St. Paul police are reminding residents to keep an eye on their snowblowers. They say snowblower thefts always rise as the snow starts to fall. Jeff Abrahamson had his snowblower stolen in broad daylight. He left it outside his garage to buy a replacement part, and when he came back less than an hour later it was gone. Police say snowlowers have a high street value, and thieves can make a quick buck off them.
Officers remind residents to lock their garages and never leave blowers unguarded. They also suggest owners photograph their blowers, write down the serial number and etch their names into the metal. Abrahamson says he’s learned his lesson. He says he’ll take the extra time to make sure his blower is always locked up.
SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea reaffirmed its commitment to a nuclear-free Korean peninsula in a New Year’s message today, brightening the prospect that Pyongyang may rejoin the stalled international talks aimed at ending its nuclear weapons programs. “It is the consistent stand of the DPRK to establish a lasting peace system on the Korean Peninsula and make it nuclear-free through dialogue and negotiations,” the message said, referring to the country by its official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. Pyongyang’s Jan. 1 statement, examined annually for clues to the regime’s policies for the coming year, also said it will strive to develop good relations and friendship with other countries, while calling for an end to hostile relations with the United States.
The North has long called for Washington to end hostility toward the regime and said it developed nuclear weapons to deter a U.S. attack.
North Korea vows to achieve nuclear-free Koreas
Minnesota transportation officials are going on the record in support of a high-speed rail line between the Twin Cities and Chicago.
However, the statewide rail plan released Thursday didn’t try to straighten out the knotty politics of picking a route through southeastern Minnesota.
Draft State Rail Plan (PDF)
Arctic air spreading over southern Minnesota and northern Iowa today and tonight, along with northwest winds, will bring very cold temperatures and wind chills down into the teens and 20s below zero, according to the National Weather Service in La Crosse, Wis.
It is expected to remain very cold through the weekend.
ASSOCIATED PRESS — A Minnesota judge has ordered the state to reinstate money for a food program that Gov. Tim Pawlenty cut from the budget, saying he acted unconstitutionally.
Several people in the program for the poor sought an injunction to restore money while their court case proceeds
Ramsey County District Judge Kathleen Gearin granted their wish in an order on Wednesday. Her temporary restraining order keeps the money intact indefinitely.
The case stems from $2.7 billion in cuts the Republican governor announced this summer to balance the budget. He took the action using an executive power that allows the governor to trim spending on his own. He and the Democratic-controlled Legislature failed to agree on a budget.
An attorney for Pawlenty had argued that the state would have trouble paying its bills if the administration lost because others hit by cuts would see it as an invitation to file similar lawsuits.
A sharpshooter was called to take care of two foxes that wandered near a runway at the Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport today, according to an Associated Press report.
The foxes delayed the landing of a couple of flights. An airport spokesman said animals as big as foxes can cause serious effects to a plane that hits one.
The sharpshooter killed one of the foxes; the other one left on its own.
Burlington Northern Santa Fe officials said today that the worker killed yesterday in a railyard accident was Sam W. Lundy, 44, who worked for BNSF for 17 years, according to an Associated Press report.
Lundy was riding on a rail car that left the tracks and pinned him against a building, according to a BNSF spokeswoman. The initial report said he had been standing on the ground when the accident happened.
Lundy is survived by a wife and three children.
BNSF does not know what caused the car to derail, the report said.
There must be some slick spots out on the area roads, as police and other emergency personnel are responding to the numerous reports of rollover accidents this morning.
Rochester police are responding to a report that the Motel 6 on U.S. 52 was robbed a short time ago.
SLAYTON, Minn. — A snowplow driver in southwestern Minnesota’s Murray County found the body of a woman who apparently walked away from her car after driving it off the road this week. The Independent of Marshall reports that the body of 69-year-old Loa Jean Jenson of Garvin was found Monday on 211th Street, just east of Highway 59.
Woman’s body found in southwestern Minnesota
