Cold Spring police officer shot dead; 34-year-old man being held

 Ryan Michael Larson was booked into the Stearns County jail early Friday morning on suspicion of murder. Authorities have not identified him as being involved in a police officer's fatal shooting, but Larson is the only one booked into the jail on a murder charge since the shooting.

A Cold Spring police officer was fatally shot late Thursday when he was trying to do a routine welfare check at an apartment near a Main Street bar, Stearns County authorities said Friday morning.
A suspect was arrested after the shooting and remains in custody, Sgt. Ken Friday of the Stearns County Sheriff's Office said.
Investigators have yet to publicly release the identity of the officer who was killed but the St. Cloud Times reports that the family priest and the Stearns County Sheriff have identified him as Tom Decker.  He was an officer for Cold Spring and Richmond since 2006, and was a graduate of Rocori High School.
Authorities have not identified the suspect, but the only person booked into the Stearns County jail on suspicion of murder since the shooting late Thursday is Ryan Michael Larson, 34, of Cold Spring. The St. Cloud Times reports that the sheriff has confirmed that Larson was arrested in connection with the officer's killing.
Near dawn, a parade of police cars escorted the remains of the officer who was killed to the Ramsey County medical examiner's office. They rolled with flashing lights down 35E around 7:15 a.m.A news conference is scheduled for 9 a.m. at City Hall, where reporters are to be briefed by Stearns County Sheriff John Sanner, Cold Spring Police Chief Phil Jones and state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension Assistant Superintendent Drew Evans.
Shortly after 11 p.m. Thursday and before the arrest was made, helicopters circled over the town just west of St. Cloud, as officers cordoned off much of downtown -- including Winners bar, near where the shooting occurred. They also combed the area for the suspect near a dam on the Sauk River.
Emergency response teams from St. Cloud, Stearns County and the State Patrol joined the effort, and by a few minutes after midnight police emergency radio channels confirmed that one man was in custody.
Residents who couldn't get past police blockades to return home were directed to the city fire station to await an all clear or help in finding alternate lodging. Mayor Doug Schmitz was called downtown by 11:30 p.m. but said he couldn't release any details about the shooting or the victim until the news conference.
The last Stearns County officer killed in the line of duty was St. Joseph officer Brian Klinefelter, who was shot in 1996 while attempting to arrest three robbery suspects.
Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482
Mary Lynn Smith • 612-673-4788

Cold Spring police officer shot dead; 34-year-old man being held | StarTribune.com

AP Exclusive: Accounts, clothing show Disney, Wal-Mart, Sears used Bangladesh factory in fire | StarTribune.com

 
A man takes photographs inside a garment-factory where a fire killed more than 110 people Saturday on the outskirts of Dhaka, Bangladesh, Monday, Nov. 26, 2012. Bangladeshi workers protested blocks from the gutted fire Monday, demanding justice for the victims and improved safety. Some 200 factories were closed for the day after the protest erupted in Savar, a suburb of Dhaka, the capital.

DHAKA, Bangladesh - Amid the ash, broken glass and melted sewing machines at what is left of the Tazreen Fashions Ltd. factory, there are piles of blue, red and off-white children's shorts bearing Wal-Mart's Faded Glory brand. Shorts from hip-hop star Sean Combs' ENYCE label lay on the floor, along with a hooded Mickey Mouse sweatshirt from Disney.
An Associated Press reporter searching the Bangladesh factory Wednesday found these and other clothes, including sweaters from the French company Teddy Smith and the Scottish company Edinburgh Woollen Mill, among the equipment charred in the fire that killed 112 workers on Saturday. He also found entries in account books indicating that the factory took orders to produce clothes for Disney, Sears and other Western brands.
Garments and documents left behind in the factory show it was used by a host of major American and European retailers, though at least one of them — Wal-Mart — had been aware of safety problems. Wal-Mart blames a supplier for using Tazreen Fashions without its knowledge.
The fire has elevated awareness of something labor groups, retailers and governments have known for years: Bangladesh's fast-growing garment industry — second only to China's in exports — is rife with dangerous workplaces. More than 300 workers there have died in fires since 2006.
Police on Wednesday arrested three factory officials suspected of locking in the workers who died in Saturday's fire, the deadliest in the South Asian country's less than 35-year history of exporting clothing.
Local police chief Habibur Rahman said the three will be questioned amid reports that many workers trying to escape the blaze had been locked inside. He said the owner of the factory was not among those arrested.

