Star Tribune
Southeast Minnesota city delays, then certifies election results after tension and distrust
ORONOCO – Residents here have watched over the past two years as city leaders fought amongst themselves numerous times, from firing a former city administrator to a lawsuit over a citizen’s First Amendment rights.
That was supposed to change after this month’s elections.
The Oronoco City Council temporarily delayed certifying its election results this week after members on Wednesday disagreed over when Daniel Spring, who won a special election on Election Day, could start serving on the council.
Though the council certified the results Friday, the incident marks the latest squabble among city leaders and concerned residents in this community of about 1,800 people just a few minutes north of Rochester.
Spring replaces Erv De Vlaeminck, who was appointed in February after former Council member Carl Krause resigned. Spring was supposed to start next week, but several council members Wednesday disputed that date, arguing De Vlaeminck should have until the end of the year like other council members under guidance from the League of Minnesota Cities. Council member Jim Phillips adamantly refused to certify the election results until De Vlaemink was allowed to serve until January.
City Administrator Jason Baker and Mayor Ryland Eichhorst disagreed, citing rulings from the Minnesota Secretary of State’s office saying a candidate who won their seat through a special election should serve as soon as the election is certified.
“It doesn’t matter that (the election was) in November with this one,” Baker said. “They would take over right after the election was done, the results were declared.”
Council members recessed Wednesday night and met Friday morning, reaffirming the direction from state election officials to have Spring start later this month. More than a dozen people attended the council’s special meeting Friday morning, some laughing and jeering after outgoing Council member Jim Richards noted the council always intended to ratify the election results.
Iowa law enforcement officials last month searched a property in Winsted, Minn., as part of the investigation into the 1995 disappearance of TV news anchor Jodi Huisentruit.
It’s not known publicly what brought investigators to the city of 2,200 about 40 miles west of Minneapolis, or whether the search represents a significant development in the case.
But Caroline Lowe, a veteran TV journalist who has followed the case closely for FindJodi.com, said it’s the first known law enforcement activity surrounding the case since 2017.
Lowe said she’s unaware of any connections Huisentruit had with Winsted, and added that it’s a development she and others did not see coming.
“It’s intriguing people,” Lowe said of the search. “Why Winsted?”
Huisentruit, a 27-year-old native of Long Prairie, Minn., and a graduate of St. Cloud State University, was an anchor at KIMT in Mason City, Iowa, when she disappeared on June 27, 1995, as she was heading to work.
She is believed to have been abducted, though her body has never been found. No one has been held accountable in the case.
For several days in mid-October, officers with the Mason City Police Department followed up on a lead and searched a property in Winsted, according to Mason City Police Chief Jeff Brinkley and Winsted Police Chief Justin Heldt.
Hegseth has been married three times, according to court records. He married his first wife, Meredith, in his early 20s and they divorced in 2009, according to Minnesota court filings. The couple agreed that the reasons for the split were an “irretrievable breakdown” of the marriage and Hegseth’s “infidelity,” according to a filing in their divorce case. She declined to comment.
He married his second wife, Samantha, in 2010. Hegseth fathered a child with another woman, Jennifer Rauchet, then a Fox News producer, in August 2017, during that marriage. According to court records, Samantha Hegseth, who did not respond to a request for comment, filed for divorce in September – a month after the child was born. Following his second divorce, Hegseth married Rauchet.
Hegseth is one of several Trump Cabinet picks who could face resistance in the Senate. His selection caught many by surprise. The Fox News host, who served in the Army National Guard, has echoed Trump’s complaints that the military is too “woke” and, during Trump’s first term, successfully encouraged the president to pardon Army officers accused of war crimes over objections from the Pentagon.
Trump’s team began formally vetting Hegseth after Trump called him Nov. 7 to ask whether he was interested in becoming defense secretary, a person familiar with the conversations told The Post, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss private meetings.
Trump’s pick for attorney general, Matt Gaetz, also faces renewed scrutiny of sexual misconduct allegations ahead of a potentially contentious confirmation fight. The Justice Department last year dropped an investigation into allegations that Gaetz violated sex trafficking laws in a case involving a 17-year-old girl, but the House Ethics Committee has been reviewing the matter more recently and was about to vote on releasing a report when Gaetz resigned from Congress this week – just after Trump’s decision to tap him for attorney general. Gaetz has denied wrongdoing.
The president-elect himself has also been accused over the years of sexual harassment and assault – allegations he denies. A jury in a civil trial last year found Trump liable for sexual abuse of the writer E. Jean Carroll and ordered him to pay damages.
Star Tribune
E. coli infections traced back to Red Cow restaurants and Hen House Eatery in Minnesota
Ten cases of E. coli have been identified from customers who ate hamburgers at several locations of the Red Cow restaurant chain and at Hen House Eatery in downtown Minneapolis, the Minnesota Department of Health announced Friday.
The ground beef product connected to those infections was also distributed to other unidentified establishments, according to the Health Department. Additional cases from other locations could be identified, and other potential cases were already under investigation.
The confirmed cases involve meal dates from Oct. 31 through Nov. 7, and illness onset dates from Nov. 4 through Nov. 9, according to the department. Those affected range in age from 9 to 70 years, and two of them have been hospitalized.
Red Cow and Hen House Eatery owners are fully cooperating with the investigation and have already made product changes to prevent further illness, the department said. Red Cow has a total of six locations in Minneapolis, St. Paul, Wayzata and Rochester.
Symptoms of E. coli typically include stomach cramps and diarrhea, often with bloody stools. Illness can set in anywhere from one to eight days after exposure. About 5% of cases can lead to severe complications such as acute kidney failure.
