HannahMikels

About 200 Concordia students were caught celebrating Sunday graduation by skinny dipping in a murky campus pond early Monday, according to wcco.com.
A security officer attempted to shoo the students out, but the students responded by pushing the officer's golf cart into the pond, according to kare11.com.
Moorehead police were then called, but no one was arrested according to kare11.com.
Up to ten people could face charges after being identified by clothes and wallets they left behind, according to wcco.com.

Posted by Hannah Mikels at 10:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Univeristy of Minnesota has stopped the production of football T-shirts with the slogan "Brew's Crew," according to kare11.com.
The slogan is a play on the name of the new coach Tim Brewster, according to kare11.com.
But the university feels the slogan is too closely related to alcohol, according to the Star Tribune.
Tom Wistrcill, associate athletics director, feels it would not be in the school's best interest to associate the school with any inference to alcohol, according to wcco.com.
The school's booster club for the football program, the Goal Line Club, was selling the T-shirts to raise money for the athletic program, according to wcco.com.
The T-shirts were originally created because of a misscommunication, according to kare11.com.
Goal Line Club President Teresa Grim said the booster club normally has to get logos on merchandise OK'd with the school, but they didn't realize it was a problem before it was too late, according to the Star Tribune.
The Goal Line Club is selling the remaining T-shirts at goallineclub.com, but further production has been stopped, according to kare11.com.

Posted by Hannah Mikels at 1:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A strong earthquake preceded by a tremblor hit near islands in southwestern Japan Friday causing authorities to warn that the area could be hit by a small tsunami, according to wcco.com.
The tremblor, magnitude 6.2, and the larger quake, preliminary magnitude 6.7, both struck near the island of Miyakojima, part of the Ryukyu islands chain that stretches southwest toward Taiwan, according to wcco.com.
The Meteorological Agency issued a tsunami advisory after the second and larger quake, saying that islands in the area could be hit by waves as high 18 inches, according to kare11.com.
Authorities are unsure if the second quake triggered the wave, according to kare11.com.
There were no immediate reports of injury or damage, and people living on the island were being warned to stay away from the coast, according to wcco.com.

Posted by Hannah Mikels at 11:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Two people were taken to Immanuel-St. Joseph Mayo Health Center in Mankato and four were treated for non-life-threatening injuries in St. James Wednesday after a wooden building frame collapsed at a construction site, according to the Mankato Free Press.
The collapsed wooden frame was supposedly caused by failed roofing supports, according to the Mankato Free Press.
Wall studs on the south end of the building bent inward near the southeast corner and forced other parts of the frame along the same side to lean, according to kare11.com.
The accident took place on the 10,000-square-foot facility being built for DODA USA, according to the Mankato Free Press.
Investigators from the federal Occupational Safety and Hazard Administration are investigating, said Assistant Police Chief Kim Eisfeld, according to kare11.com.

Posted by Hannah Mikels at 10:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

One of the weapons used in the Virginia Tech shootings was purchased from a Green Bay-based Internet gun store, according to kare11.com.
Eric Thompson, the store's owner, said Cho Seung-Hui purchased a Walther .22-caliber handgun from the Web site www.gunsource.com, according to kare11.com.
Thompson says Cho Seung-Hui ordered the gun from the website on February 2 for $267.63, according to the Green Bay Press Gazette.
This was Cho's first purchace from the site, according to the Green Bay Press Gazette.
Thompson had no idea his business was involved with the shooting until he was contacted on Tuesday by telephone by the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms, according to kare11.com.
ATF agents interviewed Thompson in person on Wednesday, according to kare11.com.

Posted by Hannah Mikels at 10:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Conservation officer Steve Peterson saw firsthand the timber wolf chasing vehicles on a county road near Brimson, Minn., according to wcco.com.
Peterson had been recieving what he thought to be prank calls concerning the situation, according to wcco.com.
He went out to the area and saw the animal hide in the ditch as a pickup approached before running out to chase it, according to the Star Tribune.
The wolf did the same when Peterson drove out to the same spot and stopped his vehicle, according to the Star Tribune.
Peterson said the wolf lingered for about a minute before wandering off, according to wcco.com.
Peterson hasn't heard any more reports of car-chasing wolfs since then, according to the Star Tribune.

