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Bianca Virnig wins DFL special primary election for Dakota County House seat

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:41:10 GMT

Bianca Virnig bested three other Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party candidates in a special primary election Thursday for a vacant state House seat in the south Twin Cities suburbs.Virnig, a member of the Rosemount-Apple Valley Eagan School Board, will go on to face Mendota Heights Republican Cynthia Lonnquist and Eagan Libertarian Charles Kuchlenz in the general election for Dakota County’s House District 52B on Tuesday, Dec. 5.Bianca Ward VirnigVirnig won the primary with nearly 40% of the vote, according to unofficial results. She was followed by Mendota Heights City Council member Jay Miller, who had nearly 37% of the vote. Pro-Choice Minnesota board member Cynthia Callais had 19% and Eagan Planning Commission member Chris Whitfield had around 4%.Voters cast around 2,000 ballots, according to initial results from the Secretary of State.House District 52B includes the south metro suburbs of Eagan and Mendota Heights.The seat opened after Rep. Ruth Richardson, DFL-Mendota Heights, resi...

Brooklyn man found guilty of cocaine possession

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:41:10 GMT

TROY, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- A Brooklyn man was found guilty of multiple charges after being arrested in October 2022 for possession of cocaine and having over $14,000 in cash. Zachary Jonas, 38, will be sentenced in January. Get the latest news, weather, sports and entertainment delivered right to your inbox! Around 5:20 p.m. on October 11, 2022, troopers spotted a car wanted by the Bennington Police Department for an alleged crime in their jurisdiction. They pulled the car over on Cooksboro Road in Brunswick and identified the driver as Jonas. State police detained Jonas for the initial charges in Vermont, and police say he consented to a search of his car. That’s how troopers said they found a large amount of unspecified drugs and money. Jonas now faces a maximum of 17 years in prison. Stillwater Police conduct overnight death investigation “I want to thank the New York State Police and the Bennington Police Department for their work to assemble all of the pertinent evidence neede...

2 juveniles escape from house fire in Cahokia Heights

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:41:10 GMT

CAHOKIA HEIGHTS, Ill. - Crews were responding to an early morning house fire in Cahokia Heights, Illinois. Our Nissan Rogue Runner reporter, Nic Lopez, captured footage of the scene located at the 1100 block of St. Boniface Drive, where the home suffered heavy damage to the garage, living room area, and roof. Stolen, found, sold: Auto tow lot auction shock The fire eventually spread to a neighboring home, but firefighters were able to prevent the blaze from fully engulfing that building. The Camp Jack Fire Chief confirmed that two juveniles were home when the fire began. They both made it out safely.

MoDOT shifting traffic back to WB I-255 Jefferson Barracks Bridge today

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:41:10 GMT

ST. LOUIS - Lane closures on the Jefferson Barracks Bridge are coming to an end.MoDOT plans to move traffic back to the westbound bridge this weekend. Crews moved all traffic to the eastbound bridge to fix uneven lanes that had been cracked and worn down over time. Two lanes each way will close on Friday night. Arrest made in deadly Clayton shooting The lane shift will be completed by 6:00 a.m. on Saturday. However, some lanes will be closed Monday through Wednesday nights next week as workers remove temporary barrier walls.

Former Potosi, Missouri officers pleads guilty to sex trafficking charges

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:41:10 GMT

POTOSI, Mo. - A former Potosi police officer pleads guilty to charges of sex trafficking, solicitation of child pornography, and coercion and enticement of a minor.Matthew Skaggs was indicted in March on accusations that he engaged in sexually explicit activities with three minors. The U.S. Attorney's Office says Skaggs met the minors and committed these crimes while in police uniform. Stolen, found, sold: Auto tow lot auction shock In a plea deal, prosecutors have agreed to recommend a sentence of no more than 25 years in prison.

