MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Police say Minnesota Vikings cornerback Benny Sapp has been cited for fifth-degree assault and careless driving, both misdemeanors, after a run-in with security at Children’s Hospital in Minneapolis.
Officers were called Friday morning after police say Sapp and his 11-year-old son tried to enter the hospital through a closed entrance. The Star Tribune reports Sapp left his son with a hospital security guard, saying the boy’s mother was inside and he had to go to work.
Sapp allegedly pushed a security officer who tried to detain him in the parking ramp. Police Sgt. Bill Palmer says Sapp then chest-bumped a security officer who was standing in front of his vehicle.
ST. PAUL — Two men are under arrest after St. Paul police say one of them pulled a gun on a police officer, prompting the officer to fire his weapon.
No one was hurt in Saturday’s incident.
Just before 9 a.m., the officer had identified a vehicle matching the description of one sought in connection with reports of shots being fired. When the officer stopped the vehicle, police say one of the men brandished a gun and ignored the officer’s demands to stop the weapon.
The officer fired his service weapon, and the suspect with the gun ran. Neither of the suspects was hit.
Other officers arrived and arrested the men — a 29-year-old from Minneapolis and a 38-year-old from St. Paul.
A man just robbed the Greenway Co-op in northwest Rochester, according to a scanner report. The robber wielded a knife.
The suspect’s description matches that of the suspect in a robbery early this morning at the SuperAmerica at 1520 Second St. S.W. It was reported at 1:45 p.m.
The suspect is wearing a dark, puffy coat, is about 6 feet tall and about 180 pounds.
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Associated Press
TEMPE, Ariz. — Flying cameras have been providing unique perspectives on everything from golf to college and professional football for more than a decade, becoming so commonplace that fans rarely notice the whizzing remote-controlled devices.
At the Insight Bowl on Friday night, no one could miss the overhead camera when it came crashing down to the field late in the fourth quarter, nearly taking out one of the players.
The ESPN camera narrowly missed Iowa receiver Martin McNutt Jr., who became entangled in the guide wire but wasn’t hurt.
“First, I looked: What is it that fell from the sky?’” McNutt said after Iowa’s 31-14 loss to No. 19 Oklahoma. “The next thing I know, the camera kind of scratched me a little bit. It was just pulling me and I knew I didn’t want to keep going with it.”
McNutt dodged the camera as it fell behind him, but became entangled in the guide wire after it thudded to the ground. McNutt suffered only a minor scratch, but the game was delayed for about five minutes as crews dragged the camera off the field and made sure the wire was out of the way.
Associated Press
LOS ANGELES — NASA is counting down the seconds until its twin spacecraft bound for the moon make back-to-back arrivals over the New Year’s weekend.
The washing machine-size probes have been cruising independently toward their destination since launching in September aboard the same rocket on a mission to measure lunar gravity.
Approaching the moon from the south pole, the Grail spacecraft — short for Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory — won’t land on the surface, but will survey from orbit.
On New Year’s Eve, Grail-A was poised to fire its engine for more than a half hour to slow itself and get captured into orbit. Grail-B will follow suit on New Year’s Day.
Deep space antennas in the California desert and Madrid will track the tricky maneuvers and feed real-time updates to ground controllers.
“The anxiety level is heightened,” project manager David Lehman of the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory said earlier this week.
Grail is the 110th mission to target the moon since the dawn of the Space Age including the six Apollo moon landings that put 12 astronauts on the surface. Despite the attention the moon has received, scientists don’t know everything about Earth’s nearest neighbor.
Associated Press
LOS ANGELES — Several more cars burned in suspected arson attacks in the Los Angeles area early Saturday morning, and authorities investigated if they were connected to nearly two dozen deliberately set blazes a day earlier, police said.
Seven or eight cars burned Saturday in the North Hollywood area, said officer Robert Collier.
He said he didn’t have further details of the blazes, but said arson is suspected and there could be a link to the earlier blazes.
“We believe there might be, but we don’t know for sure,” he said.
Fire officials said the first report came in shortly after midnight, and the most recent about three hours later.
Early Friday morning, fires were reported in nearly two dozen locations in Hollywood and the neighboring city of West Hollywood during a four-hour period before dawn. In nearly every case, the fire started in a parked car.
Flames from torched vehicles ignited some nearby houses early Friday, including one once occupied by Doors frontman Jim Morrison.
But Collier said that although some of Saturday’s blazes are in carports and garages, he didn’t have any reports of damage to buildings.
Associated Press
RIVERSIDE, California — Etta James’ manager says the terminally ill blues singer is breathing on her own after being taken off a respirator.
Lupe De Leon says Friday that the change in her condition is great news and that the singer’s blood pressure is normal.
De Leon says James was put on a respirator when she was hospitalized in Southern California on Dec. 21 because she was having trouble breathing.
James has been diagnosed with terminal leukemia and is suffering from dementia. She has been receiving mostly at-home care.
Earlier this month, a judge set aside $350,000 for her medical care.
James is best known for the hit “At Last.”
Associated Press
MINNEAPOLIS — LeBron James a turned a ripe old 27 on Friday, and the Miami Heat again proved that he plays with a little extra juice on his birthday. The Heat beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 103-101 on Friday night, and James had 34 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds.
“My birthday and my mom’s birthday are the two days I feel real, real good about playing basketball,” James said before the game. “I’ve had the luxury of having games on my birthday and my mom’s birthday so we’ll see what happens.”
Associated Press
BLOOMINGTON, Minn. — Families will ring in the new year Saturday with the “Rock the Universe” party at the Mall of America’s Nickelodeon Universe.
The event runs from 6 p.m. until midnight on New Year’s Eve.
Guests will walk the Nickelodeon orange carpet, where they will strike a pose and receive a photo.
The School of Rock Road Crew will perform from 9:30-10:30 p.m. At 10 p.m. they will lead a family New Year’s countdown.
Other activities include rock hair and face painting, making music videos, and a chance to meet Nickelodeon characters.
Unlimited ride wristbands are available for $29.95 plus tax.
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Online:
http://www.nickelodeonuniverse.com
Associated Press
ST. CLOUD, Minn. — Minnesota Republicans meet Saturday to elect a new chairman during a difficult time for the party.
Party officials say the state GOP is nearly $1.3 million in debt — and legal expenses could bring that total to $2 million.
Party Chairman Tony Sutton resigned Dec. 2 amid internal criticism of party finances. The GOP is due to elect a replacement Saturday when its Central Committee meets in St. Cloud.
Besides Sutton’s resignation, the party has been rocked in recent weeks by a scandal involving Sen. Amy Koch, who resigned as majority leader and then acknowledged an improper relationship with a male staffer.
Candidates to lead the party include political consultant Pat Shortridge, businessman Todd McIntyre and Terry McCall, the party’s 2nd District chairman. Others could emerge at Saturday’s meeting
