Star Tribune
No charges for Rochester snowplow driver who fatally hit woman
ROCHESTER — No charges will be filed against the Rochester snowplow driver who fatally hit a 69-year-old woman earlier this year.
Rochester officials said Thursday the Minnesota State Patrol has concluded its investigation into the Feb. 24 accident. The report stated charges were declined against city employee Jordan Dohrmann.
“The city of Rochester continues to convey its deepest sympathies to the decedent’s loved ones,” City spokesperson Jenna Bowman said in a statement.
Dohrmann struck Linda Rud while reversing the plow around 9 a.m. on Pinewood Road SE, just a few blocks east of Pinewood Elementary School. Rochester police found Rud dead at the scene. Dohrmann was placed on administrative leave.
At the time, State Patrol Sgt. Troy Christianson said Rud was out walking when the accident occurred.
Snowplow accidents involving pedestrians are rare in southeast Minnesota. For Christianson, the February incident was the first he had been part of in 22 years.
Star Tribune
What’s next for Gov. Tim Walz after a failed vice presidential bid?
Lawmakers passed a nearly $72 billion budget two years ago, by far the largest in state history. Republicans decried the jump in state spending but DFL leaders stressed at the time that a large chunk of the roughly 40% increase from was one-time spending. Whether the next budget will drop substantially remains uncertain, given inflationary and spending pressures.
Walz is in his second term and whether he would seek a third round as governor or look to another office remains to be seen. Minnesota does not limit the number of terms a governor can serve.
The governor’s daily schedule did not include any events Wednesday.
Staff writers Christopher Vondracek and Ryan Faircloth contributed to this report.
Star Tribune
Wisconsin’s Senate race appears to be close enough to allow for a recount
MADISON, Wis. — Wisconsin’s hotly contested race for U.S. Senate between Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin and Republican Eric Hovde, who was backed by President-elect Donald Trump, appeared to be close enough early Wednesday for a recount to be requested.
Baldwin, a two-term incumbent, declared victory early Wednesday over Hovde, a multimillionaire businessman who poured millions of his own money into race. The Associated Press has not called the race. Hovde’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Baldwin declared victory after the tally of absentee ballots from Milwaukee was reported around 4:30 a.m. Wednesday. Baldwin had a lead of 0.9% based on the unofficial results, just within the 1% margin that would allow for Hovde to request a recount if he pays for it.
”The people of Wisconsin have chosen someone who always puts Wisconsin first, someone who shows up, listens, and works with everyone to get the job done,” Baldwin said in a statement. ”And they rejected the billionaires and the special interests who want to come to our state, spread hate and division, and buy their way into power.”
On Tuesday night, Hovde blamed the tight race on America First candidate Thomas Leager, a far-right candidate who was recruited by Democratic operatives and donors to run as a conservative.
Leager ran a distant fourth, but got more votes than the margin between Baldwin and Hovde.
”It’s unfortunate if the Democrats wouldn’t have put a plant, this probably would have been called some time ago,” Hovde told his backers before sending them home. ”But you know what? It is what it is.”
Baldwin ran ahead of Vice President Kamala Harris, who lost Wisconsin to Republican Donald Trump by less than a percentage point. That marks the fifth time in the past seven presidential elections that a presidential election in Wisconsin has been decided by less than a point.
Star Tribune
Former Minnesota GOP Chair Jennifer Carnahan wins Nisswa mayoral race
When she first hit the campaign trail, Jennifer Carnahan didn’t think she had a shot at winning.
But the former Minnesota GOP chair won the Nisswa mayoral race Tuesday night, unseating incumbent John Ryan, who has served on the Nisswa City Council for eight years and ran uncontested in 2022. That’s the year Carnahan moved to Nisswa after years of legal troubles and the death of her husband, U.S. Rep. Jim Hagedorn, who represented Minnesota’s First Congressional District.
Ryan received 45% of the vote with all precincts reporting. Carnahan earned 54% of the vote.
Carnahan, 47, vacationed in Nisswa throughout childhood and it’s where her parents first met and still call home. It’s also where she owns a women’s boutique Primrose Park, which she first opened in northeast Minneapolis but relocated up north a decade ago.
Since then she has served on the Nisswa Downtown Council and Brainerd Lakes Chamber government relations committee.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
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