Red Lake man accused in thefts is shot, in custody

BEMIDJI (AP) — A 24-year-old Red Lake man who allegedly committed 13 thefts in northern Minnesota is in custody and recovering from a gunshot wound.

Beltrami County authorities say Friday that the man was arrested early Thursday after he tried to run over Red Lake tribal police officers after a chase. Authorities say the man suffered a “single gunshot wound” but they are not saying how he was shot or if he was shot by law enforcement.

The incident started early Thursday when a Turtle Lake Township resident told authorities his vehicle was stolen, and another vehicle was on fire. Sheriff’s deputies learned the man also took firearms.

The suspect was located and there was a pursuit to the Red Lake reservation boundary, where tribal police picked up the chase.

Deputies determined the man stole three cars, and committed 10 thefts and burglaries in Beltrami County.

Minn. DNR releases draft plan for new state park

DULUTH (AP) — Department of Natural Resources officials say they want to gear a new state park in northeastern Minnesota toward younger people.

The state released its draft plan for the Lake Vermilion State Park, which was purchased from U.S. Steel in May.

The DNR calls it a “pilot park,” where new ideas and activities will be rolled-out — more than any other state park.

The plan includes archery, mountain biking, geocaching and orienteering as well as more common park activities like camping, snowmobiling and boating.

Public comments will be accepted until Dec. 22, with public meetings next month in the Twin Cities and Tower.

Lawmakers are expected to consider the plan early next year. The DNR hopes to build the park through 2020.

Minnesota’s Red Bulls train for deployment to Iraq

CAMP RIPLEY (AP) — On a recent training day at Camp Ripley, near Little Falls, the frigid morning air whips into a Humvee through an open hatch. Pfc. Timothy Duel, 29, stands in the rotating gunner turret.

Duel pivots to survey the terrain around him. It’s a vast expanse of dry Minnesota swampland that’s meant to look like a scene from Iraq.

The Humvee stops near a practice range where Pfc. Donnie Cadwalader, 28, helps Duel load the M-240 with live ammunition. The weapon can fire up to 950 rounds per minute.

He lowers his body over the machine gun, presses his cheek up to the scope, and aims at a tiny target hundreds of feet away. Cadwalader and Duel take aim.

“Lock and load … Engage the enemy. Kill the target!” Cadwalader says as Duel begins to fire at the targets. “You’re high. You’re high.”

The scenario is all part of a training exercise meant to prepare National Guard soldiers like Duel and Cadwalader, both members of the 1st Batallion, 194th Armor Delta Company in St. Cloud, with as many war-like experiences as possible before they deploy. It also helps build their confidence with the weapons and with each other.

This will be the first deployment for both men. Cadwalader said he sees the deployment as a rite of passage.

“Signing up in a time of war, yeah, there is nervousness. But the funner part is all the training that we get to do,” he said. “I enjoy it more and more every month. As long as we’re out here training, I enjoy it.”

Between now and late May, 2,700 men and women of Minnesota’s 1st Brigade, 34th Infantry Division will complete dozens of intensive training exercises like this one.

Each month, their training will focus on a range of exercises, from combat moves to personal health and cultural assimilation. They’ll also get their teeth cleaned, write wills, and talk about their religious beliefs with a chaplain. Nearly two-thirds of soldiers in the Red Bull brigade are veterans.

This deployment will be the largest Minnesota National Guard deployment since World War II. It’s expected to last one year.

In 2005, the Red Bull Infantry Division sent about 2,500 soldiers to Iraq. In 2011, from a base in Kuwait, they’ll provide convoy security, route protection and base defense as other troops leave the war zone in Iraq.

This massive deployment has redefined the nature of Minnesota’s National Guard service, transforming part-time soldiers into full-time warriors.

Perhaps no one has more responsibility for the safety and success of the 1st Brigade’s mission than Col. Eric Kerska, the brigade commander.

Towering at 6-foot-3, Kerska, 45, is a two-time Iraq veteran — Operation Desert Storm and a 2005 tour in Iraq — and a self-described “boots-on-the-ground” leader. This weekend it’s his soldiers who are front and center at Camp Ripley.

Coleman says he won’t try for RNC chairmanship

ST. PAUL (AP) — Former U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman says he won’t pursue the chairmanship of the Republican National Committee as long as Michael Steele wants to keep the job.

Coleman said that part of his decision is based on respect for Steele, despite all the criticism directed against him from within the party.

Coleman, who has been mentioned as a potential replacement, sid he doesn’t think Steele has gotten enough credit for the work he’s done bringing the tea party movement and the GOP together.

Asked if he’d seek the RNC chairmanship if Steele declines to run again, Coleman said he wouldn’t speculate.

Coleman is back in St. Paul for the holidays. He’s now CEO of the center-right policy and advocacy group American Action Network, based in Washington.

Mpls police arrest 3 teens for sexual assaults

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) —

Police have arrested three teenage boys for allegedly sexually assaulting a woman in front of her two children and then assaulting two teenage girls in Minneapolis.

Police say a 45-year-old woman was robbed and sexually assaulted Wednesday night in Powderhorn Park, while she was cross country skiing with her two sons. They are 10- and 13-years old.

Police followed footprints in the snow to a garage, where they interrupted the assault of 16 and 18-year-old girls.

Three suspects — ages 14, 15 and 16 — were arrested.

Sgt. William Palmer says authorities are looking for two other boys present during the park assault.

Campaign urges Minnesotans to get flu shot

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — State health officials are urging Minnesotans to roll up their sleeves and get their flu shot during the annual “Ban the Bug” campaign.

The Minnesota Department of Health, the Minnesota Coalition for Adult Immunization and other organizations are sponsoring the campaign Dec. 5-11.

Minnesotans will have opportunities during that week to catch up on their influenza vaccination.

Health officials say it’s not too late to get a flu shot and there is plenty of flu vaccine available.

Flu season in Minnesota typically peaks between January and April, so getting a flu shot now can protect you for months.