either, it might be difficult for the state to increase its funding of Q-Comp, the Star Tribune reported.

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A 44-year-old St. Paul man died from a Saturday morning shooting near the Attucks-Brooks American Legion Hall when he tried to intervene with three robbers, reported the Star Tribune.

Jeffrey Lamont Logan was coming to the aid of his cousin, who was being robbed by three men, Logan's brother told the Pioneer Press. Logan was shot in the alley, and died at Regions Hospital in St. Paul.

The police briefly chased and then caught three men and placed them in the Ramsey County jail. It was the third homicide of the year in St. Paul.

The Star Tribune reported that many friends and relatives came to mourn Logan at the American Legion post on Saturday afternoon.

Members of the community were expressive of how considerate and self-sacrificing Logan had been throughout his life. He was a single man with a large extended family. He was born without a left hand, but played three sports at Highland Park high school, and attended St. Paul College. He had lived in St. Paul his entire life, the Pioneer Press reported.

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The Minnesota Pandemic Ethics Project issued a preliminary report on Friday that addressed the ethical considerations of rationing health-related resources in the case of an influenza pandemic affecting Minnesota.

The Project issued a companion report that discussed the challenges and issues of implementing the ethical frameworks recommended by the first report.

The reports have been issued with a high degree of certainty that a pandemic will occur, reported the Star Tribune. In creating the ethical frameworks and recommendations, the reports assumed that nearly one-third of Minnesotans would become ill. The anticipated mortality rate from the disease is 2.1 percent, over 20 times that of seasonal influenza.

"A severe pandemic may cause 32,900 deaths over a 2-year period," said the first report.

The reports estimated that Minnesota is currently well short of being fully equipped for a pandemic, with the resources to vaccinate less than a quarter of the population, and with under 10 percent of the projected necessary number of ventilators.

The first report, For the Good of Us All: Ethically Rationing Health Resources in Minnesota in a Severe Influenza Pandemic included recommended ethical guidelines on the rationing of vaccines, antiviral medications, respirators, masks, and ventilators.

While the first report recommend that some groups, such as the elderly and infants, be de-prioritized for receiving a few specific treatments, the report suggested distributing other resources to them, and focusing on treatment of those who come in contact with them.

The second report, Implementing Ethical Frameworks for Rationing Scarce Health Resources in Minnesota during Severe Influenza Pandemic, recommended that the resources not be restricted to legal Minnesota residents, so as to address the possibility of non-Minnesotans becoming ill in Minnesota. The report also made recommendations concerning the development of plans by both the state and employers, the determination of key workers, possible review of institutional conduct during a pandemic, and the creation of ethics consultation committees.

The next step for the Project is seeking public feedback on the preliminary reports. Rationing based on age is one idea for which the Project is seeking public input, particularly because of an unconventional projected effect of an influenza pandemic with regard to age groups, reported the Pioneer Press. In addition to disproportionately affecting the very young or very old, an influenza pandemic would also substantially affect the 15-40 age group, according to the reports.

"While all of the panel‘s recommendations require public input," the report said, "the notion of age-based rationing was particularly controversial and merits broad public consideration."

The Minnesota Pandemic Ethics Project has developed a website for public comments that presents the material of the reports for public consumption. People can submit comments for the next six weeks.

Continue reading "Ethically Preparing Minnesota for a Pandemic" »

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