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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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Sonja Trom Eayrs’ ‘Dodge County, Incorporated’ takes a deep dive into what’s happening with Minnesota farms

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Sonja Trom Eayrs, a Twin Cities attorney, grew up on a farm outside Blooming Prairie, Minn. A decade ago, Eayrs started waging a litigation campaign in Dodge County to compel local governments to enforce the rules against the growth of massive hog operations.

While small victories in court were ultimately swallowed on appeal, Eayrs has now penned a memoir-ish look back on her fight that put a target on her back in her small rural hometown. The book also offers an unsparing view of consolidation in the agriculture industry.

In “Dodge County, Incorporated,” Eayrs says she and her family “witnessed firsthand the effects of Big Ag that are rarely discussed in mainstream food and farm media.”

She spoke with Minnesota Star Tribune agriculture reporter Christopher Vondracek earlier this month.

Q: We both grew up in southern Minnesota. What’s your thought about how Blooming Prairie might differ from when you grew up?

A: A couple of years ago, I’m visiting my mother in the nursing home, and I find out from a relative they’re spreading manure on the edge of Blooming Prairie. There’s a Facebook page called, “You Know You’re From Blooming Prairie When.” So I put on there, “you know you’re from Blooming Prairie when it smells like pig [feces], and it’s mid-October.” The first two comments are supportive. Then, boom. The hog mafia realizes [what I’ve said], and, whoa, Facebook is blowing up. So, what’s it like today? Anybody who is aligned with corporate agriculture is in a power position. Everyone else remains quiet.

Q: I often hear from farmers who say heavy-handed government regulation puts the small farmer out of business. Why talk about “corporate ag,” and not governmental farm policy or a desire for affordable food?

A: Corporate agriculture has harnessed our government policy. You look, there is no such thing as cheap food. Because we are all subsidizing this. They externalize all these costs, and we are all [paying] as taxpayers.



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Underground voids from abandoned mines pose danger to people and property when land collapses

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Swaths of Pennsylvania and many other states are honeycombed with old, unstable mines that can cause the earth to suddenly give way and threaten people and property.

That’s what searchers in Westmoreland County, just southeast of Pittsburgh, fear led to the disappearance of 64-year-old Elizabeth Pollard. Pollard and a young granddaughter were looking for a lost cat when she went missing Monday evening. At about the same time, a sinkhole appeared roughly 20 feet (6 meters) from where she had parked her car, in an area above an old coal mine. The granddaughter was found safe inside the car hours later.

The search for Pollard turned from a rescue effort into a recovery operation Wednesday, as authorities said they did not expect to find her alive.

Mine subsidence has caused billions of dollars in damage in the U.S. In Pennsylvania, where mining dates to the late 1700s, coal was mined in nearly half of the state’s 67 counties and there are at least 5,000 abandoned underground mines, leaving behind hazards that officials say can arise at any time.

There are as many as 500,000 abandoned mines nationwide — far outnumbering those that are still active, according to the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration. They dot the landscape of coal country and sprawling Western states where mining was common. People have died falling into them, and some murderers have tried to hide victims’ bodies by dumping them in open mine shafts.

The sinkhole in Westmoreland County appears to have resulted from a catastrophic collapse, suggesting the roof of an old mine gave way suddenly after sagging for years, said Professor Paul Santi from the Colorado School of Mines Geology Department.

”If it’s dropping say, half an inch a year, you can use satellite information to detect that and monitor if it is getting worse or not,” Santi said. ”But you can also have these really quick ones that are harder to predict. That’s what happened in this case. You have this roof collapse and overnight a sinkhole appears.”

The Marguerite Mine that authorities believe resulted in the sinkhole was last operated in 1952 by the H.C. Frick Coke Co., according to the state Department of Environmental Protection. The coal seam in the area is about 20 feet (6 meters) beneath the surface.



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Eli Hart’s family settles lawsuit with Dakota County for $2.25 million

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The family of 6-year-old Eli Hart, who was shot and killed by his mother in 2022, on Wednesday reached a $2.25 million wrongful death settlement with Dakota County.

The lawsuit, which was filed three months after Eli’s death, accused the county’s Social Services department of gross and willful negligence when it returned Eli to the custody of his mother, Julissa Thaler.

“It is definitely a bit of a relief just to have some resolution to this very long case,” said Josephine Josephson, Eli’s stepmother. “It’s a lot of stress to have an ongoing case with a delicate subject.

“I think Dakota County, obviously, they agreed to our settlement without taking any faults. But I think that they truly know that something did go wrong and that they should make corrective actions.”

The settlement stipulates that $1.2 million be paid to Eli’s father, Tory Hart. Three of the boy’s grandparents will receive $25,000 each. The balance of the settlement will cover attorney fees and other costs.

In the years since Eli’s death, his family has created the Eli Hart Foundation. Josephson said Wednesday that the settlement will help the organization establish a scholarship fund and create a legal assistance service for parents who don’t have the means to fight for custody of their children.

“It’s a scary place to be,” Josephson said.



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