Minnesota News Network

The Minnesota Health Department reports one of the two people who contracted Legionnaires Disease at a Maple Grove assisted living home has died. The other resident from SilverCreek on Main has been released from the hospital. Epidemiologist Kathy Como-Sabetti says elderly people and smokers are more prone to Legionnaires Disease. The outbreak in Maple Grove, which is isolated, comes about a year after an outbreak in Hopkins which affected 24 people and resulted in one death.

Staying hydrated is key, as most of the lower half of Minnesota is under a heat advisory through this afternoon. Heat indices are approaching 100 this afternoon while temperatures soar into the low 90’s from Willmar, St. Cloud and Hinckley southward. Forecasters say things will cool off a bit by 7pm.

The National Weather Service has determined damage done early Wednesday morning in the Sunburg area was the result of a tornado. Survey teams were dispatched to the area immeadiately, and preliminary results indicate the area was hit by an EF-1 tornado, which can generate winds from 86 to 110 miles an hour. Straight line winds also caused extensive damage in the Belgrade and Melrose areas.

Minnesota Valley Broadcasting and Radio Mankato CEO John Linder died this morning at the age of 63 after a nine-month, hard-fought battle with cancer. The Linder family has been in the radio business in Mankato since 1950. John spent his entire career in the business and leaves a legacy in broadcasting not just in Mankato but across the Midwest. Linder had interest in several radio groups, including locally owned and operated Radio Mankato. (Home to KTOE, Minnesota 93, Hot 96-7, Oldies 100-point-5, KRRW, KXLP, and The Fan) A celebration of Linder’s life will be announced soon.

A 15-year old girl who was last seen at her school in eastern Pennsylvania on Monday, has been found in Minnesota. Philadelphia-area detectives received a tip that Victoria Grimaldi was on her way to visit a friend in the Twin Cities area. Thursday afternoon, Grimaldi was found safe by North St. Paul police and the BCA.

One in five Minnesotans, including children, suffer from a mental illness. Sue Abderholden with NAMI Minnesota (National Alliance on Mental Illness) says the good news is the stigma surrounding mental illness continues to fade. NAMI Minnesota is holding a 5K walk in Minneapolis tomorrow (SAT) to raise awareness. Around five-thousand people from around the state are expected to attend.

Officials have released a sketch of a suspect wanted in a home invasion in Backus last Saturday. Cass County officials say while several leads and potential sightings of the male suspect have been reported, there has been nothing substantial that has led to making an identification. On Tuesday authorities and a K-9 searched a wooded area in northern Pine River Township for several hours. The suspect is described as a white male, 6-feet-five inches tall, with a very large body.

The West Whiteland, Pennsylvania Police Department is asking for your help in locating a missing teen. 15-year-old Victoria Grimaldi was last seen in West Chester, Pennsylvania on Tuesday morning. Authorities believe she may be in Minnesota and are concerned for her welfare. She’s five-feet-five inches tall, 125 pounds with brown hair and blue eyes. She was last seen wearing black leggings and a gray zip-up style sweatshirt with a sparkly wing design on the back. She may also has a JanSport backpack that is turquoise in color with a plaid design. Anyone with information should call 9-1-1.

Mediation between the two sides in the legislature’s lawsuit against Governor Dayton is set to start today (THU). Dayton says at the mediator’s request, “the parties will not be communicating further prior to mediation being concluded, so I have nothing more to say about the mediation process. But he adds “if it’s not successful, I’ll have a lot to say.”  GOP lawmakers have said without a resolution to the legal wrangling, the Senate could run out of money on December 1st and the House on February 1st next year. The Senate has around $11 million of carryover funds and the House $6 million. Republican lawmakers sued Dayton after he line-item vetoed funding for the legislature to force Republicans to undo tax cuts and other provisions in the last legislative session. The GOP has argued that Dayton’s veto is unconstitutional, but the state Supreme Court disagreed and ordered the two sides into mediation. According to the mediator, the law firms involved and the mediator will be billing at a government rate, which is about half of the rate used for commercial entities. For the mediator the hourly rate for this case would be around $257 per hour.

