Recently in Local News Category

By Christina Munnell

A Minnesota man was a victim of a deadly Colorado avalanche Saturday, officials said.

The avalanche, which officials call the the state's deadliest in 50 years, took the life of Rosemount graduate Joe Timlin, The Pioneer Press said. He was one of five victims.

Timlin, 32, played hockey for Rosemount High School and graduated in 1999 before moving to Colorado, Kare 11 News said.

He was part of a backcountry-touring group of six, on snowboards and skis, caught in the snow slide north of Loveland Pass, about 55 miles west of Denver. One member of the group survived, officials reported.

The deadly slide was estimated to be about 400 feet wide and five feet deep, according to the Colorado Avalanche Information Center.

The Pioneer Press said he had worked as a sales representative for various snowboarding companies and was also considered a very experienced rider.

"He was an outdoors-type and loved being out and about," recalls Mary Eigner, a former teacher at Rosemount High School. "Tim was fun-loving and a good kid."

This season, 24 people have died in avalanches, 11 in Colorado, Kare 11 News said. More than three feet of heavy snow in less than two weeks has created dangerous conditions in the mountains.

"When I heard the news I was pretty sad," Derek Anderson, a 1999 grad from Rosemount said in a statement. "He was a neat guy."

By Christina Munnell

A St, Paul hospital said that a second stillborn baby's remains were discovered in a pile of laundry Tuesday, officials said.

Regions Hospital confirmed that remains found in a Red Wing commercial laundry earlier this week came from the hospital's morgue. The remains were of a stillborn baby at 22 weeks' gestational age, MPR said.

The stillborn was believed to have been wrapped in linens in hospital's morgue and accidentally shipped to the Red Wing laundry facility in the same shipment of linens, The Star Tribune said.

Officials reported that the St. Paul hospital subsequently checked its records and found the remains of a stillborn of 19 gestational weeks were also missing.

It was likely a staff member accidentally put both sets of remains in the laundry, Region's chief nursing officer Christine Boese told MPR.

According to hospital officials, the unusual incidents are likely sparking conversations not just at Regions, but at hospitals across the country about oversight of stillborn deaths.

"We're always rushing, rushing, rushing, and we're cutting staff and dollars," hospital spokeswoman Sherokee Ilse told The Star Tribune. "Maybe these are the kinds of outcomes that happen when all that other chaos is going on."

Regions Hospital officials said they have implemented extra safeguards such as additional tracking and security in the morgue.

The hospital has apologized to the families, Boese told MPR, and added security and supervision to make sure the mistake does not happen again.

Regions said it has not identified the hospital staffer responsible.

By Christina Munnell

The city of Moorhead has learned its lessons on flooding the last few years and this year packed 400,000 sandbags in preparation, officials said.

City officials told CBS that 400,000 bags of sand are ready to be deployed. And, that should be sufficient to construct sandbag levees to a top elevation of 43 feet.

The National Weather Service says there's a 40 percent chance the Red River could top the 2009 record of nearly 41 feet. Homes and business in the area are affected when the river reaches 38 feet, The Star Tribune said.

Officials reported that by late April, the river is expected to reach highs of at least 42 feet in the Fargo area.

Collegiate students in the area participated in the packing of the sandbags as part of a tradition, officials said. They do what they can to see to it their campuses are kept safe from the flooding.

Moorhead is holding neighborhood meetings on Monday to brief residents on flood preparations, The Star Tribune reported.

By Christina Munnell

The Twins vs. Mets baseball game that was supposed to happen today at 1:10 pm has been postponed due to bad weather, officials said.

According to a news release from a Twins worker, the game has been rescheduled for late summer on Monday, August 19, The Pioneer Press said.

Tickets for Sunday's game can be used for admission into the August game or the value of the ticket may be used as voucher towards a future 2013 regular season game, officials reported.

The Star Tribune informed ticket holders that they have these options:

*Utilize their tickets for admission into the August 19 game.

*Utilize the value of their ticket as a voucher towards any future Twins regular season game in 2013.

*Tickets in suites, Champions Club, Legends Club and Budweiser Roof Deck will be valid only for the rescheduled game.

According to officials, for the Twins, the game will be tacked on to the end of a home stand and before a road trip to Detroit. The Mets will stop in the Twin Cities at the end of a 10-game road trip on the West Coast.

This has been the first game that has been postponed this Twins baseball season due to weather, officials said.

By Christina Munnell

A Hastings man has been charged with child neglect, after his 2-year-old son was found wandering the street with alcohol, officials said.

Robert Rasset's son was found with two bottles, one opened, of Mike's Hard Lemonade at around 3 p.m. Sunday, police said.

According to The Star Tribune, Rasset, 42, was discovered about two hours later. The complaint reported that he was intoxicated.

After Rassett called looking for the boy, police located his mother, who picked up the child and told police she had left the boy with the Rassett even though she knew he had a drinking problem.

The toddler was not wearing shoes or socks when he was found, The Pioneer Press said.

According to Dakota County Attorney James Backstrom, the boy is now in his mother's custody, and she is not expected to be charged.

Rassett faces a gross misdemeanor child neglect charge and a gross misdemeanor child endangerment charge, The Star Tribune reported.

Officials said if convicted of the most serious charge, Rassett could face up to a year in prison and up to a $3,000 fine.

By Christina Munnell

Hundreds of Washburn High School students participated in a walk-out to Monday afternoon to protest the school's recent decision to remove the athletic director, officials said.

Washburn parents and alumni gathered with students on the new athletic field in support of Athletic Director Dan Pratt, The Star Tribune said.

