Iron Range man, 76, found dead in lake after canoe overturned

posted in: All news | 0

The body of a Chisholm, Minn., man was recovered from an Iron Range lake after a canoe overturned.

The incident happened Tuesday on Shannon Lake. According to a news release, the St. Louis County Sheriff’s Office received a call at 3:34 p.m. reporting a body floating near an overturned canoe.

The sheriff’s office identified the victim as Louis Vajdl, 76. The news release said Vajdl told family members Tuesday that he was going out to check on wild rice, which he had done for many years previously. When Vajdl was found, he was not wearing a life jacket, the sheriff’s office said.

The incident is still under investigation, pending results from the Midwest Medical Examiner’s Office, but the sheriff’s office said no criminal activity is suspected.

Related Articles


Minnesota could owe IRS nearly $7M over tax benefit error


Gov. Walz names four to fill UMN Board of Regents vacancies


Man dies after jumping from waterfall at Minnesota state park


Iron Range elected official pleads guilty to vandalizing power line


With upcoming closure of Stillwater prison, inmates’ legal documents at risk, group says

Weinstein could be sentenced next month, but only if there’s no retrial on an unresolved rape charge

posted in: All news | 0

By MICHAEL R. SISAK and JENNIFER PELTZ, Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — Harvey Weinstein faces sentencing and a possible retrial in his New York City sex crimes case, but when they’ll happen — and whether he’ll be back in front of another jury — is still up in the air.

Manhattan Judge Curtis Farber said Wednesday he could sentence Weinstein on Sept. 30 — but only if there’s no retrial on a rape charge that the last jury failed to reach a verdict on.

Weinstein, 73, was convicted in June of forcing oral sex on TV and movie production assistant and producer Miriam Haley in 2006. The charge carries a possible sentence of up to 25 years in prison.

At the same time, the jury acquitted him of forcing oral sex on another woman, one-time model Kaja Sokola, but couldn’t decide a charge that he raped hairstylist and actor Jessica Mann in 2013.

Related Articles


Federal agents will be out 24/7 on patrol in Washington, the White House says


Floodwaters from glacier near Alaska’s capital city break record levels and prompt evacuations


Trump pledged to move homeless people from Washington. What we know and don’t know about his plans


Don’t scan QR codes on unsolicited packages delivered to your house, FBI warns


Wall Street drifts around its records following a worldwide rally

Manhattan prosecutors told Farber that they’re ready to take Weinstein to trial for a third time on the rape charge, which is punishable by up to four years in prison. That’s less time than Weinstein has already served.

Mann is on board to testify again, they said.

Prosecutors requested a January trial date, citing witness availability and their own caseload. Farber balked at that, saying a January date is too far away and conflicts with another, unrelated trial he’s already scheduled. He proposed having the trial in the fall.

“The case needs to be tried this year,” Farber said.

Weinstein lawyer Arthur Aidala agreed, telling Farber he’d prefer a trial at “the earliest the court can accommodate us.”

Assistant District Attorney Nicole Blumberg said she would ask Mann and other witnesses about their availability for a trial in the fall.

If a fall trial happens, it would likely put Weinstein’s high-profile #MeToo case back in court as Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is in the final throes of his reelection bid.

Bragg, a first-term Democrat who made prosecuting sex crimes cases a priority, has expressed satisfaction with Weinstein’s conviction on a criminal sex act charge in the Haley assault and has been resolute in wanting the Oscar-winning studio boss retried on the Mann rape charge.

“The jury was not able to reach a conclusion as to Ms. Mann, and she deserves that,” Bragg said in June. “This work, first and foremost, is about the survivors and that’s why we’re prepared to go forward.”

Aidala told reporters outside court that, in his view, it’s on prosecutors to resolve the rape charge — either by dropping it and clearing the way for sentencing, or promptly taking it to trial again.

Weinstein sat in court in a wheelchair while wearing a blue suit and black-rimmed glasses. The “Pulp Fiction” and “Shakespeare in Love” producer is committed to fighting the rape charge at another trial, Aidala said, though the lawyer didn’t rule out the possibility of reaching a deal with prosecutors to end the case.

For now, the trial date remains unresolved, leaving Weinstein’s possible Sept. 30 sentencing in limbo.

At Weinstein’s first trial in 2020, jurors convicted him of raping Mann and forcing oral sex on production assistant and producer Miriam Haley.

Then an appeals court overturned those convictions and sent the case back for retrial because of legal issues involving other women’s testimony.

This spring, a new jury convicted him again of sexually assaulting Haley and acquitted him of doing the same to another woman who wasn’t part of the first trial. But amid fractious deliberations, the majority-female jury got stuck on the charge related to Mann.

Mann has testified that she also had a consensual, on-and-off relationship with the then-married Weinstein, but that she told him “I don’t want to do this” as he cornered her in the hotel room. She said he persevered with advances and demands until she “just gave up.”

Weinstein already stands convicted of sex crimes in California. He denies all of the allegations against him.

2 found dead after house fire in northern Minnesota

posted in: All news | 0

Two people were found dead Wednesday after a home caught fire in rural Cass County.

The Cass County Sheriff’s Office responded to the fire at 2:43 a.m. on Shady Lane Northeast in Crooked Lake Township, east of Outing. According to a news release from the sheriff’s office, first responders arrived on scene and found a residential structure engulfed in fire. While efforts were underway to extinguish the fire, the remains of two deceased victims were located inside the residence.