Posted by Hannah Mikels at 10:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A 26-year-old mother of a kindergartner was charged with assault Thursday after walking into the child's classroom, pointing a toy cap gun at students and pulling the trigger multiple times, according to the Star Tribune.
The incident took place Tuesday, a day after the deadly shooting at Virginia Tech, according to the Star Tribune.
Church Hill police and Hawkins County school officials met with Heather Nicole Berg, 26, before charging her with misdemeanor assault, according to CNN.com.
Berg was in the classroom to pay for an upcoming field trip and walked to the middle of the classroom and shot the gun while the teacher's back was turned, according to the Star Tribune.
Police called her actions a "monumental lapse in judgment," according to CNN.com.

Posted by Hannah Mikels at 10:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A 32-year-old Mankato man who allegedly posed as a fire inspector has been indicted on 13 new charges in the rape and killing of a Mankato woman, according to the Mankato Free Press.
This includes four counts of first-degree murder bringing Jody Lee Miller's charges to 19 felonies in the attack on Judith Kay Ellgen, 53, according to the Star Tribune.
Ellgen's nude body was found by police on Feb. 23, according to the Star Tribune.
Preliminary tests showed she died from asphyxia due to manual strangulation, according to the Star Tribune.
Miller allegedly used his disguse to gain entrance into Ellgen's apartment, according to the Mankato Free Press.
Blue Earth County District Court Judge Bradley Walker on Monday set bail at $750,000 on the new charges, according to the Mankato Free Press.

Posted by Hannah Mikels at 9:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A former Franklin, N.H. District Court security officer convicted Wednesday in a prostitution case will perform community service but will not serve jail time, according to wcco.com.
Robert Theriault, 49, offered to pay a couple $20 an hour to have sex while he watched, according to wcco.com.
The couple testified they trusted Theriault when he told them they would be testing bed sheets and condoms for an insurance company because he was a court officer and they were desperate for moeny, according to wcco.com.
Theriault was sentenced to 150 hours of community service and probation and must complete a psycho-sexual evaluation, according to kstp.com.
Theriault faces another trial next month on similar charges with a different couple, according to kstp.com.

Posted by Hannah Mikels at 9:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

An 18-year-old Minneapolis man pleaded guilty Thursday for his role in the murder of a South Carolina graduate student in Uptown Minneapolis, according to wcco.com.
Donte Jacobs confessed to second-degree intentional murder, aiding and abetting, in the shooting death of 25-year-old Michael Zebuhr, according to wcco.com.
Jacobs admitted in court that he took the purse of Zebuhr's mother as Zebuhr and others were leaving an Uptown restaurant on March 18, 2006, according to kstp.com.
He also said that Billy Rae Deshawn Johnson shot Zebuhr, according to kstp.com.
Jacobs faces 24 years and two motnhs in prison when he is sentenced on May 15, according to wcco.com
He will also be required to make restitution to the family, according to wcco.com.
Zebuhr was a doctoral student in bioengineering at Clemson University in South Carolina and was visiting family in the Twin Cities, according to kstp.com.

Posted by Hannah Mikels at 9:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Minnesota Viking cornerback Ronyell Whitaker's attorney said the player's arrest was a "total mistake," according to wcco.com.
Whitaker was arrested early Thursday downtown Minneapolis for an outstanding warrant for drunk driving and careless drving, according to wcco.com.
The warrant was a result of an incident last September in Eden Prairie when Whitaker was pulled over. He passed the field sobriety test but was issued a citation for reckless driving, according to kstp.com.
But his attorney, Joe Tamburino, said it was already taken care of, according to wcco.com.
Tamburino said he appeared in court on the player's behalf and has a receipt proving the ticket was paid, according to kstp.com.
The court apologized for the error of having Whitaker marked as a non-appearance, according to kstp.com.