More:
AP Exclusive: Accounts, clothing show Disney, Wal-Mart, Sears used Bangladesh factory in fire | StarTribune.com

Why California is broke and Texas is not: A simple story, funny.

THE COYOTE California: The Governor of California is jogging with his dog along a nature trail... A coyote jumps out and attacks the Governor's dog, fatally wounding the dog, then he bites the Governor. 1. The Governor starts to intervene, but reflects upon the movie "Bambi" and then realizes he should stop because the coyote is only doing 'what is natural'. 2. He calls animal control .. Animal Control captures the coyote and bills the State $200 testing it for diseases and $500 for relocating it. 3. He calls a veterinarian. The vet collects the dead dog and bills the State $200 testing it for diseases. 4. The Governor goes to hospital and spends $3,500 getting checked for diseases from the coyote and on getting his bite wound bandaged. 5. The running trail gets shut down for 6 months while Fish & Game conducts a $100,000 survey to make sure the area is now free of dangerous animals. 6. The Governor spends $50,000 in state funds implementing a "coyote awareness program" for residents of the area. 7. The State Legislature spends $2 million to study how to better treat rabies and how to permanently eradicate the disease throughout the world. 8. The Governor's security agent is fired for not stopping the attack. The State spends $150,000 to hire and train a new agent with additional special training re: the nature of coyotes. 9. PETA protests the coyote's relocation and files a $5 million dollar suit against the State of California. TEXAS: The Governor of Texas is jogging with his dog along a nature trail. A Coyote jumps out and attacks his dog... 1. The Governor quickly shoots the coyote with his State-issued pistol and keeps jogging along with his dog. The Governor has spent $0.50 on a .45 ACP hollow point cartridge. 2. The Buzzards eat the dead coyote. And that my friends, is why California is broke and Texas is not.

Another Shattuck-St. Mary's teacher charged with sex abuse

 

Another former teacher at Shattuck-St. Mary's prep school in Faribault has been charged with criminal sexual conduct with a student.
Joseph Machlitt, now 63 and a St. Paul resident, is accused of having sexual contact with a boy, then 14, at the school in 1980. He faces two felony charges of criminal sexual conduct.
Faribault police arrested Machlitt on Tuesday after a joint investigation by the police department and the Minnesota Department of Criminal Apprehension into reports of sex abuse at the school, the department said in a written statement.
It's the second time this fall that charges have been filed against a former Shattuck teacher. Onetime drama teacher Lynn Seibel, 70, was charged in October with 17 counts of sexual misconduct. The charges said Seibel instigated "AP drama" sessions with teen boys that included group masturbation, other sexually explicit activities and use of pornography.

Another Shattuck-St. Mary's teacher charged with sex abuse | StarTribune.com

Opposition to wolf hunt seems purely emotional

 
Opposition to wolf hunt seems purely emotional
The science suggests no worries about pack disruption or even cruelty.

I passed another wolf billboard today on the freeway. Its message clearly opposed the wolf season in Minnesota. As executive director of the Wildlife Science Center, a wolf center near Forest Lake, I am well-versed in the emotional extremes that accompany any conversation about wolves.
I served as an adviser to the wolf roundtable in the late 1990s, watching as a roomful of people with disparate values worked together to develop a management plan. The people on the roundtable had access to a panel of researchers, managers and educators who answered questions and brought science into the conversation.
From what I gather, the current argument against the hunt has three concerns: 1) disruption of wolf-pack society through the death of pack members; 2) dangerous population reduction, and 3) fears of cruelty at the hands of trappers in particular.
Science appears to have left the room. For more click on link.


Opposition to wolf hunt seems purely emotional | StarTribune.com

Tenn. anti-abortion congressman and ex-wife consented to 2 abortions

 NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Republican U.S. Rep. Scott DesJarlais, who opposes abortion rights, testified during divorce proceedings that he and his former wife made a mutual decision for her to have two abortions, according to divorce transcripts released Thursday.
DesJarlais, who practiced medicine before going to Congress, easily won a second term in Tennessee's conservative 4th District despite previous revelations that he once urged a patient with whom he was having an affair to get an abortion.
On his campaign website, DesJarlais espoused an anti-abortion position, saying: "All life should be cherished and protected. We are pro-life."
DesJarlais' spokesman and campaign manager did not return messages seeking comment.