Officials said Pratt had supported the district's efforts to raise money for the new outdoor field and raise funds for a score board, which was never put up.

Students and parents have cast principal Carol Markham-Cousins as the villian in the situation, according to officials.

CBS News reported that the school said Pratt is being investigated for a "private personnel matter."

District spokesman Stan Alleyne said that although students say that Pratt has been fired, no discipline has been imposed against him, The Star Tribune said.

The walk-out group was disbanded within an hour of its gathering, officials said.

According to CBS News, the district issued a statement Sunday night that said any decision to do with Pratt's employment will be made solely by the district and won't be influenced by a demonstration, no matter how many people show up in support.

By Christina Munnell

Apple Valley police seized over 2 pounds of heroin from a Dakota County vehicle Friday morning, after being called for a domestic disturbance, officials said.

The estimated $140,000 load of heroin is believed to be by far the largest stash of the drug recovered in Dakota County history, prosecutors told The Pioneer Press.

Warren Earl Comeaux, 48, of Brooklyn Park was charged Monday in Dakota County District Court with first-degree drug possession and sale, officials said.

According to The Star Tribune, police discovered the heroin after they arrived at the apartment complex at 7465 W. 128th St. and saw Comeaux get out of a vehicle and begin digging through it.

Afraid he was going for a weapon, officers drew their guns and ordered him out of the vehicle. He complied, but emerged panicked and tried to run during a pat-down.

Police said they searched the vehicle and found the stash, about 2.6 pounds worth of the drug.

"To keep the large quantity of this seizure in perspective, we have never seized more than 500 grams of heroin in an entire year in Dakota County," Dakota County Attorney James Backstrom told CBS News.

Officials reported Comeaux has had a prior federal conviction for conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute cocaine and heroin.

He is currently being held on $100,000 bail. His next court appearance is scheduled for July 1, CBS News said.

By Christina Munnell

Three bodies were found in their Zimmerman home early Sunday morning, officials said.

Sherburne County Sheriff' Joel Brott told the Star Tribune that all three were dead when deputies arrived at the home.

Police had been called by a relative who found the bodies about 10 a.m. Easter morning, the Pioneer Press said.

Officials reported that they are not currently seeking any suspects and neighbors are not in any immediate danger.

"We've got 5,000 people and we are all one big family," said Zimmerman Mayor Dave Earenfight. "They are all in our prayers right now. We will pray and grieve and go on from here."

John Peterson's family was coming home from church on Sunday morning when they saw the police cars half a block from his home at 13376 5th Av. He said a family with two elementary-age children lived in the home, but officers haven't told neighbors who was killed. He said he didn't know the family well, but the home was kept up and they seemed to be good people.

"We'll wait and see what happens," he said in the Star Tribune. "Our family, we are very struck. It hit us like, 'wow.' That does not happen up here. It's a sad story."

The sheriff's office and Bureau of Criminal Apprehension were investigating and said no additional information would be released until Monday, the Pioneer Press reported.

By Christina Munnell

Family and friends will gather for a candlelight vigil for missing St. Paul woman Kira Trevino on Thursday evening, officials said.

Maplewood's Keller Lake, where searches for Trevino's body have been focused, will serve as the setting for the ceremony, The Pioneer Press said.

Trevino, who was last seen on Feb. 21, has been presumed dead by police and her husband, Jeffery, has been accused of her murder.

According to the event details on a Facebook group, the ceremony will begin at 7:30 p.m. and attendees can bring their own candles, The Star Tribune said.

"Let us come together to support her loved ones and remember her bright and vibrant soul," the event said. "If you are unable to attend, but wish to be there in spirit, please light a candle at home and let it burn for her."

The monthlong search for Kira Trevino has zeroed in on Keller Lake, where authorities drilled dozens of holes this week and searched with cadaver dogs Wednesday, officials said.

The Star Tribune said many "items of interest" had been found at the park, including some containing Trevino's blood and DNA.

"If you are unable to attend, but wish to be there in spirit, please light a candle at home and let it burn for her," the Facebook post said.

By Christina Munnell

More than 100 gathered to search for Kira Trevino Sunday, who was last seen at the Mall of America with her husband, officials said.

Maplewood's Keller Lake Park was the site of the largest search party to date, where many strangers banded together to look for clues on the missing 30-year-old, the Star Tribune said.

Volunteers brought garden hoes, walking sticks, shovels, ice scrapers and hockey sticks as they fanned out across the lake to scrape away snow, comb through brush or chip at ice in their hunt, officials reported.

"She was young; she had a lot of life to live,"Kristi ­Jarvis, 31, of Apple Valley told the Star Tribune. "She's got to be out there somewhere. Some kind of closure for the family, that's what's important."

According to the Pioneer Press, police removed several items found at Maplewood's Keller Lake Park on Sunday during the search, including a torn-apart garbage bag, bloody pillow, sports bra, shirt and sponge.

Volunteer Ashley Davidson of Woodbury said she was using a shovel and moving snow during Sunday's search when she came across the item, officials said.

"I was sticking my shovel in the snow and came across something metal," said Davidson.

Trevino was last seen with husband Jeffery, 39, on Feb. 21, the Pioneer Press said.

Officials said "copious" amounts of blood were later found in the Trevino home. Jeffery remains in the Ramsey County jail, has been charged with two counts of second-degree murder.

Jay Steger, Trevino' father, vows he'll be there and wherever else until he finds his daughter, as he feels an urgency to find her body both for closure and justice, officials said.

"I feel we're getting closer," he said. "And I'd like to get closer yet. We need to get her home."