Posted by Hannah Mikels at 8:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse officials declared a dormitory safe after a bomb threat was found and forced an evacutation Wednesday, according to the LaCrosse Tribune.
Paula Knudson, dean of student development and academic services, says the investigation into who planted the note in Sanford Hall continues, according to the LaCrosse Tribune.
The scare ocurred two days after a 23-year-old student killed 32 people and committed suicide at Virginia Tech, according to wcco.com.
Campus threats forced lockdowns and evacuations at universities, high schools and middle schools in at least ten states Wednesday, including Minnesota, according to wcco.com.

Posted by Hannah Mikels at 8:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Wisconsin State Senate approved a bill on an unanimous voice vote Tuesday that allows grocery and liquor stores to hand out samples of up to 6 ounces of free beer per day to people of legal drinking age, according to wcco.com.
Current law in Wisconsin allows winemakers, but not brewers, to offer up to 6 ounces of free samples, according to the Star Tribune.
Sen. Pat Kreitlow, D-Chippewa Falls, home of the Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Co., is the bill's main sponsor, according to wcco.com.
Kreitlow said the measure is designed to help beer manufacturers compete with wine makers, according to the Star Tribune.

Posted by Hannah Mikels at 10:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Gov. Tim Pawlenty has ordered U.S. and state flags at the Capitol be at half-mass to honor a killed soldier, according to wcco.com.
Army Specialist Conor Masterson, 21, died April 7 in Afghanistan from wounds he suffered when a bomb exploded near his vehicle, according to the Star Tribune.
Masterson was from Woodbury and was assigned to the First Battalion, Fourth Infantry Regiment, according to the Star Tribune.
An 11 a.m. funeral is being held Wednesday for Masterson at Historic Fort Snelling Chapel. He will be buried with full military honors at Fort Snelling Cemeter, according to wcco.com.

Posted by Hannah Mikels at 10:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

St. Cloud Mayor Dave Kleis says he'd like a police precinct located on the campus of St. Cloud State University, according to wcco.com.
This idea came as a result of Monday's shooting rampage at Virginia Tech, which left 33 people dead, according to wcco.com.
Kleis said he will carry this out by working with incoming St. Cloud State president Earl Potter, according to the Star Tribune.
The university has a campus security department consisting of mostley students, but the St. Cloud Police Department has jurisdiction over the campus, according to the Star Tribune.

Posted by Hannah Mikels at 10:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A court document released Monday provided details into the rape allegations of three Gopher Football players, according to the Star Tribune.
E.J. Jones, 19, and Keith Massey and Alex Daniels, both 20, haven't been charged in the rape, which happened late April 3 or early April 4, according to the Star Tribune.
According to the document, the 18-year-old woman said she drank vodka at apartment No. 201at the University Village Apartments on University Avenue and was later raped by three men, according to wcco.com.
The document listed evidence belonging to Jones, Massey and Daniels that police took from apartment No. 201, including mattress pads, bedding, cell phones, condoms and covers for couch cushions, according to the Star Tribune.
The woman told investigators she used the players' cell phones to call her phone to help identify her attackers, according to wcco.com.
Daniels and attorneys for Jones and Massey have rejected the rape allegations, according to the Star Tribune.

Posted by Hannah Mikels at 10:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Two men shot dead were found late Tuesday night in the Camden neighborhood of North Minneapolis, police said, according to wcco.com.
The bodies were found near a garage in the alley on the 4700 block of Sixth Street North at about 11 p.m., according to wcco.com.
Police have not said much about the case but plan a press briefing at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday at the 4th Precinct Station, according to the Star Tribune.
The names of the victims have not been released, and no one has been arrested, according to the Star Tribune.
The homicides are 17th and 18th in Minneapolis this year, according to wcco.com.