Divorce transcripts: Tenn. anti-abortion congressman and ex-wife consented to 2 abortions | StarTribune.com

Chevy dealer sells car for wrong price, apologizes after having buyer arrested

 
 A Virginia man spent four hours in jail after purchasing a Chevrolet Traverse from Priority Chevrolet in Chesapeake, VA. The dealer's sales staff accidentally sold the SUV to Danny Sawyer for $5,600 less than they should have, and when Sawyer refused to sign a new, more expensive contract for the correct amount, the dealership called the local police alleging the buyer had stolen the vehicle. Law enforcement then picked Sawyer up and held him for four hours before getting the situation straight.

Dennis Ellmer, president of Priority Chevrolet, says he owes Sawyer an apology on behalf of the dealership, and had intended to do right by the buyer by letting him have the vehicle at the agreed-upon price. But Sawyer's lawyer says it's a little too late for saying, 'sorry.' The briefly-incarcerated owner has filed two lawsuits against the dealer, accusing the business of malicious prosecution, slander, defamation and abuse of process. All told, the suits seek a total of $2.2 million in damages, plus attorney fees.

That $5,600 seems awfully cheap now.

The lawsuit says Sawyer originally purchased a blue Traverse on May 7, but took the SUV back the next day for a black one. The dealer's sales manager made the swap, allegedly without saying anything about a price differential between the two. Either way, Sawyer signed a final contract for around $34,000 when the vehicle he took home had an actual price of closer to $39,000. On June 15, Sawyer was taken into custody by police, but the Commonwealth dropped the charges after finding insufficient evidence to pursue the case.
Chevy dealer sells car for wrong price, apologizes after having buyer arrested

Isanti Co. Pastor Charged with Criminal Sexual Conduct

 And the beat goes on and on and on. He was probably opposed to gay marriage. Only a marriage between a man and a women can bring little children into the world for priests and pastors to abuse.


Isanti Co. Pastor Charged with Criminal Sexual Conduct | KSTP TV - Minneapolis and St. Paul

Acting President Ryan? It's possible

 
 The polls are showing a dead heat between President Obama and Gov. Mitt Romney. But it's conceivable that neither will take office in January. Here's a possible scenario -- for Democrats, a nightmare, and for conservative Republicans, a dream come true.
It's Jan. 20, 2013. Outgoing President Obama sits in the limousine on the way to the Capitol. To his right is incoming acting President Paul Ryan.
What? How did this happen? And what's this business about "acting president"?
It started with the Electoral College. The election was close, as everyone knew it would be. President Obama got 253 electoral votes by carrying the Democratic base -- the District of Columbia and 19 states that had gone for Gore, Kerry and Obama. He also took New Mexico (five votes) and Colorado (nine votes), bringing him to 267 -- heartbreakingly short of the 270 needed for victory. It looked like Mitt Romney had won with 29 states and 271 electoral votes, one more than he needed.
But on Dec. 17, when electors cast their votes, three Republican electors -- one in Texas, Nevada and Iowa -- did what they had told a reporter in September they planned to do: They voted for the candidate to whom their hearts truly belonged: U.S. Rep. Ron Paul. No amount of persuading could get them to back down. The result: Romney, 268 electoral votes; Obama, 267, and Paul, 3. No majority. No president-elect.
Under the 12th Amendment to the Constitution, if no one gets an electoral vote majority, the House of Representatives chooses the president from among the top three contenders. Each state gets one vote, and election requires a majority of states: 26 votes.
In the House elected in 2010, the GOP held a majority of seats from 33 of the 50 states, the Democrats had just 16, and one, Minnesota, was tied. But in the 2012 election, the GOP lost several seats, even though it kept control of the House. The Democrats gained in Colorado, Montana, Nevada and West Virginia, giving them "control" of 20 states, and also picked up one seat each in Arizona, Arkansas, Kentucky, New Hampshire and Wisconsin, bringing those states to a tie along with Minnesota. So the Republicans now controlled just 24 states.
The new Congress convened in January and officially counted the electoral votes for president and vice president. No presidential candidate had a majority, of course, but the three faithless Republican electors had joined the other 268 in voting for Paul Ryan for vice president, giving him the 271 votes he needed to defeat Joe Biden and become vice president-elect.
Meanwhile the House of Representatives set about balloting for president from among the three contenders: Romney, Obama and Paul. On ballot after ballot, 20 "Democratic" states voted for Obama, and 24 "Republican" states voted for Romney. The six tied states deadlocked and cast no vote. Jan. 20 was approaching and, it seemed, there would soon be no president.
But, believe it or not, the 20th Amendment to the Constitution envisions such a possibility. It says, "If a president shall not have been chosen before the time fixed for the beginning of his term, or if the president elect shall have failed to qualify, then the vice president elect shall act as president until a president shall have qualified." In other words, because the House couldn't break the deadlock by Jan. 20, Vice President-elect Paul Ryan would become acting president.
This is where we are on Inauguration Day. President Obama and the soon-to-be acting president ride down Pennsylvania Avenue together, alight from the limousine and approach the platform where Chief Justice John Roberts administers the oath of office. Ryan gives an inaugural address focused on the wonders of our Constitution, the beauties of the marketplace and the need for a rebirth of American freedom. Barack Obama goes back to Chicago. The House keeps balloting but finally gives up.
And the three Ron Paul electors content themselves with the thought that the man closer to their philosophy than Mitt Romney ever really was is now in the White House, having completed the most astonishing rise in the history of national politics.
Likely? No. Possible? We'll have to wait and see
Acting President Ryan? It's possible | StarTribune.com

