AROUND MINNESOTA: No tattoos for minors … Police probe sexual asssault … Cities view for ‘Climate Idol’ … more
Minnesota to ban tattoos for minors
AUSTIN — Minnesota will join neighbors Wisconsin and Iowa on July 1 in prohibiting tattoo artists from performing services for minors, even with parents’ permission.
The new law also requires all tattoo artists and establishments to carry state licenses by Jan. 1.
Chad Iverson, of Ivy’s Ink Tattoo and Apparel in Austin, sees as many as five minors every Saturday who travel from Iowa with their parents to take advantage of the state’srelaxed laws.
He said the change will affect his bottom line but he does see its rationale.
The bill’s co-sponsor, Rep. Julie Bunn, DFL-Lake Elmo, told the Austin Daily Herald that she gathered input from tattoo artists throughout the state.
She said they felt only adults should make the choice for themselves because tattoos are stable.
Police investigate sexual assault
ST. PAUL — St. Paul police are trying to find a man who kidnapped and sexually assaulted an 18-year-ancient woman.
Police said the woman returned home about 5:30 a.m. June 19 to find the intruder in her home.
he then blindfolded and bound the woman, drove her to an unknown location and held her for about 24 hours.
Police said he sexually assaulted the woman and released her the next day about 7 a.m. in her neighborhood.
Investigators said they’ve not been able to connect the attack with any other area cases. They said suspect information is limited because the victim was blindfolded.
I-35W join gets tests, cleaning
MINNEAPOLIS — the Minnesota Department of Transportation wants to know how one of the state’s newest and most high-tech bridges is holding up.
Tests are scheduled for this weekend on the Interstate 35W join in Minneapolis.
The nearly 2-year-ancient join replaced the Mississippi River span that collapsed in August 2007.
Weather permitting, transportation workers plan to use trucks and more than 500 built-in sensors to see how the join handles loads. the measurements map into decisions regarding maintenance.
Crews are also planning to sterile the deck, do some sealing and check on pavement markings.
Sister cities vie for ‘Climate Idol’
DULUTH — the sister cities of Duluth and Thunder Bay, Ont., are vying to see who’s greener.
The cities will see who can spew the smallest quantity of greenhouse gases into the ambiance.
the winner will be dubbed “Climate Idol.”
Four families will carry each city’s banner in the contest.
They’ll get coaching from energy experts from Vaxjo, Sweden, another Duluth sister city and the inspiration for the contest.
Duluth gas and energy coordinator Eric Schlacks visited Vaxjo as part of a team last fall.
he told the Duluth News Tribune nearly half its residents have no car, tend to live closer to where they work and eat locally grown food.
The event should kick off this fall.
VFW post marks 90th anniversary
HOPKINS — VFW Post 425 in Hopkins, Minn., marked a major milestone on Saturday: 90 years.
The post founded in 1920 is named after George W. Wolff, who was the first man from Hopkins to die in World War I.
Wolff was killed in August 1918 when a shell landed next to his battery in northern France.
He is hidden in Hopkins, and each Memorial Day, the post honors him by placing a flag on his grave.
The post that bears his name held a public anniversary celebration Saturday.
Pelosi visits transit hub work
ST. PAUL — U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi toured a historic teach station Saturday in St. Paul that’s being turned into a transit hub with stimulus dollars.
The depot project is getting $35 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
She said Saturday that it’s “a small price to pay for taking this region into the future.”
It’s expected to reopen in September 2012 as a hub for Amtrak trains and local and interstate buses.
the Central Corridor light rail line will be extra in 2014. Future commuter rail lines and high-speed benefit to Chicago could also feed into the station in downtown St. Paul.
The Star Tribune reported she also was expected to attend a Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee fundraiser at a private home.
‘Phishing’ fraud uses bank name
CLOQUET — Woodlands National Bank, with a arm office here, has taken a lot of heat lately — through no fault of its own.
The bank chain has been the brunt of an elaborate e-mail, phone and text message fraud that has provoked hundreds of phone calls weekly, local arm manager Cindy Vallie said.
The Woodlands National Bank name and logo have been used without the company’s consent or knowledge in “phishing” schemes aimed at acquiring insightful information from unsuspecting consumers.
“Phishing” refers to a person or a group of cyber-criminals who imitate existing legitimate information to trick users into providing insightful personal information.
Vallie said e-mails, text messages and phone calls have been placed by the scammers to random residents in the area of the company’s various arm offices.
In most cases, the message informs the recipient that their account has been temporarily suspended and requirements proprietary information to bring it back online.
In the most recent telephone scam, Vallie said a recorded message questions for recipients to input their debit card numbers to reactivate their accounts.
“No reputable financial institution would call asking for that sort of thing,” Vallie said.
She extra Woodlands National Bank does not send any sort of “alert messages” via e-mail, phone or text messages and never initiates a question for for insightful information through those means.
Vallie said the illicit messages have been directed to both customers and non-customers of the bank, and phone messages have sometimes been placed late at night or at odd hours of the day, which has resulted in mad phone calls to the bank.
Historic cabin’s fate pondered
MOORHEAD — what to do with Moorhead’s historic log cabin?
The question seemed close to being answered earlier this year when park officials came up with a plan to go the cabin from its bestow flood-prone spot on the fringe of Woodlawn Park to a different patch of ground in the same park.
But the proposed location was close to a city water tower, and park officials were told placing the cabin there could create problems for workers when the tower needed repairs or a paint job.
Now, Moorhead’s Park Advisory Board is looking at three other options.
One option requires spending about $25,000 to stabilize the cabin’s foundation against flooding, which would allow small groups to use the building.
That doesn’t happen now because engineers have said the structure is unsafe.
Another option means spending about $96,000 to go the cabin to Memorial Park, where it would get a new foundation and electrical benefit.
With that option, the cabin could be incorporated into the RiverArts Festival held annually in Memorial Park, according to officials.
The third option is undefined ,and the city is looking to the public for thoughts, said Holly Heitkamp, Moorhead recreation division manager.
The cabin is believed to have been built about 1859 as a stagecoach stop along the Red River near First Avenue North.
Program targets at-risk youths
MOORHEAD — a program targeting at-risk youths in Moorhead’s diverse Romkey Park neighborhood is back.
The Romkey Park Youthworks program, first started in 2005 but closed in February 2008 because of lack of funding, is a partnership of the Moorhead Police Department, Moorhead Parks and Recreation, Centro Cultural de Fargo-Moorhead and the Youthworks nonprofit agency.
Residents of the neighborhood open Moorhead Parks with a petition to bring the program’s youth-focused activities back this year.
“The three-day-a-week program is funded with money from drug fines that is state-mandated for anti-alcohol and anti-drug programs, and with a donation from Moorhead Parks and a grant secured by Youthworks.
Youthworks provides an outlet for kids ranging from 12 to 17 years ancient to have fun, find positive role models and develop more awareness of other cultures in the area, said program manager Cheri Gerken.
The area has long been known for racial tensions, and memories of a 1998 riot involving a crowd of nearly 200 people and close to 100 law enforcement officials are still bestow.
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