December Enforcement Brings 1,300 DWI Arrests in Minnesota

December 20, 2012Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticle1 Comments

Minnesota’s Department of Public Safety says about 1,300 people have been arrested for driving while intoxicated so far in December.

State law enforcement agencies are working overtime hours this month as part of a campaign to prevent drunken driving tragedies. That’s accompanied by a statewide advertising campaign to notify Minnesotans of the added patrols.

In the previous three Decembers, 28 people total were killed in crashes caused by drunk drivers. In all, over the last five years, 651 people were killed in such crashes.

The Department of Public Safety urges Minnesotans to plan ahead on nights where drinking will be involved by designating a sober driver or using public transportation. They also ask people to report suspected drunk drivers by calling 911, and to take precautionary measures by buckling up.

Copyright 2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetCategories: Midwest NewsTopics: drunk driving, drunken driving, dwi, Minnesota, safetyHave a hot lead? Email us at newsdesk

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More Deer Collisions in Minnesota Metro Areas

October 5, 2012Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticle2 Comments

You might be surprised to learn it’s not a rural county that leads the state in the most collisions between deer and vehicles in Minnesota.

State safety officials say Hennepin County, which includes Minneapolis, may have a smaller deer population than more rural counties in Minnesota, but it has many more people behind the wheel. The county had 508 collisions with deer from 2009 to 2011.

Another top county for collisions is one that’s closer to the lakes area, Sherburne County, with 484 crashes during the same time frame.

The Brainerd Dispatch says county with the least amount of collisions between deer and vehicles is Marshall, in far northwestern Minnesota. That county had just two crashes during the two-year period.

 

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11 Homes Destroyed in NW Minnesota Wildfire

October 5, 2012Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticleComments

State officials now say 11 homes and 24 other structures were destroyed by the wildfire that threatened the northwestern Minnesota city town of Karlstad.

Jean Goad, a spokeswoman for the Minnesota Interagency Fire Center, said that updated figures show the fire destroyed seven mobile homes, four regular homes, two garages and 22 other structures in the Karlstad area on Oct. 2.

There were no injuries.

The weather has turned considerably colder. The local forecast called for rain, changing over to snow early on Oct. 4 with accumulations of up to 7 inches.

Goad says that will give firefighters a reprieve, but it won’t add up to much moisture to recharge the soils in northwestern Minnesota, which she says is 12 to 15 inches behind on precipitation.

 

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$650K Settlement Reached Over 2009 Minnesota Train Crash

May 25, 2012Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticleComments

Union Pacific Railroad and the family of a man killed in a Blue Earth County train crash have reached a legal settlement.

Attorneys say Union Pacific has agreed to pay $650,000 to the family of Todd Ziegler. He and another man were in a county dump truck that was struck by three locomotives near Crystal Lake in July 2009. The 43-year-old Ziegler and 42-year-old Jack Baker were killed.

The Free Press reports the Ziegler family attorneys say the evidence shows the two men never heard the train whistle over the noise of the dump truck, and the railroad crossing was the only one in the area that didn’t have lights or crossing arms.

Union Pacific did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

 

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Minnesota Court: Insurer Must Provide Benefits After Gender Change

April 6, 2012Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticleComments

A federal judge in Minneapolis, Minn., has ruled a health insurer improperly denied benefits to a spouse who had undergone a sex change operation.

U.S. District Judge Michael Davis said the health plan administrator for a United Parcel Service employee was wrong when it failed to cover his wife. Christine Radtke sued the health plan fund after it said she wasn’t legally married to Calvin Radtke. The fund countersued saying the couple fraudulently obtained a marriage license because Christine was born male.

The Star Tribune says Davis found the benefit plan imposed its own definitions of gender and marriage in violation of Minnesota law.

The judge’s ruling says state law recognizes a married person’s gender when the marriage takes place. Davis ordered the fund to reinstate Radtke and reimburse her for any covered expenses that she’s paid.

 

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Minnesota Legislature Taps Insurance Agent for University Board

April 6, 2012Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticleComments

The Minnesota Legislature has selected an insurance agency owner to serve on the University of Minnesota’s Board of Regents.

Thomas Devine was elected a regent during a recent joint House-Senate convention.

He replaces Steve Sviggum, who resigned his seat on the board when concerns were raised about his full-time job conflicting with the appointed role. Sviggum, a former state lawmaker, is chief spokesman for the Minnesota Senate Republican caucus.

The 12-member board sets policy and budgets for the four-campus university. Members are not paid.

Devine lives in Chanhassen. He co-owns the David Agency in Edina and is a university graduate.

 

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