The concession speech: A translation

 
 After the outcome is sure, one presidential candidate will concede. What he will say and what he will mean are two different things.


Sometime late tonight, barring an unexpected bout of litigation, one of the major party presidential nominees will be calling the other one to concede.
Immediately afterward, the defeated candidate will come out and address supporters. We all know what he'll say. Let's take a look at what he'll be thinking:
"I just made a telephone call to my opponent to congratulate him on his victory." (Scattered boos.) "No, no, none of that. None of that."
Translation: More of that. More of that.

Click on link for more.
The concession speech: A translation | StarTribune.com

Ramsey County project will use GPS on stalkers

 

Ramsey County is launching a project using GPS technology to instantly warn victims of stalking or domestic violence when a defendant is nearby, and then dispatch police.
The pilot project, the first of its kind in the metro area, is not for the most dangerous offenders, who typically remain in jail pending their trial.
But the tracking device, called Stalker Alert, could be part of a no-contact order in felony domestic violence cases where the defendant is considered to have "medium-risk'' potential, prosecutors said Wednesday.
Police will be sent when offenders violate a five-mile movable zone, and the supervising agent decides the victim is at risk.
Project Remand, a private nonprofit organization that supervises domestic violence defendants who are awaiting trial, will use pretrial officers to screen Ramsey County defendants for the program beginning Thursday, said executive director Mary Pat Maher.
"Our biggest challenge in supervising that population has been in enforcing protection orders and making sure the defendant complies with that," she said.
The program is voluntary, said County Attorney John Choi, whose office is leading the effort.
Victims who choose to participate will carry a receiver the size of a computer mouse, while offenders -- who may comply as a condition of bail set by a judge -- would wear an ankle bracelet.
Prosecutors said they believe Ramsey is the first Minnesota county to have the program, though there have been similar experiments involving a handful of cases elsewhere in the state.
"We think it's going to put some teeth into protection orders, and it's going to give us another tool to supervise and to monitor these defendants." Maher said.

Tamper alert goes off

Stalker Alert incorporates GPS technology that is widely used to monitor sex offenders, gang members and other high-risk criminals, and as an alternative to incarceration. What's new is that it can now correlate a victim's location with that of the alleged offender.
Steve Logan, CEO of Satellite Tracking of People, the Texas firm that owns and manufactures the system, said this is one of the first applications of the equipment for pretrial defendants in Minnesota.
"We stress that this does not prevent someone from doing something bad, but it is one more really good tool to try to help provide advance notice and alerts so that hopefully, you can intervene," he said.
Studies also show a "surveillance effect" in which those monitored are less likely to re-offend, Logan added.
The device will give the defendant's exact location every minute, allowing those monitoring to decide if the intrusion is incidental or poses a threat. Maher said the system will make wrongdoing "very, very hard to refute."
A monitoring center in Minneapolis will get a "tamper alert" if the bracelet and its fiber-optic cable is severed. A warrant will be issued if police can't find the defendant.


Ramsey County project will use GPS on stalkers | StarTribune.com