Psychiatric hospital turmoil, Santorum stumps at Pizza Ranch, free speech in Little Falls

Group fighting marriage amendment raises $1.2 million

MPR News: "The largest group working to defeat a proposed state constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage said it has raised more than $1.2 million in cash and in-kind contributions."

Search suspended for cruise ship victims

KARE11: "Bill Sonntag has been waiting for more than two weeks for any news about his friends Jerry and Barbara Heil. The Heils are from White Bear Lake and remain the only Americans still unaccounted for after the Costa Concordia ran aground January 13."

St. Peter psychiatric hospital is in turmoil

Star Tribune: "Most of the experienced psychiatric staff have either quit or been fired at the security facility in St. Peter."

Twin Cities courtrooms ramp up security

Pioneer Press: "Security in courthouses was being examined across the Twin Cities before a gunman shot a prosecutor and a witness last month at a northern Minnesota courthouse.But now, local politicians are paying more attention to pleas to improve safety."

Santorum campaigns in Luverne

MPR News: "Santorum's trip comes one day before the Florida primary. He has decided to stop campaigning in that state and start campaigning in other states. He's making campaign stops in Missouri, Minnesota, Colorado and Nevada over the next two days. Santorum took a break from campaigning over the weekend to be with his child in a Philadelphia hospital. Santorum is the first candidate to make a campaign stop in Minnesota in the lead up to Minnesota's Feb. 7 precinct caucuses. Texas Congressman Ron Paul made a stop in the state in November."

Minnesota indictment unlikely to dismantle American Indian gang

AP: "Members of the Native Mob gang have shot rivals in Minneapolis, sold drugs in Duluth, and thrown boiling water in a person's face in Crow Wing County. Authorities say they've also assaulted an informant on the White Earth Indian Reservation and shot up houses from Cass Lake to Mille Lacs."

Mayo, Minn. communities targeting immigrant health

MPR News: "In a first-of-its-kind collaboration, researchers at the Mayo Clinic are working with more than a dozen community organizations to keep immigrants and refugees from developing common diseases like diabetes, high blood pressure and obesity."

Duluth panel pushes for ranked-choice voting

Duluth News Tribune: "Ranked-choice voting could be on the ballot in Duluth if city councilors follow the recommendations of a task-force report delivered to them recently."

Yard sign restrictions challenged in Little Falls

KAAL: "It all started when a citizen was told to remove her signs of protest from her front yard. Robin Hensel's yard was a beacon of billboard material protesting the government and the War On Terror." Hensel says "the city told her the signs had to go because city code only allows one sign per yard."

WITC gets set to train future Kestrel employees

WDIO: "In the last two weeks Superior has announced the possibility of more than 1,000 new jobs coming to the area. But beneath the city's excitement for employment a local college is getting ready to train a new workforce, especially for Kestrel Aircraft."

If not a casino, what's Plan B for Minneapolis' Block E?

Star Tribune: "Ten years after Block E opened with promises to bring crowds to downtown Minneapolis, the storied building has become a ghost town."

Proposed Stillwater fire station in spotlight

Star Tribune: "The fire station proposal has upset some residents who have questioned the need, and because property taxes would be increased to pay for it.But city leaders argue that overall fire response times have worsened as the city has grown to the west."

Thin ice may cause vehicle bans

Fox9: "Ramsey County officials told FOX 9 on the phone Sunday that if trucks and cars are banned from County lakes, people would be able to take an ATV or possibly a snow mobile out to get their ice houses off the lake -- at their own risk of course."

Chance of spring flooding down 40 percent for New Ulm

New Ulm Journal: "New Ulm has a high probability of dodging spring flooding altogether this year, according to the National Weather Service. Similarly, cities along Minnesota's rivers have reduced flooding chances this spring."

St. Scholastica Celebrates 100 Years

Northland's News Center: "It's a mile marker of a birthday for the College of St Scholastica."

Wis GOP works through recall signatures

KARE11: "From now until Tuesday volunteers all over Wisconsin will pour through one million signatures collected to recall Governor Scott Walker."

Grand Rapidians challenged to build 1,000 "snowfolk" in three weeks

Grand Rapids Herald Review: "The challenge to build 1,000 SnowFolk in three weeks continues with the Great Itasca SnowFolk Festival. With the recent arrival of additional snow, participation is building for this community and family-friendly event."

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