Star Tribune
St. Paul man steals car in the midst of driver’s sobriety test, police say
St. Paul police say a man stole a car while its owner was taking field sobriety tests during a traffic stop, then arrested later the same night.
The suspect has been identified as Kyle Stuart Vanwert, 39. He is also facing burglary charges from a case in April.
The incident began just after 6 p.m. on Sunday, when St. Paul police pulled a car over in the 800 block of West 7th Street on suspicion of drunk driving. While the woman was undergoing field sobriety tests with police, a man “suddenly” jumped into the car and drove off with it, St. Paul Police Sgt. Mike Ernster said.
The owner told police she had an AirTag tracking device inside the car. Officers from multiple police agencies were alerted to help locate the vehicle, Ernster said. Richfield and Bloomington police officers located the vehicle in Richfield near the intersection of Nicollet Avenue and 77th Street.
The officers arrested Vanwert, and Ernster said police identified him as the man who took the vehicle on 7th Street. He was booked into Ramsey County Jail and remained there on Monday.
The woman whose car was stolen was found to not be driving over the legal limit for alcohol concentration and her vehicle was returned to her, Ernster said.
On April 24, Vanwert was charged with first-degree burglary, after charges say he caused property damage to a fifth-floor apartment at the Dorothy Day Residence complex, where Vanwert lived. He was accused of breaking into another resident’s apartment with a hammer. His attorney for the burglary case did not return requests for comment Monday.
Vanwert was issued a conditional release on Sept. 10, after posting $10,000 bail. The release was granted on the requirement that Vanwert be transferred to in an in-patient treatment facility.
Investigators were able to positively match Thompson with the photos and videos that witnesses had submitted of the dog being beat in Minneapolis.
Thompson contacted animal control about the missing dog and arrived to pick up Subliminal. When questioned if he hit his dog, Thompson initially denied it but ultimately admitted that he hit his dogs for discipline. A veterinarian report concluded that Subliminal had, “decreased musculature of right hindlimb” along with bloody scabs on his chin.
Thompson has a lengthy criminal history in Minnesota, including felony convictions for domestic abuse, assault, making terroristic threats and fleeing police. He also has 39 misdemeanor convictions for driving after his license was revoked to go along with two misdemeanor convictions for DWI.
He is due in court Nov. 20 to be arraigned on the charges of cruelty to animals.
BILLINGS, Mont. — Three-term incumbent Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Tester of Montana faces perhaps his toughest reelection challenge yet on Tuesday, with control of the Senate on the line in a state that has veered sharply rightward since the 68-year-old grain farmer’s first election.
Republicans have pinned their hopes on Tim Sheehy, a former U.S. Navy SEAL and founder of an aerial firefighting company. Sheehy, 38, had early backing from party leaders including former President Donald Trump, clearing the political newcomer’s path to win the June primary.
It is the first time Tester is sharing the same ballot as Trump, who twice won in Montana by wide margins.
Long lines were seen at Montana polling places as a winter storm brought snow to some parts of the state.
A Sheehy victory would seal Republican Party dominance across the five-state Northern Plains region: Tester entered office as one of six Democratic senators in the largely rural swath of American heartland that also includes Wyoming, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota. He is now the only one.
The lawmaker also is the sole remaining Democrat to hold statewide office in Montana.
The candidates and their allies shattered political spending records and barraged voters with almost $300 million in ads on TV, radio, their phones and in their mailboxes. Total spending is expected to reach about $500 for each active registered voter in Montana.
”This is the toughest race since Tester got in,” said political analyst Jeremy Johnson, ”and Tim Sheehy is a real formidable candidate.”
Star Tribune
Israel’s Netanyahu dismisses his defense minister as wars rage. Protests erupt across country
JERUSALEM — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday dismissed his popular defense minister, Yoav Gallant, in a surprise announcement that came as the country is embroiled in wars on multiple fronts across the region. The move sparked protests across the country, including a mass gathering that paralyzed central Tel Aviv.
Netanyahu and Gallant have repeatedly been at odds over the war in Gaza. But Netanyahu had avoided firing his rival before taking the step as the world’s attention was focused on the U.S. presidential election. Netanyahu cited ”significant gaps” and a ”crisis of trust” in his Tuesday evening announcement as he replaced Gallant with a longtime loyalist.
”In the midst of a war, more than ever, full trust is required between the prime minister and defense minister,” Netanyahu said. ”Unfortunately, although in the first months of the campaign there was such trust and there was very fruitful work, during the last months this trust cracked between me and the defense minister.”
In the early days of the war, Israel’s leadership presented a unified front as it responded to Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack. But as the war has dragged on and spread to Lebanon, key policy differences have emerged.
While Netanyahu has called for continued military pressure on Hamas, Gallant had taken a more pragmatic approach, saying that military force has created the necessary conditions for at least a temporary diplomatic deal that could bring home hostages held by the militant group.
In a late-night news conference broadcast on national TV, Gallant said that he had disagreed with Netanyahu over three main issues: the need to end controversial exemptions from the military draft for ultra-Orthodox men, the urgent need for a hostage deal and the need to establish an official commission of inquiry into the political and security failures of Oct. 7, when Hamas militants stormed into Israel and killed 1,200 people and took 250 others hostage. Israel estimates that about 100 hostages remain in captivity, only about 65 of them still alive.
With military service compulsory for most Jews, Gallant said that drafting the ultra-Orthodox was both an issue of fairness and security at a time when Israel faces so many challenges.
He said a hostage deal was needed ”as quickly as possible, when they are still alive” and said there will be ”no forgiveness” for neglecting them. And he said a full investigation into the events of Oct. 7 was the only way to ensure the government would learn the proper lessons. Netanyahu has rejected calls for an inquiry, saying it should only take place when the war is over.