Governor Dayton is still awaiting approval from the Trump administration on the state’s reinsurance waiver–and even though he’s urging action A-S-A-P, he says he’s “never experienced anything like this. I can’t even get the commissioner of health and human services on the telephone. I can’t even get a phone number to call him to raise the issue.” Dayton expressed his frustration today and says “what they urged us to do, we’ve done it exactly the way they told us to and now we’re pushing the end of September and we can’t get official approval necessary. It’s just unfathomable.” The reinsurance program was put in place by state lawmakers last session to lower premiums for people buying insurance on the individual market.
Dayton says the waiver would reduce health insurance premiums in the individual marketplace by around 20-percent. But, he says as a result of federal cuts being proposed, the state is at risk of losing nearly $370 million in MinnesotaCare funding for the state’s most vulnerable citizens.

 

 

An online fundraiser in honor of Philando Castile has raised more than $67,000 to go toward feeding students in St. Paul. The “Philando Feeds the Children” fund was started by Inver Hills Community College Professor Pam Fergus as a project for a diversity and ethics class she teaches. She says “our original hope was $5000 so relative to that it’s pretty amazing. We now have an ultimate goal of $75,000.” The initial goal was to raise money for the J-J Hill Montessori School where Castile worked as a cafeteria supervisor. Fergus says she hopes to expand the scope of the fundraising further and adds that “if it could become the Twin Cities or even bigger than that, I think that would be a great way to keep [Castile’s] name alive and working in the community.” The fund can be found here. Here’s more of MNN’s Scott Peterson chat with Pam Fergus:

 

A Burnsville teen who died after being found unresponsive by police in a North Dakota State University dormitory has been identified. Police in Fargo say there were no signs of foul play in the death of 17-year old Devin Delaney. However, no official cause of death has been released. Delaney was visiting friends on campus over the weekend when the incident happened.

The decline of brick and mortar shopping continues with word that Toys R Us is declaring bankruptcy. The decision comes ahead of the busy holiday shopping season and casts doubt on the retailer’s future. The action should not affect staffing for the moment at the dozen Toys R Us and Babies R Us locations in Minnesota.

Between 2015 and 2016, Minnesota’s median household income grew by 13-hundred dollars, continuing its steady, upward climb. State Demographer Susan Brower says since 2010, Minnesota’s median household income has increased over 4,500 dollars.  “We now have a median income of 65,600 dollars and we’re about 12th place if you rank all the states. We are above the U.S. median which is about 57,600 dollars.”

A historic roadside marker is due to make its re-appearance southeast of the Twin Cities by 2019. Officials in Dakota County are reportedly applying for grant money to rebuild the Sioux marker made of limestone and brick which measures 12-feet across. The reminder of where the Sioux village used to stand in Inver Grove Heights was removed and stored away back in 2005 to make room for a bridge over Highway-52. Dakota County officials say they will rebuild the marker half a mile from its original site on the Mississippi River Regional Trail.

It was 47-years ago tonight, a TV show debuted which featured Minnesota’s favorite news producer. Fictional character Mary Richards tossed her hat in the air at Nicollet Mall to mark the first episode of the Mary Tyler Moore Show in 1970. The actress passed away last January.

It’s been two weeks since students at Minnehaha Academy’s Upper Campus started school at their temporary location. The change was a result of this summer’s explosion which killed two staff members. School President Dr. Donna Harris says despite what the students have been through, there is a sense of optimism. She says the students, faculty, staff have quickly adapted to their new space and adds “there’s a sense that it’s not about the building, it’s about the learning community, the caring community that has always existed. Dr. Harris says the kids have been resilient and calls it “a formative experience for students that they will look back and say ‘I probably grew a few inches in just my overall development and spirit through this experience’.” Dr. Harris says the community, city leaders and other local schools continue to show their support for Minnehaha Academy. She’s expecting an enthusiastic turnout when the school has its homecoming and reunion weekend at the end of September. Here’s more of MNN’s Scott Peterson’s chat with Dr. Harris.