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VIRUS OUTBREAK-MINNESOTA

Walz expects COVID-19 case spike as Minnesota schools reopen

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Gov. Tim Walz says coronavirus cases due to the fast-spreading omicron variant will most likely race through Minnesota’s public schools in the next few weeks now that students are back in class. Walz told Minnesota Public Radio on Monday that school administrators across the state are right to be concerned. He noted that modeling by the Mayo Clinic predicts a spike peaking around the third week of January, which will impact already-strained staffing. Walz is back at work after he, his wife and 15-year-old son tested positive and developed mild-to-moderate symptoms in late December and spent Christmas in quarantine.

MALL OF AMERICA-SHOOTING

1 arrested in Mall of America shooting in Minnesota

BLOOMINGTON, Minn. (AP) — Police say a Minnesota man suspected of having a role in last week’s shooting at the Mall of America that left two people wounded has been arrested. Authorities in the Twin Cities suburb of Bloomington say the 19-year-old St. Paul man was arrested in Roseville Sunday afternoon. Roseville police say the arrest occurred at a Motel 6. Roseville is about 15 miles from Bloomington. Police say the man was seen leaving the scene with the shooting suspect and was arrested on possible charges of aiding and abetting first-degree assault. Injuries to the two wounded men were not life-threatening. Police are still looking for the suspected shooter.

HOUSE FIRE-TWO DEAD

Sheriff’s office: Twin brothers’ deaths appear accidental

DULUTH, Minn. (AP) — Authorities say the deaths of twin brothers found in a burned home outside Duluth appear to be accidental. The bodies of Terry and Jerry Rousse were discovered Saturday in their home in Canosia Township after someone conducting a welfare check on the 68-year-old brothers called police. The St. Louis County Sheriff’s Office said Monday that Terry Rousse died of smoke inhalation and thermal injury from the fire, and Jerry Rousse died of smoke inhalation and carbon monoxide toxicity. A fire marshal investigation was pending, but the sheriff’s office said the fire was believed to be accidental.

PRAIRIE ISLAND-NUCLEAR WASTE STORAGE

Xcel seeks change in radioactive waste storage in Red Wing

RED WING, Minn. (AP) — Xcel Energy wants to change the way it stores radioactive waste at its Prairie Island nuclear plant in Red Wing, a move it says will cut costs and make it easier to transport the spent fuel for storage outside Minnesota. The Minneapolis-based utility is asking state regulators for permission to use a different type of storage cask, as long as the design is approved by the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The casks used to store waste at Prairie Island are a bolted metal design known as TN-40, chosen in 1989. Xcel’s director of nuclear regulatory policy, Pam Gorman Prochaska, says Prairie Island is the last plant still using that kind of cask.

JAIL ESCAPEE-MURDER CHARGE

Police: Minnesota jail escapee accused in Oregon shooting

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Court records say a man who escaped from a Minnesota jail last spring has been charged in the fatal shooting of a Portland, Oregon, man near a homeless camp in August. The Oregonian/OregonLive reports 21-year-old Hunter Lewis entered not guilty pleas last week during his arraignment on charges of second-degree murder with a firearm and unlawful use of a weapon. Police say Quaii Snider was fatally shot in or near a homeless camp on Aug. 17. Lewis is also accused of escape from custody from a minimum security area of Koochiching County Jail in International Falls, Minnesota. Records show Minnesota authorities issued a warrant for his arrest in April.

HOUSE FIRE-TWO DEAD

Twin brothers found dead in burned home outside of Duluth

DULUTH, Minn. (AP) — Authorities say twin brothers were found dead in a burned home outside Duluth. The bodies of Terry and Jerry Rousse were discovered Saturday in their home in Canosia Township after someone conducting a welfare check on the 68-year-old brothers called police. The St. Louis County Sheriff’s Office says the cause of their deaths has not been determined. Authorities say there had been a fire inside the home that apparently burned out on its own, but not before causing considerable heat and smoke damages.

MIDWEST ECONOMY

December report: Midwest economy, confidence improve

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The final 2021 report on a monthly survey of business leaders in nine Midwest and Plains states shows the region’s economy continues to improve going into the new year, with confidence in the economy over the next six months soaring. The overall index for December of the Creighton University Mid-America Business Conditions released Monday grew to 64.6 from November’s 60.2. Any score above 50 on the survey’s indexes suggests growth. The survey’s business confidence index, which looks ahead six months, rocketed from a weak 46.2 in November to 64.0 in December. The monthly survey covers Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma and South Dakota.

PLANE CRASH-PILOT UNINJURED

Pilot escapes injury when small plane crashes in Forest Lake

FOREST LAKE, Minn. (AP) — Authorities say a pilot escaped injury when a small plane crashed into a swampy area northeast of Minneapolis-St. Paul. The Forest Lake Police Department said officers were called after 3 p.m. Saturday to a crash in the city near Interstate 35. WCCO-TV reports that the pilot was the lone occupant of the aircraft and was not hurt. The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating.