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Duluth man pleads guilty to criminal sexual conduct with girls

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DULUTH – With freshly selected jurors waiting nearby for the start of an expected days-long trial, a Duluth man facing criminal sexual conduct charges took a last-minute plea deal instead of facing the women he abused when they were children.

Clint Franklin Massie, 49, pleaded guilty Wednesday morning at the St. Louis County Courthouse to the four counts from incidents dating back to 2008-09 when two of his victims were young girls. The deal dismissed one of the counts against him. His sentencing is scheduled for March 20, and he could end up with more than nine years in prison. Massie, who was initially charged in February 2023 and has been out on $300,000 bail, was released until his sentencing.

In each case, the victim was known to Massie — whether they were related or through their shared membership at Old Apostolic Lutheran Church. He was friends with their parents and regarded as a fun, child-free uncle, according to reports from the investigation.

Assistant St. Louis County Attorney Michael Ryan told the court that the victims were satisfied with the deal.

“They have been involved in talking this through,” he said to Judge Dale Harris.

After Massie pleaded guilty, would-be witnesses and their supporters filed into the courtroom filling rows. Massie, dressed in a dark suit coat and khaki pants, turned to look. Ryan questioned him on the victims’ accusations — four specific scenarios where he had touched girls: during a sleepover at his house, when alone on a tractor, or beneath a blanket while others were in the room.

Massie said in court there were a lot of big gatherings and shared meals within this the group. It wasn’t unusual for one of the many children to sit on his lap.

At times Massie paused and said he couldn’t remember exact details or motives. At other times he deferred to what he told investigating officers last year. In each instance he ultimately agreed with the scenario presented by the prosecution.



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MnDOT’s Name-a-Snowplow contest is back and accepting submissions

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The Minnesota Department of Transportation’s Name-A-Snowplow contest is back, and the public continues to eat it up.

“Five years and still going strong,” said MnDOT spokeswoman Anne Meyer. “We hear about it all year long. We know there is interest out there. People enjoy the contest.”

The agency started the naming contest as a way to bring levity to winter after seeing an article in “Roadshow” explaining how Scotland names its entire snowplow fleet and posts maps showing their locations. Scotland calls the vehicles “gritters,” the article said, which led to witty handles such as “Gritney Spears” and “Gritty Gritty Bang Bang.”

Over the first four years, Minnesotans and even those from afar with access to a computer have submitted thousands of winter-themed monikers with references to sports teams, pop culture and clever puns specific to the North Star state. A MnDOT committee takes the ideas and winnows the list down to about 50, which then appear on a ballot for the public to vote on. That will happen in January, Meyer said.

Names that get the most votes then are applied to one of MnDOT’s plows in each of its eight districts. So far, 35 carry names such as “Taylor Drift,” “Clearopathra,” “Plowy McPlowFace,” “Betty Whiteout” and ” “Ctrl, Salt, Delete.” MnDOT staff also gave names to three additional plows, Giiwedin-the North Wind; Goonodaabaan-Snow Vehicle, and Icamna-Blizzard in acknowledgement of the highways the state plows adjacent to tribal lands.

Don’t be surprised if the contest returns for a sixth year, Meyer said.

“We have 800 plows, so we still have a lot to name,” she said.



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Woman killed in crash as officer responds to threat at Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s home

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ROME, Ga. — A motorist was killed as police responded to a bomb threat at the Georgia home of U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, authorities said.

A police officer on the local bomb squad was traveling to the scene when he collided with another car on Monday, Rome police said in a statement. Greene identified the woman killed as Tammie Pickelsimer.

The emailed threat — which warned of a pipe bomb in Greene’s mailbox and referenced Palestine — was sent to the assistant police chief. That touched off the police response, Greene said on social media. The source of the email was traced to a Russian internet address, she added.

It was the latest instance of a crime known as ”swatting” in which false threats are made to draw first responders to her home, Greene said. She said it has happened to her at least nine times.

”These violent political threats have fatal consequences,” Greene said on the social media platform X, calling the crime a ”despicable act.”

”The perpetrator of this crime has committed murder in our small community of Rome, Georgia,” she added.

The police officer was driving his personal vehicle to join the bomb squad on the call, police said. The officer was injured in the wreck, but the extent of his injuries was not immediately known Tuesday.

”I’m sick to my stomach, but I’m also angry,” Greene said. ”This should have never happened and I pray it never happens again.”



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Jail for getaway driver for killer of MN man outside Loring Park after-hours party

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A year in jail is the sentence for a man who was the getaway driver for the gunman who killed a Rochester man outside a Loring Park after-hours party more than two years ago.

Jal D. Wal, 26, of Apple Valley, was sentenced Monday in Hennepin County District Court after pleading guilty to being an accomplice in connection with the shooting on Sept. 18, 2022, of Birahim B. Gildersleve, 28, of Rochester, outside an after-hours party at the Fade Barber Lounge.

Judge Jean Burdorf set aside a five-year sentence, which would have put Wal in prison for roughly three years and instead imposed the year in jail with credit for the roughly two months he was incarcerated after his arrest. Burdorf’s sentence also includes five years of supervised probation.

The shooter, 28-year-old Mayan Deng Mayan, pleaded guilty in October to second-degree intentional murder. With credit for time in jail after his arrest, Mayan is expected to serve the first 22 years of his 34½-year term in prison and the balance on supervised release.

The criminal complaints against both men did not address a motive for the shooting. Police Sgt. Garrett Parten said in a statement that day that the killing followed “a verbal altercation.”

According to the complaints:

Police were dispatched about 5:20 a.m. to the intersection of Harmon Place and Maple Street, where they saw Gildersleve with gunshot wounds to his right leg and chest. He was pronounced dead 40 minutes later at HCMC.

About two hours before the shooting, four people walked from Wal’s SUV to the front of the barbershop and then back to the vehicle shortly after 5:10 a.m.



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