AROUND MINNESOTA: Medical transport crash kills patient ... Man dies in stabbing near bar ... Plane crash hurts pilot, passenger ... more

Medical transport crash kills patient

CLEARWATER — A patient in a medical transport van has died after the van crashed with another vehicle. Friday night’s crash sent several others to the hospital.

The crash happened on Wright County Road 75 near Grover Avenue Northwest in Clearwater Township. Wright County Sheriff’s Sgt. Scott Halonen said a vehicle made a U-turn in front of the medical transport van, and the van struck that vehicle on the side.

The medical van was carrying a man in a wheelchair, who died. The victim’s name was not released Sunday. The Ramsey County Medical Examiner’s Office is conducting an autopsy.

Man dies after stabbing near bar

MINNEAPOLIS — Police said one man is dead after an early morning stabbing outside a Minneapolis bar.

Authorities were called to the 2900 block of 27th Avenue South early Sunday. They arrived to find a man with apparent stab wounds. Paramedics arrived and began to help the man, but he died at the scene.

An initial investigation shows the stabbing happened after several people were involved in a fight. Homicide investigators are working on the case. One person has been arrested.

The identity of the victim was not released.

Plane crash hurts pilot, passenger

CRYSTAL — Two people were injured when a plane crashed while taking off from Crystal Airport.

Metropolitan Airport Commission spokesman Pat Hogan said the crash was Saturday evening. He said the pilot trying to take off in an experimental aircraft but failed to gain altitude.

Lynn Lunsford of the Federal Aviation Administration said the plane lost power during takeoff and crashed at the end of the runway. Lunsford said both the pilot and passenger were taken to the hospital, possibly with broken bones.

Both victims were in critical condition at North Memorial Medical Center.

Wanted: Jack pine cone pickers

DULUTH — It’s a rare opportunity to get out into nature and get paid for it. District offices of Superior National Forest are paying $50 to $70 for bushels of native jack pine cones collected in the next month across forest lands.

Kris Reichenbach, a public information officer for the U.S. Forest Service in Duluth, said seed banks are low at the tree nurseries usually used by the agency to reforest lands.

Forest districts haven’t been collecting as many cones in past cycles, said Kathy McTighe, a forest silviculturalist at the Duluth office. Those native cones go to nurseries that produce seedlings for replanting in logged areas.

The Forest Service will take collections until July 1 and then re-evaluate where seed stores are, Reichenbach said. It could recruit again later in the summer.

Collectors must stop by a Superior National Forest District office to get specific instructions on what they are looking for and where to find the cones. Registration is required to get paid.

Inspectors fault nursing home

DULUTH — Bayshore Health Center in Duluth has been cited by the Minnesota Department of Health for failing to report multiple patient altercations and problems — including a patient with frostbitten feet and one who used his power wheelchair to ram other patients.

The report, posted May 27, stems from a state inspection March 21 and 22 that found two serious violations of federal nursing home rules, including “a situation in which the provider’s noncompliance with one or more requirements of participation has caused, or is likely to cause, serious injury, harm, impairment, or death to a resident.”

John Stieger, a spokesman for the Minnesota Department of Health, said a May 20 reinspection by the state found Bayshore “corrected most of the deficiencies,” including the most serious.

The state has recommended a $4,050 one-time fine, and a $200 daily fine that is still accumulating, to the federal Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which has not yet rendered a decision, Stieger said.

Mississippi paddle trip under way

BEMIDJI — After three days on the Mississippi, Alex Linnell, 21, of Mendota Heights entered Lake Bemidji on Friday. He hopes to be the first person to ever stand-up paddle the length of the river.

He left the headwaters Wednesday morning accompanied by his father, Stan, in a kayak.

Linnell said he was not hampered by the many deltas and marshlands.

“It was a challenge around Rice Lake, but I could see my line where dad could not,” he said. “It was all the snags that slowed us down.”

“The toughest part so far was the two days of headwinds; the 25 mph winds yesterday made it a long day,” Linnell said.

Linnell’s father will accompany him the first week of his leg, then meet up with him on weekends as long as he’s in Minnesota.

His trek is to raise money for the American Red Cross and the flood victims along the route showing support for the Mississippi Project. Traveling on a stand-up paddle board is one way he can bring awareness to the new sport.

Tourism business picks up

ST. CLOUD, Minn. — Minnesota’s $11 billion travel and leisure industry continues to creep out of the recession, but experts said there could be obstacles ahead, including a government shutdown.

The president of Hospitality Minnesota, Dan McElroy, said a strong Memorial Day opened the state’s travel season.

“What I’m hearing from members is that Memorial Day weekend was better than the last three years,” McElroy said. “Some of our members are telling me that they are starting to hire, so that’s promising.”

McElroy, former leader of the state Department of Employment and Economic Development, now leads an umbrella group for the state’s resort and campground, lodging and restaurant associations.

“For June, July and August, virtually everybody said their advance reservations are ahead of last year,” McElroy said. “August is a little ahead of last year. It’s too early to project a trend (in bookings) through fall.”

There are the usual worries for the tourism industry, including shaky hiring numbers, unstable gas prices and unpredictable weather. But this year, there’s the added concern that the Legislature and the governor won’t agree on a state budget by June 30, which could shut down parts of the state government, and state parks.

McElroy said about 75,000 to 80,000 jobs — of the 2.6 million jobs in the state — are at risk from a shutdown, McElroy said. “We’re worried,” he said.

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