Posted by Hannah Mikels at 10:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A CBS News producer was fired and the network apologized, according to wcco.com.
CBS would not identify the producer, according to the Houston Chronicle.
This happened after a Katie Couric video essay on libraries was found to be plagiarized from The Wall Street Journal, according to wcco.com.
The essay was removed from the CBS Web site and an editor's note was posted saying the item should have credited Jeffrey Zaslow of the Journal, according to wcco.com.
Couric and producers meet once a week to decide on topics that producers write for Couric to read on camera, according to ABC News.
The essays are carried regularly on "Couric & Co.," the anchor's blog on the CBS News Web site, according to the Houston Chronicle.
An editor of the Wall Street Journal noticed the similiarites between the Apr. 4 blog entry and Zaslow's article, headlined "Of the Places You'll Go, Is the Library Still One of Them?" and called CBS News, according to ABC News.

Posted by Hannah Mikels at 5:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Pope Benedict XVI is expected to attract more than a million people at two open-air Masses during his upcoming visit to Latin America's biggest country, Brazilian church leaders said Wednesday, according to CNN.
This is the pope's first trip to Latin America and will spend it visiting the state of Sao Paulo, Brazil's wealthiest, most populous and home to one of the world's the largest Roman Catholic dioceses, according to CNN.
The first open-air mass will take place on May 11 at Sao Paulo's Campo de Marte airport, according to the International Herald Tribune.
There he also will canonize the first Brazilian-born saint, Antonio Galvao, an 18th-century Franciscan and founder of the Sisters of Our Lady of the Conception of Divine Providence, according to Catholic News Service.
The second open-air mass will take place on May 13 at the small city of Aparecida, where the pope also will open the once-a-decade meeting of the Episcopate of Latin America and the Caribbean, according to CNN.
The pope also will meet with President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and representatives of other religions during his stay in Brazil, according to the International News Herald.

Posted by Hannah Mikels at 4:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A coyote came out of the woods in Middleton, N.J. Friday and bit a 22-month-old toddler on the head and neck, according to ABC7Chicago.com.
Liam Sadler's 11-year-old uncle first thought the animal was a deer. He yelled at the animal and kicked it until it retreated into the forest, according to the Star Tribune.
Liam is getting a series of rabies shots and is doing fine, according to firstcoastnews.com.
Authorities are still looking for the animal, according to the Star Tribune.
The attack on Liam may be the only documented coyote attack on a human in New Jersey history, according to the Star Tribune.

Posted by Hannah Mikels at 4:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Brown County Sheriff wrote himself a ticket for an unsafe lane change, according to the Green Bay Press Gazette.
Sheriff Dennis Kocken tailed a speeding driver to give her a warning, but ended up rear ending her, according to the Star Tribune.
Kocken was following a Chevrolet Cavalier in his county-owned Ford 500 when the driver slowed to turn. Kocken, who had moved behind the car to avoid a snow removal vehicle in his lane, hit the Cavalier, according to the Star Tribune.
The sheriff radioed for a deputy to complete an accident report, and the officer didn't issue Kocken a ticket, according to ABC7Chicago.com.
But the incident continued to bother Kochen, according to the Green Bay Press Gazette.
He decided to write himself the $160.80 fine, which Kocken said he will pay, according to ABC7Chicago.com.

Posted by Hannah Mikels at 3:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A Duluth man is going to be inducted to the Ironworld Polka Hall of Fame, according to wcco.com.
Ray Ahlgren, who has been playing polka music for nearly 60 years, will be inducted June 24 and will recieve the 2007 Lifetime Achievement Award at Ironworld's 30th Polkafest which runs June 22-24 at Ironworld Discovery Center in Chisholm, according to wcco.com.
Ahlgren's band currently provides entertainment at local assisted living facilities and senior groups. His band also played at the late Gov. Perpich's inaguration dinner, according to the Duluth News Tribune.
Other inductees include Jeff Walker of Butternut, Wis., and Joseph Fedorchak of Youngstown, Ohio, according to wcco.com.

