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BABY FOUND

Missing baby found safe in St. Paul

BROOKLYN PARK, Minn. (AP) - Police say a 2-month-old boy taken from his mother's apartment in Brooklyn Park has been found safe in St. Paul.

Officers following up on a tip went to a house in St. Paul and were told a car leaving the house had the baby. Police stopped the car and found the baby Tuesday afternoon.

Brooklyn Park Deputy Chief Jeff Ankerfelt tells the Star Tribune that the baby appeared to be fine but was taken to a hospital to be checked.

A man and a woman were arrested. Ankerfelt says the woman was an acquaintance of the mother.

Authorities don't know a possible motive.

The mother had called police at 6 a.m. to report her son missing from her apartment. She said she had last seen her child at 1 a.m.

COOK FIRE

2 businesses, apartments destroyed in Cook fire

COOK, Minn. (AP) - Investigators say a fire that destroyed two businesses and eight apartments in the St. Louis County community of Cook appears to be accidental.

The St. Louis County sheriff's office and the state fire marshal's office conducted a joint investigation. While the exact cause of the fire is unknown, authorities say foul play is not suspected.

Authorities say the building that housed the Dollar Barn and Gilley's Naturals, as well as the apartments, is a total loss and will be torn down. WDIO-TV reports the American Red Cross is assisting those who lived in the apartments.

St. Louis County sheriff officials say five fire departments worked the blaze Monday night. Some firefighters were still on the scene early Tuesday morning.

INFANT CAR DEATH

Minn. dad charged in death of baby left in minivan

MOORHEAD, Minn. (AP) - Prosecutors have charged a Minnesota man with manslaughter after his 5-month-old daughter died after being left for hours in a hot minivan last week.

The Clay County Attorney's office charged 24-year-old Andrew Sandstrom with one count of second-degree manslaughter.

Sandstrom will be summoned to appear in court at a later date.

Police say Christiana Natany Sandstrom died after she was left in her car seat in the van for about four hours on June 11. Temperatures were reported to be about 80 degrees.

Police say Sandstrom forgot about the infant while unloading five other young children out of the vehicle. He called 911 when he realized what had happened.

A home phone number for Sandstrom could not be found.

STOLEN GOPHER FEET

Minn. mother, son accused of stealing gopher feet

PRESTON, Minn. (AP) - A Minnesota mother and her 18-year-old son are accused of stealing nearly $5,000 in frozen gopher feet and selling them for a bounty.

Thirty-7-year-old Tina Marie Garrison and Junior Lee Dillon, both of Preston, were charged last month with receiving stolen property and theft. They allegedly gave the feet to local townships that offer rewards as they try to limit the gopher population.

Garrison has pleaded not guilty. Her son has a hearing next month.

The complaint says a gopher trapper reported to authorities that bags of feet were stolen from his freezer. According to the complaint, the owner found Dillon had turned in $1,014 in feet in November. In December, Garrison turned in $3,780 in feet.

The Post-Bulletin reports that Dillon denied turning in any feet for the bounty.

PARK HAZE RULES

Taconite plant-park haze rules put on hold

DULUTH, Minn. (AP) - A federal appeals court has put a hold on regulations aimed at reducing haze over national parks and wilderness areas from taconite plants in Minnesota and Michigan.

The stay was sought by Cliffs Natural Resources, which operates three taconite plants in Minnesota and one in Michigan, and ArcelorMittal, which runs another in Minnesota.

The Duluth News Tribune reports that the order, dated Friday, holds up final regulations issued in January by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The rules would apply to all taconite plants in Minnesota and upper Michigan and require some to install expensive new equipment to reduce nitrogen oxide emissions.

U.S. Rep. Rick Nolan, D-Minn., says the order gives the plants more time to develop technology to solve the problem without forcing them into costly improvements too soon.

IRISH PRIEST-LAWSUIT

Minn. lawsuit accuses dead Irish priest of abuse

NEW ULM, Minn. (AP) - A man who says he was sexually abused by an Irish priest in Minnesota in 1982 is suing the Diocese of New Ulm, taking advantage of a new law easing the state's statute of limitations for victims of childhood sexual abuse.

Attorney Patrick Noaker filed the lawsuit in Brown County on behalf of John Doe 103. It names Francis Markey, who was extradited to Ireland in 2010 to face sexual abuse charges there. He died last year before going on trial.

John Doe 103 says in the lawsuit that he was about 15 years old when Markey abused him in 1982 while he served at a parish in Henderson.

The diocese says it "deeply regrets the long-lasting and devastating effects of sexual misconduct on the part of clergy."

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