A semi driver crashed into a railroad bridge in Cottage Grove on Tuesday morning, temporarily disrupting the flow of traffic to and from Grey Cloud Island, police say.

A semi driver struck a railroad bridge on 103rd Street South in Cottage Grove on July 30, 2024. (Courtesy of Cottage Grove Public Safety Department)

The crash occurred about 9 a.m. when the trucker attempted to drive under the bridge on 103rd Street South near Grey Cloud Trail, but his semi was too tall to make it, according to Cottage Grove police.

A post on the Cottage Grove Public Safety Department’s Facebook page reported that the driver “was unfamiliar with Cottage Grove and got lost trying to make a delivery” to the nearby business park.

No one was injured in the crash, and the road had reopened by 6 p.m.

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Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison is asking a federal appeals court to reconsider its decision to allow 18- to 20-year-olds to publicly carry a firearm in the state.

The attorney general on Tuesday asked for the entire Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals to rehear the case after a three-judge panel unanimously ruled against the state of Minnesota on July 16.

“The public safety benefits to banning open carry by people under 21 years of age are clear,” Ellison said in a Tuesday news release announcing his office had filed the petition.

If the court doesn’t grant a rehearing, adults under 21 could start applying for a Minnesota permit to carry seven days after the denial. But there are other routes Ellison could take that push that back, including taking the case to the U.S. Supreme Court.

In a post to X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, the Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus, one of the gun-rights groups in the lawsuit, called the appeal “a further delay that deprives 18-20 year old adults from exercising their right to bear arms.”

An Eighth Circuit decision could come sometime in August.

While the Eighth Circuit panel said the state can’t enforce the law anymore, Ellison’s office said the law remains in effect as a lower court ruling stayed the law’s overturning until the appeals process is complete. Tuesday’s petition extends the process.

The case

In 2021, a group of gun-rights groups and people under 21 challenged Minnesota’s age limit for permits to carry, arguing it violated the constitutional rights of people legally considered adults.

One of the plaintiffs, Kristin Worth of Mille Lacs County, said she wanted to carry a handgun for self-defense over concerns about crime and fears about walking alone to her car after closing down the grocery store where she worked.

Last year, a Minnesota District Court found the state’s age limit of 21 to carry a gun in public unconstitutional. The state appealed the case, but a few weeks ago the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the lower court’s decision.

Those groups prevailed under a new precedent set by a 2022 U.S. Supreme Court case, New York State Rifle & Pistol Association Inc. v. Bruen, which called for a new judicial test that expanded the scope of the Second Amendment, which protects the right to bear arms.

“Ordinary, law-abiding 18 to 20-year-old Minnesotans are unambiguously members of the people,” wrote Judge William Duane Benton in the court’s opinion, joined by Judges Lavenski R. Smith and David R. Stras. “Because the plain text of the Second Amendment covers the plaintiffs and their conduct, it is presumptively constitutionally protected.”

Ellison asked the appeals court to revisit its decision in light of another landmark U.S. Supreme Court gun ruling in June, United States v. Rahimi. Since the Supreme Court gave new guidance for evaluating gun law challenges in that case, which upheld a prohibition on domestic abusers possessing guns, the case should be revisited, the attorney general argues.

The Eighth Circuit was the first appeals court to overturn a state law restricting possession to people 21 and older, Ellison’s office noted.

Permit-to-carry law

Minnesota enacted its permit-to-carry law in 2003.

Applicants must take an approved firearms training course and apply at their local sheriff’s office. The sheriff’s office then investigates the applicant’s background before deciding whether to issue a permit.

Minnesota’s permit-to-carry law allows for the concealed and open carrying of firearms. Other states, such as Wisconsin and North Dakota, allow for open carrying of firearms under certain circumstances without a permit.

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Residents in 19 Minnesota counties affected by this summer’s record rainfall are now eligible for individual assistance programs following the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s approval of the funds.

Across the state, torrential rains led to flooding mainly focused in the northeastern and southern areas of the state. Homes and businesses suffered what is likely millions of dollars in damage from the flooding. South of Mankato, an aging hydroelectric dam partially failed as the raging Blue Earth River washed around one side of the structure.

“That individual relief is going to help people in a big way with their individual repairs,” Sen. Amy Klobuchar said during a Tuesday press conference.

In June, 22 counties were declared eligible for funding to repair public infrastructure from the FEMA Public Assistance program following a bipartisan push from Minnesota’s delegation.

That same push has now granted possible funds to individuals in the following counties: Blue Earth, Cook, Cottonwood, Faribault, Freeborn, Goodhue, Itasca, Jackson, Lake, Le Sueur, Mower, Nicollet, Nobles, Rice, Rock, St. Louis, Steele, Waseca and Watonwan.

“This is going to be a game-changer for so many people that have lost their water heaters or lost their basements,” Klobuchar said.