Posted by Hannah Mikels at 2:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A 24-year-old female British soldier killed by a roadside bomb in Iraq was a close friend of Prince William, accordingn to wcco.com.
Second Lt. Joanna Yorke Dyer was among four soldiers killed when a British patrol was attacked early Thursday in the southern Iraqi city of Basra, according to wcco.com.
The British patrol struck a roadside bomb and was hit by small-arms fire, according to CNN.
A civilian interpreter was also killed and a fifth British soldier was seriously wounded, according to wcco.com.
William met Dyer while they were both attending Sandhurst Military Academy, according to CNN.

Posted by Hannah Mikels at 11:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Five fifth-grade students were arrested Tuesday after some of the students allegedly had sex in an unsupervised classroom, according to The News Star.
The students were arrested at the Spearsville school in rural north Louisiana, authorities said. Two 11-year-old girls, a 12-year-old boy and a 13-year old boy were charged with obscenity, a felony. An 11-year-old boy, the alleged lookout, was charged with being an accessory, according to CNN.
The class of about 15 students was left unattended after the teacher who normally supervises at that time left for an assembly for older students, according to ABC News.
During the approximately 15 minutes the class was left unintended two girls and two boys began having sex and had one boy as a lookout while other students were still in the classroom, according to The News Star.
Word of the incident passed from students to a teacher, and school officials then notified the sheriff's office, according to CNN.com.
Detectives began questioning students Thursday, according to ABC News.
It is unclear what penalties the children will face, according to CNN.com.

Posted by Hannah Mikels at 12:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

ConAgra Foods said Thursday moisture from a leaky roof and faulty sprinkler was the source of the salmonella bacteria that contaminated peanut butter at its Georgia plant last year, according to wcco.com.
The contamination sickened over 400 people nationwide, according to wcco.com.
The company traced the salmonella outbreak to three problems at its Sylvester, Ga., plant last August, according to kare11.com.
The plant's roof leaked during a rainstorm, and the sprinkler system went off twice because of a now-repaired faulty sprinkler, according to kare11.com.
The moisture produced from the three events mixed with dormant salmonella bacteria that most likely came from raw peanuts and peanut dust, according to kare11.com.
Despite the fact that the plant was thoroughly cleaned, the bacteria still came into contact with the peanut butter before it was packaged, according to the Chicago Tribune.
The Omaha-based company pledged to ensure that Peter Pan peanut butter is safe when it returns to stores in mid-July and will work hard to regain consumer trust, according to wcco.com.

Posted by Hannah Mikels at 10:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A 45-year-old Willmar woman died Thursday after a pickup truck crashed into a store at the local strip mall the night before, according to wcco.com.
Maria Rodriguez was the passenger of the pickup that slammed into a JoAnn Fabrics traveling at least 40 miles an hour, according to kare11.com.
The driver of the pickup, Silvia Velazquez, 33, of Willmar, and her 2-year old daughter were taken to a Willmar hospital, according to kare11.com.
Police said it all started when the pickup collided with a car at the entrance of the Kandi mall after one vehicle apparently blew through a light, according to startribune.com.
The pickup kept going with Velazquez slumped over the wheel, according to wcco.com.
The driver of the car, Katie Christian, 23, of Willmar, was taken to Rice Hospital by a private party, treated and released, according to startribune.com.
Two customers in the store were slightly hurt by flying debris, treated at the hospital and released, according to startribune.com

Posted by Hannah Mikels at 10:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The University of Minnesota Advisory Committee on Athletics may be reconsidering its policy against playing schools with American Indian nicknames or mascots, according to wcco.com.
The present policy bans the "U" from playing the University of North Dakota in any sports outside of hockey because of their mascot, the Fighting Sioux, according to wcco.com.
The decision to reconsider was made at a Feb. 1 meeting that was closed to the public and no minutes were taken, according to kare11.com.
UND is moving NCAA Division 1-AA next year, according to wcco.com.
If Minnesota were to change its nickname policy, the two universities could compete more often, ultimately bringing more money to both programs, according to kare11.com.

Posted by Hannah Mikels at 10:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)