Minnesota News Network

Officials are hoping for a better outcome this weekend, following a Father Day’s weekend that brought nearly a dozen deaths on Minnesota roads. State Patrol Lieutenant Tiffani Nielson says, “The hundred deadliest days of the year occur between Memorial Day and Labor Day.”

Nielson says there are four things every driver can do to keep themselves and their passengers as safe as possible:  Never drive impaired, always wear your seatbelt and ensure all the passengers are wearing their seatbelts, put distractions away, and drive the speed limit — or less than the speed limit if conditions are not ideal.

Officials note some parts of Minnesota are still seeing effects of flooding after heavy rains and drivers need to be extra cautious.

 

Hundreds of thousands are expected this weekend at Minneapolis’s Loring Park for the annual Pride Festival, including the big Pride Parade Sunday morning down Hennepin Avenue. Monica Meyer with OutFront Minnesota says it will be a celebration, but with “an element of somberness.”  She says, “There’s been so much violence against transgender people, and then also I think that we still have more work to do for really bringing about LGBTQ equity in general.”

Meyer says LGBTQ youth are more frequently targets of bullying than other students. And she says those at 2018 Pride will also be thinking about children separated from their parents on America’s southern border.

Kandiyohi County Attorney Shane Baker has dropped all 24 state drug and weapons charges against 46-year-old Chad Monson of Willmar — that because Monson now faces 18 weapons charges in *federal* court. Earlier this year, a SWAT team raided Monson’s home and seized dozens of weapons including machine guns, sawed-off shotguns, silencers, grenade launchers and drugs. Three weeks later they raided his place of business and found more weapons, drugs and pipe bombs. Court records indicate witnesses said Monson told them he planned to use the explosives against a judge and some attorneys.

 

A Halstad woman who fatally shot her boyfriend with a large caliber handgun while recording a stunt for YouTube tried to talk him out of it, according to transcripts released by the Norman County attorney. The files confirm 22-year-old Pedro Ruiz encouraged Monalisa Perez to shoot at a thick book he was holding. Although transcripts of the 9-1-1 call were made public, prosecutor James Brue refused to release a recording, and also would not release video of the actual shooting, saying it’s clearly offensive to common sensibilities. It happened nearly a year ago and Perez received a six-month jail sentence.

 

A former nursing assistant at Good Samaritan Society nursing home in Redwood Falls is charged with manslaughter and criminal neglect after a 100-year-old resident died from injuries suffered when she fell about five feet from a mechanical lift. Prosecutors say 29-year-old Francisco Ramirez of Renville didn’t follow correct procedures. Investigators found the fall was so severe that the woman’s left foot was nearly detached from her leg. She died later of complications from multiple skeletal fractures. Ramirez’s first court appearance is set for Monday (6/25).

 

All highways are now open in far southwest Minnesota after heavy rains Wednesday night closed Interstate 90 at Beaver Creek and Highway 59 just north of Worthington. But MN-DOT’s Rebecca Arndt says the ground is saturated and flash flooding or river flooding is still possible — so motorists should expect the unexpected and stay clear of any water over roadways.  Arndt says, “Only a few inches of water, you can lose control of your car and slide right off into the floodwaters.”

She says if a section of road is closed, “You never, ever want to drive around those barricades ’cause it is not safe on the other side. In addition to that, it’s illegal and motorists can be fined up to one-thousand dollars and/or 90 days in jail.”

In east-central Minnesota MN-DOT has re-opened Highway 48 between Hinckley and Danbury, Wisconsin as levels on the Saint Croix River drop significantly following last weekend’s major rainstorms.  But Highway 23 at the south fork of the Nemadji River remains closed after severe flooding washed out a section of the road. A detour has been set up, but MN-DOT says it’s mostly on gravel roads and motorists should use I-35 as an alternate route if possible.

And officials are urging boaters and others on rivers and lakes to be extra careful. The Blue Earth County Sheriff’s Office says people should avoid the upstream area of the Rapidan Dam on the Blue Earth River. The boat barrier failed Thursday morning and repair isn’t expected for at least two weeks.