AROUND MINNESOTA: Gas leak forces evacuation ... Minnesotan held in cash scam ... Bridge reopens to foot traffic ... more

Gas leak forces evacuation

EDINA — Residents were allowed back in their homes after an underground gas leak prompted an evacuation in part of the Minneapolis suburb of Edina.

Police Sgt. Scott Kuyper estimated 60 to 80 homes were evacuated at the peak. By 9 p.m. Thursday, only a one- or two-block area around the leak was still evacuated.

Kuyper said crews have capped the leak. He said no one was hurt.

The Star Tribune of Minneapolis reported the area is several blocks south of where an Edina house blew up last February because of a gas leak.

Minnesotan held nn cash scam

LAS VEGAS — Las Vegas police said they arrested two men, including a Minnesotan, accused of running a scam involving a promise to mysteriously turn blackened cash into currency.

Records showed Fidelis Oselu Okokpujie, 26, and Harrison Doe, 23, were being held Thursday at the Clark County jail pending court appearances on conspiracy and felony fraud-related charges.

Police said Okokpujie is from Nigeria and lives in Phoenix, and Doe is from Liberia and lives in Coon Rapids, Minn.

Police said an undercover detective met the men with a promise to pay $200,000 for windfall cash that had been coated with black ink so it could be smuggled out of Africa.

The scam usually involves having victims pay thousands of dollars for a mystery chemical to clean the black coating.

Bridge reopens to foot traffic

MINNEAPOLIS — The Plymouth Avenue Bridge in Minneapolis has reopened to pedestrians but remains closed to vehicles.

The bridge was closed to traffic in October when corroded cables were discovered during routine maintenance. The bridge reopened to foot traffic Thursday but will remain closed to vehicles.

Public safety officials said an analysis determined it was safe to allow pedestrians on the bridge.

The bridge opened in 1982 and connects north and northeast Minneapolis. Before its closing, the bridge carried more than 14,000 vehicles daily.

Tribe opens organic market

PRIOR LAKE — The Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community is getting into the local and organic food craze with its own natural food market on its reservation south of the Twin Cities.

The market called Mazopiya opened to the public this week. It offers a large inventory of organic items, including free-range, grass-fed meats and local and organic produce, as well as a deli and prepared meal area with cafe seating and a coffee bar.

Community member Lori Watso, the driving force behind the store, said Sioux ancestors thrived on a diet free of foods with pesticides, growth hormones and manmade chemicals, and that trying to return to that tradition will pay health benefits for the community.