Those affected are eligible for up to $42,500 for housing assistance, which includes the cost of temporary housing, and $42,500 for other personal property that has been damaged.

“Minnesotans are still struggling with the aftermath of the severe flooding in June, and I appreciate the swift declaration from President Biden following our request for aid,” said Klobuchar’s counterpart, Sen. Tina Smith, in a news release. “Minnesota continues to need help, and the federal government is answering. These expanded resources for individuals in more counties in Minnesota will make a huge difference as communities work to rebuild.”

Damage assessments are still ongoing and more counties may become eligible for funds at a later date.

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A 39-year-old Newport man was sentenced Tuesday to 30½ years in prison for fatally shooting his cousin at the Newport Transit Center, shortly after they met to go shopping.

Sylvester Tremaine Jones pleaded guilty in May to second-degree intentional murder-not premeditated for killing Terrell Eshawn McIntyre, a 39-year-old from Coon Rapids who was found in his SUV dead of multiple gunshot wounds. Jones was arrested the night of the killing and later admitted to it, according to the criminal complaint, which does not mention a motive.

Terrell Eshawn McIntyre, 39, of Coon Rapids, was fatally shot at the Newport Transit Center on Feb. 6, 2023. (Courtesy of the Washington County Sheriff’s Office)

The sentence handed down by Washington County District Judge Siv Mjanger was the result of a plea agreement that requires Jones to serve the maximum presumptive sentence called for by state sentencing guidelines. He was ordered to pay $8,500 in restitution for reimbursement of funeral expenses.

Jones’ attorney, Rebecca Waxse, said at sentencing the killing would not have happened but for Jones’ struggles with his mental health. She said they reviewed his mental health records leading up to his guilty plea and decided not to move forward with a mental health defense.

“But I think he’s in a better place today,” Waxse said. “And I just want the court to be aware that the man standing before you is not an evil monster. He’s a really good person who had a horrible situation, made a horrible mistake.”

In a statement afterward, County Attorney Kevin Magnuson said, “Our thoughts go out to the family of the victim of this totally senseless crime. Any homicidal violence in our community is terrifying but, thankfully, rare.”

He shot between eight and 10 times

Deputies were called to the transit center parking lot — located at 250 Red Rock Crossing, south of Interstate 494 — just before 11 a.m. Feb. 6, 2023, after a witness saw a man slumped over in the driver’s seat of an SUV, and a pool of blood on the ground.

Deputies found a black 2016 Ford Escape with the front driver’s side door open and McIntyre slumped in the driver’s seat with his left leg hanging out of the SUV. He was dead.

Spent .22-caliber bullet casings were found inside the SUV and on the ground just outside of it. The SUV had no damage to suggest that shots were fired through the vehicle from outside of it, the complaint says.

A sheriff’s detective interviewed the 911 caller, who said that he had seen a man walking from the direction of the SUV toward the adjacent apartment complex. A review of nearby video surveillance backed up what the caller said he saw.

Detectives reviewed sheriff’s office records and learned that the SUV had been issued a parking ticket on Nov. 15 when it was parked in front of Jones’ home in the 1700 block of First Avenue North, about three blocks from the transit station.

A detective spoke with a relative of McIntyre and was told that he and Jones were cousins.

Deputies reviewed video surveillance from the apartment complex near the transit station parking lot. It showed that McIntyre arrived at the lot in the SUV at 9:34 a.m. and that 10 minutes later Jones got into the passenger seat. About 19 seconds later, Jones got out and walked out of the camera’s view.

During a search of Jones’ residence, detectives found in his bedroom a Sig Sauer .22-caliber handgun on the floor, several boxes of ammunition and clothes that matched those the suspect was seen on video wearing. Jones was home when the search warrant was served and he was arrested.

Sylvester Tremaine Jones (Courtesy of the Washington County Sheriff’s Office)

In an interview, Jones said he had exchanged text messages with McIntyre about meeting at the apartment complex parking lot and his cousin bringing him to a Target store. He said he shot McIntyre between eight and 10 times.

Seven bullets or bullet fragments were recovered from McIntyre’s body during an autopsy. The gunshots included one that entered his leg and severed his femoral artery.

Minnesota court records show Jones has one previous felony conviction — possessing a firearm with an altered serial number in 2010 in Ramsey County.

A father first

McIntyre was a bit of an introvert who mostly enjoyed going to work and taking care of his son, said his mother, Katherine Jones, in a victim impact statement read by Assistant Washington County Attorney Keshini Ratnayake.

McIntyre was a wonderful child and had a great life “until it was abruptly taken from him,” his mother’s statement read.

Sylvester Jones told the court before receiving his sentence that he realizes McIntyre died “too early from something I did. And I just apologize for the whole situation.”

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