Autopsies will be scheduled with the Ramsey County Medical Examiner’s Office in St. Paul.

The investigation is ongoing with the assistance of the Crooked Lake Fire Department, the Minnesota State Fire Marshal’s Office and the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.

Related Articles


Minnesota could owe IRS nearly $7M over tax benefit error


Gov. Walz names four to fill UMN Board of Regents vacancies


Man dies after jumping from waterfall at Minnesota state park


Iron Range elected official pleads guilty to vandalizing power line


With upcoming closure of Stillwater prison, inmates’ legal documents at risk, group says

Federal agents will be out 24/7 on patrol in Washington, the White House says

posted in: All news | 0

By LINDSAY WHITEHURST and ASHRAF KHALIL

WASHINGTON (AP) — As a wary Washington waited, the White House promised a ramp-up of National Guard troops and federal officers on the streets of the nation’s capital around the clock starting Wednesday, days after President Donald Trump’s unprecedented announcement that his administration would take over the city’s police department for at least a month.

The city’s Democratic mayor and police chief framed the influx as a plus for public safety, though they said there are few hard measures for what a successful end to the operation might look like. The Republican president has said crime in the city was at emergency levels that only such federal intervention could fix even as District of Columbia leaders pointed to statistics showing violent crime at a 30-year low after a sharp rise two years ago.

For two days, small groups of federal officers have been visible in scattered areas of the city. That is about to change, the administration says.

A “significantly higher” presence of guard members was expected Wednesday night, and federal agents will be out 24/7 rather than largely at night, according to the White House. Hundreds of federal law enforcement and city police officers who patrolled the streets Tuesday night made 43 arrests, compared with about two dozen the night before.

In one neighborhood, officers from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the FBI could be seen along with the U.S. Park Police searching the car of a motorist parked just outside a legal parking area to eat takeout and drop off a friend. Two blocks away, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers gathered in a parking lot before driving off on patrol.

In other parts of the city, including those with popular nightlife hot spots, federal patrols were harder to find. At the National Mall, there was little law enforcement activity aside from Park Police cruisers pulling over a taxi driver near the Washington Monument.

Unlike in other U.S. states and cities, the law gives Trump the power to take over Washington’s police for up to 30 days. Extending his power over the city for longer would require approval from Congress, and that could be tough in the face of Democratic resistance.

A variety of infractions are targeted

The arrests made by 1,450 federal and local officers across the city included those for suspicion of driving under the influence, unlawful entry, as well as a warrant for assault with a deadly weapon, according to the White House. Seven illegal firearms were seized.

Unlike in other U.S. states and cities, the law gives Trump the power to take over Washington’s police for up to a month. Extending Trump’s power over the city for longer would require approval from Congress, and that could be tough in the face of Democratic resistance.

The president has full command of the National Guard, but as of Tuesday evening, guard members had yet to be assigned a specific mission, according to an official who was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. As many as 800 troops were expected to be mobilized in a support role to law enforcement, though exactly what form remains to be determined.

The push also includes clearing out encampments for people who are homeless, Trump has said. U.S. Park Police have removed dozens of tents since March, and plan to take out two more this week, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt has said. People are offered the chance to go to shelters and get addiction treatment, if needed, but those who refuse could be fined or jailed, she said.

City officials said they are making more shelter space available and increasing their outreach.

Related Articles


Trump pledged to move homeless people from Washington. What we know and don’t know about his plans


Judge skeptical of Trump administration’s suit against Maryland judges, will rule by Labor Day


Trump-Putin summit on Ukraine is latest chapter in Alaska’s long history — and tension — with Russia


South Korean president will meet Japanese leader ahead of summit with Trump


Appeals court lets the White House suspend or end billions in foreign aid

Violent crime has dropped in the district

The federal effort comes even after a drop in violent crime in the nation’s capital, a trend that experts have seen in cities across the U.S. since an increase during the coronavirus pandemic.

On average, the level of violence Washington remains mostly higher than averages in three dozen cities analyzed by the nonprofit Council on Criminal Justice, said the group’s president and CEO, Adam Gelb.

Police Chief Pamela Smith said during an interview with the local Fox affiliate that the city’s Metro Police Department has been down nearly 800 officers. She said the increased number of federal agents on the streets would help fill that gap, at least for now.

Mayor Muriel Bowser said city officials did not get any specific goals for the surge during a meeting with Trump’s attorney general, Pam Bondi, and other top federal law enforcement officials Tuesday. But, she said, “I think they regard it as a success to have more presence and take more guns off the street, and we do too.”

She had previously called Trump’s moves “unsettling and unprecedented” while pointing out he was within a president’s legal rights regarding the district, which is the seat of American government but is not a state.

For some residents, the increased presence of law enforcement and National Guard troops is nerve-wracking.

“I’ve seen them right here at the subway … they had my street where I live at blocked off yesterday, actually,” Washington native Sheina Taylor said. “It’s more fearful now because even though you’re a law-abiding citizen, here in D.C., you don’t know, especially because I’m African American.”

Associated Press writers Konstantin Toropin and Will Weissert, photographer Jacquelyn Martin and video journalist River Zhang contributed to this report.