Police arrest man after standoff

INVER GROVE HEIGHTS — Police have arrested a 20-year-old man after a nearly 6-hour standoff in a Twin Cities suburb.

Inver Grove Heights police answered a 911 call around 11 a.m. Friday. An officer knocked on the door and thought he heard a gunshot from inside.

Neighbors were told to stay inside and away from windows as police set up a perimeter. Officers took the man into custody just before 5 p.m.

Police said they found a gun near the man and evidence that the weapon had been fired numerous times inside the home.

The man was treated for minor injuries at a hospital and released to jail staff.

No officers were hurt or discharged their weapons.

 

Unattended candles cause Minneapolis condo building fire

MINNEAPOLIS — Investigators said unattended candles caused a Minneapolis condo building fire that sent one person to the hospital.

The Minneapolis Fire Department said the candles were in a first-floor condo. The cause of the three-alarm fire in the Uptown neighborhood was ruled accidental.

The eight-unit, three-story building caught fire about 8:10 a.m. Friday and caused traffic problems during rush hour in the busy commercial and residential district.

Minneapolis Fire Marshal Perry Ebner said one person was taken to a hospital for smoke inhalation. A hospital spokeswoman said the 70-year-old resident was in satisfactory condition at HCMC.

Ben Garber moved into the building about a month ago. The 32-year-old said the fire happened quickly and he didn’t have much time to get out.

The building is being demolished.

 

Victim in fatal stabbing was Minneapolis woman, 43

MINNEAPOLIS — The victim of a stabbing death in Hennepin County this week has been identified as a 43-year-old Minneapolis woman.

The medical examiner’s office released a statement Saturday saying Lolitta Marie Malone died of multiple stab wounds.

She was found dead in a home Thursday about 3:30 a.m.

No arrests have been made. The case remains under investigation.

 

Workers at North Dakota groceries taking over

BEMIDJI — Four hundred employees of grocery stores in Bemidji and Wahpeton, N.D., are getting ready to take them over.

Joe Lueken, owner of the stores that bear his name, is retiring. The transfer to an employee stock ownership plan becomes official on Sunday.

Store managers said they believe the three stores could have fetched $30 million from outside owners. Instead, employees will pay Lueken store profits for the next five to seven years.

Maria Svare, a manager at one of the Bemidji stores, said Lueken’s decision will probably save many jobs and keep profits in Bemidji and Wahpeton. To participate, store employees must be over 21 and have worked there for at least a year. But they didn’t have to post an upfront investment.

 

Man dies at Alexandria waste facility

ALEXANDRIA — A 50-year-old man is dead after getting caught in a piece of machinery at a waste facility in Alexandria.

According to a news release from the local police department, it happened at about 9 p.m. Thursday at Pope/Douglas Solid Waste, which handles waste for Pope and Douglas counties.

Police said the man is Tim Allen Anderson from Evansville and he’s an employee there.

He died on the scene.

Police wouldn’t release any other information out of sensitivity to the family.

 

Wis. school suspends boy over noose, KKK symbol

BALDWIN, Wis. — A high school in western Wisconsin has suspended a ninth-grade boy for giving a small noose and “KKK symbol” to a black classmate.

Baldwin-Woodville High School Principal Eric Russell said he suspended the boy Dec. 14 after he confessed to placing the offensive items on the classmate’s desk.

Russell said Friday the little macrame noose and “some kind of KKK symbol” were made in art class. The principal said the boy said he did it as a joke.

The girl’s foster mother said she is 15 years old and one of only three black students in the 450-student school.

The boy’s suspension will begin when students return to school next week. The principal declined to say how long the suspension will last.

 

Wisconsin’s ‘Arcadia on the Air’ to sign off for good

ARCADIA, Wis. — After more than a half-century of broadcasting, the “Arcadia on the Air” radio program is about to sign off for good.

“Arcadia on the Air” has been broadcast daily from KWNO’s Arcadia studios since 1959. It was hosted by local bandleader Ernie Reck until his death in March 1996.

Reck started on the air with a weekly broadcast from KWNO’s Winona studios 10 years earlier. Since Reck’s death, the program — featuring polka music and local Arcadia news — has been hosted by his former assistant, Ruth Gappa.

 

Wis. company creates memorial to Conn. victims

ARCADIA, Wis. — A small Wisconsin community near the Minnesota border is paying tribute to the 20 children killed in the Sandy Hook school shooting.

Supreme Graphics, based in Arcadia, created a display of photographs of the children and teddy bears and put it in the middle of town.

Company chief executive officer and president Chuck Blaschko said they wanted to do something because they felt so bad about the tragedy.

It went up last week Friday, about 30 minutes before Wisconsin’s statewide moment of silence.

 

Temple Grandin visits SD beef-packing plant

ABERDEEN, S.D. — Cattle expert Temple Grandin said that a new beef-packing plant in Aberdeen, S.D., is off to a good start.

Officials with Northern Beef Packers sa Grandin toured the facility Friday and said she’s pleased it was designed with the cattle’s comfort in mind.

Grandin gained national fame when she was portrayed by Claire Danes in an award-winning HBO movie titled “Temple Grandin.” The movie shows how Grandin struggled growing up with autism and how the condition helped her create more humane ways to slaughter livestock. Her designs are used in facilities worldwide.

The opening of Northern Beef Packers had been delayed for years by financial problems, lawsuits, flooding and complaints about its wastewater. The $109 million plant will process 1,500 cattle per day from the Dakotas, Nebraska, Iowa and Minnesota.