City aldermen make Rams NFL settlement money recommendations today

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:41:10 GMT

ST. LOUIS - Aldermen may weigh in on the city's efforts to spend its part of the Rams' NFL settlement money.A new resolution being offered Friday would spell out priorities the board would like to see. Those include increasing public safety, improving city finances, and increasing access to affordable childcare. Arrest made in deadly Clayton shooting It also includes improvements to water infrastructure, transit, and investments in downtown. The resolution, if passed, is only a recommendation. The city received about a quarter of a billion dollars over the Rams' move to Los Angeles.

Colorado lawmakers gather for special session to respond to spiking property taxes, rising cost of living

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:41:10 GMT

Colorado lawmakers are set to gavel in Friday morning for a pre-Thanksgiving feast of tax policy as they try to tamp down the worst of spiking property taxes.Much more will be on the agenda during the special session, which begins at 9 a.m. and is expected to last at least three days. The Democratic-majority General Assembly has outlined proposals to reduce elements of the property tax formula to provide relief, to flatten tax refunds due under the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights so that all taxpayers receive an equal amount, to increase tax credits for low-income households and to provide more money for the state’s emergency rental assistance program.This story will be updated throughout the day.Property tax bills due early next year will reflect increases driven by a median 40% rise in property values across the state. Gov. Jared Polis called the special session late last week in response to voters’ overwhelming rejection of Proposition HH in the Nov. 7 election, charg...

Want to eat – and drink – like Buffalo Bill? Find out how in new book.

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:41:10 GMT

“Galloping Gourmet: Eating and Drinking with Buffalo Bill,” by Steve Friesen (Bison Books)One of history buffs’ favorite tales concerns an aging Buffalo Bill, a prodigious drinker. It goes something like this: Told by his doctor to limit his liquor consumption to two shots a day or the result would be calamitous, the showman agreed and told a bartender to serve each shot in a tankard.The Library of CongressColonel William F. Cody (Buffalo Bill Cody) circa 1907.Not so, says Steve Friesen in “Galloping Gourmet.” Buffalo Bill loved his liquor, so much so that his business manager made him swear off drinking during show season. But in later life, the showman gave up drinking altogether. Who would know this better than Friesen, the retired director of the Buffalo Bill Museum and Grave in Golden and author of the spectacular “Lakota Performers in Europe?” In “Galloping Gourmet” — “the title belongs to a man who graduated from meals on the Great Plains to dinners at the W...

Aurora progressives look for answers after election losses put them in “extreme minority” in city government

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:41:10 GMT

As each round of results came in at the conservatives’ election night watch part in Aurora, the volume of the crowd grew louder. Soon, City Councilwoman Danielle Jurinsky took to the mic to call it: Mayor Mike Coffman had won reelection, emerging victorious with most of the other Aurora conservatives on the ballot.The celebration was a repeat of 2021, when conservatives took back effective control of the officially nonpartisan City Council from progressives in the left-leaning city — a development Councilman Juan Marcano had called a “gut punch.”But this time, Marcano was among the progressive losses, defeated in his mayoral challenge of Coffman.He and other candidates who had hoped to reassert Aurora’s progressive voice were left struggling to account for why conservatives widened their council margin in the Nov. 7 election. The council will have just three Democrats on the 11-member body, outnumbered by eight, including Coffman, who are either Republi...

Manufacturers showing strong interest in Colorado

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:41:10 GMT

Five companies considering Colorado for 2,148 new jobs received approval for $22.9 million in Job Growth Incentive Tax Credits on Thursday.The companies include manufacturers of rare-earth magnets, semiconductor production tools, large-scale batteries, and consumable goods, as well as a Greeley-based general contractor. While construction is not manufacturing, it does fall under the category of “goods” rather than services.The largest award, worth $7.6 million, went to Project Solitaire, the code name assigned to a maker of semiconductor fabrication tools that is looking to bring 631 jobs to metro Denver. The positions, which include managers, technicians, engineers, R&D professionals, and sales associates, have an average annual wage of $123,018.The company behind Project Solitaire received an award in July 2021 under the code name Project 14erfor a facility to improve battery storage for vehicles and mobile devices. However, the company had to forfeit the award whe...