Minnesota news in brief

ST. CLOUD (AP) — St. Cloud authorities say a 30-year-old man is dead and his 22-year-old pregnant passenger remains seriously hurt after the two were hit by a fleeing vehicle that was being pursued by police.

Authorities were chasing 22-year-old Timothy Richard Gilles on a felony warrant on Friday evening when Gilles’ Jeep Grand Cherokee hit the driver’s side of a vehicle driven by the 30-year-old man.

Gilles fled on foot, where police used a stun gun to subdue him. He was treated for minor injuries before being taken to the Stearns County Jail.

Authorities have not released the identities of the man and the 22-year-old woman, who police said is eight months pregnant and received “substantial injuries.”

Dayton reveals fundraising to push more reporting

ST. PAUL (AP) — Gov. Mark Dayton has shown his fundraising for the start of the year as he pushes lawmakers for more frequent disclosure of campaign finances.

The Democrat’s campaign reported Friday that he collected $28,000 from January through March, spent almost $13,000 and began April with $44,000 in the bank.

The report shows that Dayton still has $3.9 million in outstanding personal loans he made to his campaign during the race.

Dayton got about $15,500 from individuals including cabinet appointees Susan Haigh and Lucinda Jesson. Lobbyists gave him $7,950 and political action committees for unions, law firms and the state’s hospitals together contributed $4,000.

The first-term governor wants candidates, political parties and political funds to report fundraising every quarter to eliminate a gap in reports between election years.

Teen arrested after Stearns Co. deputy assaulted

ST. AUGUSTA (AP) — A St. Augusta teenager was arrested after authorities say he grappled with a sheriff’s deputy who was trying to impound his all-terrain vehicle.

Stearns County Sheriff John Sanner says the deputy was following up on a complaint by a neighbor who said someone had been repeatedly riding an ATV on the neighbor’s property.

Sanner says the 18-year-old refused to come to the door and instead stood behind his mother and yelled obscenities at the deputy.

When the deputy tried to impound the ATV, the boy allegedly grabbed the vehicle. The deputy tried to handcuff the teen, who allegedly swung a patio chair at the deputy, causing a cut to the deputy’s arm.

More deputies arrived and both the teen and his 43-year-old mother were arrested.

Moorhead police looking for dog that bit teen

MOORHEAD (AP) — Moorhead police are asking for the public’s help in locating a dog that bit a teenage boy this week.

Police say the 14-year-old was riding his bike on Monday evening when he reported a dog ran up and bit him on the back of the calf, breaking the skin.

The dog’s owner retrieved her dog and told the boy that the dog had had its rabies shots and he shouldn’t worry. But since the dog’s vaccination records cannot be confirmed, the boy has started rabies shots.

The dog is described as a small, white, overweight dog with pointy ears.

Measles outbreak hits 20 cases

ST. PAUL (AP) — The state Health Department is confirming three more cases of measles in Minnesota, bringing this year’s total to 20. That’s twice the number of confirmed cases seen in the state during the past 10 years.

Two of the new cases reported Friday are part of an outbreak that started in February when a 2-year-old was infected during a trip to Kenya.

That outbreak now has 17 related cases. The third new case is an isolated case in which the source of the infection isn’t known.

There have been 10 hospitalizations and no deaths in this year’s outbreak.

Pawlenty at rally: Throw out federal tax code

BOSTON (AP) — Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty told a tax day rally on Boston Common on Friday that the nation should toss out the federal tax code and start over to reflect the needs of a much smaller central government.

Pawlenty, who is weighing a run for the Republican nomination for president, also criticized the federal health care law signed by President Barack Obama, but declined to fault former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who is also running for the GOP nomination.

A Massachusetts law signed by Romney in 2006 provided a blueprint for the national law. Romney said he also opposes the federal law. Pawlenty called Romney “a friend“ and said ”at the end of this we’re all going to have to be a team and be united.”

“I don’t get in the business of criticizing Gov. Romney over this issue,” said Pawlenty, who called the federal law unconstitutional and “a bad piece of legislation, one of the worst in the modern history of the country.”

Judge moves trial for teen to Carroll

DAKOTA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Trial for a Minnesota teenager charged in the slayings of two Iowa convenience store clerks last fall has been moved to Carroll County.

Michael Swanson, of St. Louis Park, is charged as an adult with first-degree murder and robbery in Kossuth and Humboldt counties. He’s accused of killing a clerk in Algona on Nov. 15, then driving to Humboldt and killing another clerk.

8 sentenced in counterfeit trafficking ring

FERGUS FALLS (AP) — Eight people have been sentenced for trafficking counterfeit goods, including fake NFL and NHL jerseys.

All eight people were sentenced Friday in U.S. District Court in Fergus Falls on one count of trafficking in counterfeit goods. They received sentences ranging from three years’ probation to one year in prison, and they all must pay restitution.

Prosecutors say one of the defendants ordered the counterfeit goods from suppliers in China, and then supplied them to others to resell at a profit in various stores. Authorities say they found the counterfeit goods at stores in Bemidji, Alexandria and Duluth.

Prosecutors say the conspiracy operated from September 2007 through the end of 2009.

IRRRB approves $4M loan for PolyMet mine land

EVELETH (AP) — The Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Board has voted to lend $4 million to PolyMet Mining Corp., which plans to develop a copper-nickel mine in northeastern Minnesota.

The money will come from the Douglas J. Johnson Economic Protection Trust Fund and won’t be affected by a proposal to take $60 million from the fund to balance the state budget.

The development agency approved a similar loan to PolyMet last December, but environmental groups sued to block it. They dropped the lawsuit last month after Gov. Mark Dayton signed legislation to streamline the environmental permitting process.