Star Tribune
DFL Rep. Brion Curran sentenced after pleading guilty to drunk driving
State Rep. Brion Curran received a jail sentence last week after pleading guilty to drunken driving in October.
The Vadnais Heights DFLer was sentenced to two days in jail and an additional 88 days of stayed jail time with conditions, and was ordered to pay $485 in fines. Under the terms of her plea deal, the jail time is stayed for two years of supervised probation.
Curran, 38, pleaded guilty last fall to fourth-degree driving while impaired.
“I accept responsibility for driving under the influence of alcohol,” she said in a statement. “I regret my decisions and I am sincerely grateful that no one was hurt.”
Curran was arrested in the early morning of Oct. 9 after she was reported driving “all over the road and speeding” while heading north on Interstate 35 near Harris, according to the criminal complaint. A Chisago County deputy reported finding her driving slowly in the shoulder lane with a flat tire.
She told officers she had three drinks, according to the complaint, and allegedly showed signs of impairment during a sobriety test. She was arrested and later found to have a 0.16% blood alcohol content, which is double the legal limit.
“I want to thank the Chisago County Sheriff’s Office for ensuring my safety and the safety of others,” Curran said in her statement. “I know that trust is earned and, once broken, is difficult to repair.
“Since October, in recognition of the seriousness of my actions, I have been attending courses and training related to the dangers of drunk driving. I’m sorry for the decisions I made, and by pleading guilty, I accept full responsibility.”
Curran represents District 36B, including White Bear Lake, Gem Lake and Birchwood Village. The state website lists Curran’s career as social services, and her campaign website says she’s a former police officer who once was a deputy for the Chisago County Sheriff’s Office — the same agency that arrested her.
Curran “ended her career in public safety voluntarily in May 2018 after enduring Post Traumatic Stress Disorder as a licensed police officer,” according to her campaign website.
Other Minnesota legislators have pleaded guilty to DWI in the last year. State Rep. Dan Wolgamott, DFL-St. Cloud, pleaded guilty in Kanabec County to drunken driving after he was pulled over July 7 by a state trooper just outside Mora. His plea agreement called for a 45-day jail sentence to be set aside for two years and a $400 fine.
State Rep. Matt Grossell, R-Clearbrook, was arrested last February for speeding a few miles from his home, when his blood alcohol was measured at 0.15%. He pleaded guilty to drunken driving in July in exchange for a 90-day suspended jail sentence and two years’ unsupervised probation.
Staff writer Rochelle Olson contributed to this story.
Star Tribune
Long Prairie, MN school board dismisses its superintendent, the latest controversy in this small town
LONG PRAIRIE, MINN. — The school district superintendent dressed up as the school mascot, Thor, on football nights. He read the graduation address in both English and Spanish. He even set up office hours in the cafeteria, granting easier approachability to students.
But now, two months into the school year, Daniel Ludvigson is gone. Or, rather, “on special assignment,” according to the terminology of the Long Prairie-Grey Eagle School Board, which voted 4-3 earlier this month to remove him as superintendent. The move came weeks after voting to not renew his contract, which expires at the end of the school year in June.
Four board members — two of whom voted to oust Ludvigson, including Board Chair Kelly Lemke — are up for re-election next week.
The dismissal is the latest blow in this central Minnesota community on the edge of the prairie. Over the last nine months, the town of 3,400 residents and seat of Todd County has lost its mayor, a city manager, two school board members, and now its superintendent.
Students walked out earlier this month in support of Ludvigson. Signs in support of Ludvigson can be seen across town on the lawns of apparent Democrats and Republicans alike. And last week, hundreds packed the American Legion off Hwy. 71 to eat beef sandwiches and sign support letters for Ludvigson, who only swung by to pick up his child for hockey practice.
In a time of great divide in America, this fight has nothing to do with politics.
“You’ve got Harris buttons and Trump hats side-by-side, arm-in-arm,” said Amanda Hinson, a former local newspaper reporter who is concerned the board is not being upfront about why they placed Ludvigson on special assignment. “We want transparency in our government.”
Lawn signs around Long Prairie, Minn., now include people weighing in on the dismissal of Superintendent Daniel Ludvigson by the school board. (Christopher Vondracek)
School board members say Ludvigson has repeatedly shown he is not ready for the prime time of a school district bigger than the one in central North Dakota he arrived from two years ago. They have twice disciplined Ludvigson, but did not state the reason for placing him on “special assignment,” beyond insinuating that staff are fearful to raise official complaints.
Rain and potentially heavy snow are on tap Thursday around the Twin Cities, just before families set out for Halloween trick-or-treating.
Temperatures were expected to drop throughout the day, creating conditions for flurries. A winter weather advisory is in effect from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. covering the Twin Cities metro area and parts of south-central Minnesota. Steady rain drenched the Twin Cities on Thursday, making for a soggy morning commute.
“As colder air begins to move in this morning, the rain will transition to heavy snow from west to east with snowfall rates of an inch per hour at times into early afternoon,” the National Weather Service in Chanhassen said in a weather advisory.
The Twin Cities and surrounding areas could get between 2 and 4 inches of snow, according to the weather service. The winter weather advisory is expected to affect Anoka, Chisago, Hennepin, Ramsey, Scott, Washington and Le Sueur counties.
It’s unclear how much of the snow will actually stick, with warm surface temperatures likely leading to melting on contact in many areas.
“Exact totals will depend on snowfall rate, surface temperatures, and melting — which increases uncertainty with the snow forecast,” the weather service said in an early Thursday briefing.
“Thundersnow possible!” the weather service emphasized.
The good news for Halloween revelers is that the snow and rain are expected to wrap up in time for trick-or-treating, though temperatures will remain in the 30s with a sharp windchill.
An off-duty Washington County sheriff’s deputy caused a head-on crash while under the influence of alcohol and injured a couple in the other vehicle, officials said.
The crash occurred about 10:40 a.m. Sunday in Afton on Hwy. 95 at Scenic Lane, the Minnesota State Patrol said.
Campbell Johnston Blair, 58, of Hastings, was heading north in his Subaru Crosstrek, crossed into the opposite lane and collided with a southbound Ford Expedition, the patrol said.
Blair and the other vehicle’s occupants, 38-year-old Erik Robert Sward and 36-year-old Heather Lynn Sward, both of Lake Elmo, were taken to Regions Hospital with non-critical injuries, according to the patrol.
The patrol noted the alcohol use by Blair was involved in the crash.
Blair, who was driving a private vehicle at the time of the crash while off-duty, has been a deputy with the Sheriff’s Office since 2020 and is currently assigned to our Court Security Unit.
The Sheriff’s Office has been asked for reaction to the crash involving one of its deputies.