A convenience store clerk in Moorhead faces up to 10 years in prison for allegedly stealing ten 50-dollar lottery scratch-off tickets and cashing in 225 dollars in winnings. Police Captain Tory Jacobson says 31-year-old Jessica Hariluk of Fargo “scratched off what they use to scan them, which obviously makes them unable to sell, and then would, if they were winners, cash them in herself.” Hariluk is facing felony state lottery fraud charges.
A group of House Republicans this week proposed taking 26 million dollars from the Vikings Stadium Reserve Account to build three new veterans homes in Bemidji, Montevideo and Preston. Prinsburg Representative Tim Miller says, “We need to make sure that we take care of those people who took care of us.”
Governor Mark Dayton responds Republicans’ plan will cost more than double what they’re setting aside, not including annual operating costs of 30 million dollars. Dayton says, “If we don’t have a sound proposal, we’re just putting it in for show, and again I think the veterans of Minnesota deserve… better than that.”
Dayton says bonding is a possibility — but that would further increase the dollar amount of his bonding proposal which Republicans say is already too large.
A Minnesota judge has ordered the release of remaining state files on the investigation into the kidnapping and murder of Jacob Wetterling, over objections of family members who say the documents are too personal. The Star Tribune reports the judge ruled state law requires investigation files become public once a case has concluded. Earlier this year, federal prosecutors got a court order requiring Stearns County to return F-B-I records, leaving only 89 pages remaining. Patty and Jerry Wetterling are pushing for a change to the state’s public records law.
A 35-year-old Breckenridge man has been charged with murder, malicious punishment of a child and assault for the death of his three-year-old son. Family members identify the boy as Winter Barker. Tracy Brant has been in the Wilkin County Jail in Breckenridge since last Tuesday on a warrant not related to the death. The child was found unresponsive. The Ramsey County Medical Examiner determined that the boy died of blunt force trauma.
Minnesota’s unemployment rate held steady in March at 3.2 percent. State job analyst Steve Hine says we’ve added 21,250 jobs since last March. he says that’s the slowest rate of growth since we came out of the recession. Last month Minnesota employers added nearly three-thousand jobs. Trade, transportation, and utilities led all sectors with 1,900 new jobs followed by manufacturing up 15-hundred.
Authorities in Texas have captured Minnesota fugitive, Lois Riess. Riess was taken into custody while at a restaurant on South Padre Island, just miles from the Mexican border. The 56-year old is suspected in her husband’s murder last month in Dodge County. 54-year old David Riess’ body was found with multiple gunshot wounds in their Blooming Prairie home. Lois Riess is also accused of killing a Florida woman and assuming her identity so she could avoid arrest.
Members of Minnesota’s LGBTQ community plan a “Drag Dance Party” tonight (Fri 530-730pm) outside a downtown Minneapolis hotel where candidate for governor Tim Pawlenty will be addressing the Minnesota Family Council’s annual dinner. Leaders of OutFront Minnesota say the Family Council is anti-gay and the party is “to lift up love and liberation – in the face of politics that violate our Minnesota values.” The Pawlenty campaign was not immediately reachable for comment.
The Minnesota House has overwhelmingly said “yes” to nine million dollars to compensate deputy registrars for losses due to continued problems with the state’s vehicle registration system, MN-LARS. Willmar Republican Dave Baker says deputy registrars are Minnesotans’ friends and neighbors back in their home communities, “the 32-hundred full-time and part-time employees that have been put through the ringer in the last 10 months.” Baker adds the compensation is “by no means is all they need. They continue to struggle every day with a system that is still not functioning the way it should have been.”
Meanwhile House Republicans, after reluctantly agreeing to 10 million dollars earlier in the session, are balking at Governor Mark Dayton’s request for an additional 30-plus million dollars to continue repairs and upgrades to the troubled MN-LARS system.
A group of House Republicans this week proposed taking 26 million dollars from the Vikings Stadium Reserve Account to build three new veterans homes in Bemidji, Montevideo and Preston. Prinsburg Representative Tim Miller says, “We need to make sure that we take care of those people who took care of us.” Governor Mark Dayton responds […]
