Star Tribune
Laser strikes on airplanes increasing in Minnesota
Beyond big jets, lasers also strike helicopters, some of which may be transporting critically ill or trauma patients, military and police aircraft, and luxury and smaller private planes.
FAA data compiled by the Minnesota Star Tribune revealed 237 reported laser strikes last year in the state, mostly in Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport airspace. Laser incidents were reported in Duluth and Rochester, as well.
The diversity of aircraft targeted in Minnesota last year is notable. More than a dozen pilots flying a Cessna-172, the popular general aviation single-engine aircraft, reported laser incidents. Other strikes were trained on Gulfstream luxury and business planes, and military aircraft, including the C-130 transport planes, F-16 and F-35 fighter jets, a P-8 Navy patrol plane, and several Black Hawk helicopters.
Most planes targeted were flying below 10,000 feet, although an outlier appears to be a Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-800 jet that was hit by a laser at 41,000 feet in August last year, according to FAA data.
The size of laser beams expands as they travel long distances, said Jason Evans, an assistant professor of aviation at UND.
“It becomes much larger, so it’s the size of a basketball when it hits the windscreen,” he said. “It can be bright and very disorienting.”
Authorities are piecing together details of a suspected murder in or around Pine County.
Jail records show the Pine County Sheriff’s Office arrested a 31-year-old man Friday on suspicion of second-degree murder. The Star Tribune typically does not name suspects until they are charged.
It was unclear when the incident occurred or whether it occurred in Pine County. Authorities said they planned to release more details after investigators gather information.
Pine County is about 60 miles north of the Twin Cities.
This is a developing story. Check back with startribune.com for more information.
While the headlines about the lawsuit discussed the crux of Haynes’ claim, it’s also important to understand the totality of his request from the actual lawsuit, which calls his wrongful conviction “an egregious miscarriage of justice. “
“Claimant Marvin Haynes spent nearly two decades wrongfully incarcerated for a murder and assault he did not commit. He was wrongfully arrested as a teenager of only sixteen years old, later thrust into life-threatening conditions in adult prison, and robbed of the formative years of his youth and young adulthood,” the lawsuit states. “Mr. Haynes was finally exonerated and released at the age of thirty-six. During his wrongful incarceration, Mr. Haynes lost the opportunity to graduate high school alongside his peers, to see his maternal grandparents — with whom he had a close relationship — before they passed away, and to spend valuable years with his mother before a stroke rendered her unable to speak or care for herself. During the years when most teenagers find their independence and define their sense of self, Mr. Haynes was forced to spend his days worrying about his safety and fighting to prove his innocence. And while Mr. Haynes worked hard to achieve his high school diploma during his wrongful incarceration, any thought of further education had to be pushed aside in favor of tireless efforts to gain his freedom.”
There are “wounds,” mentioned in the lawsuit, in Haynes’ family that changed him and those around him. Only Haynes and those close to him will ever understand that dynamic. But the $2 million he’s earned won’t remove those scars.
It is also, unfortunately, no guarantee that he will get what he’s requested.
For those in Haynes’ position, the battle for compensation is often fruitless. In a study of 1,800 exonerees, only 42% were compensated, according to Most Policy Initiative, a Missouri-based think tank.
Haynes has every right to live his life with an embittered demeanor. He could be angry. And I think, if I were in his shoes, I would be. But I also don’t know what it’s like to be Marvin Haynes. I do, however, wonder how he acquired the grace that’s allowed him to begin the journey to reclaim his life.
There, Jojean Ziegler, the financial assistance supervisor, and other staff members review the person’s income and assets, including life insurance and money in bank accounts. In the case of married couples or a minor, the county also looks at family members’ assets. Funeral businesses can also ask families to contribute a sum of money, capped at $830 for funerals and cremations, and $1,300 for cemeteries.
Ziegler said the rate increase comes as she’s heard from businesses that their costs are rising. The county last increased its rates in 2016.
In recent years, the number of Ramsey County burial assistance cases has gone up and down. Last year, there were 522 approved, at a cost of $616,000. So far this year, there have been more than 420, costing more than $508,000.
“I provide county-assisted burials to families that are in my community, in the Maplewood area, and families that I’ve served,” said JR Jaskulske, shown at Oakwod Funeral Home in Maplewood. “Sometimes there’s just hardships in families and you just have to take care of them.” (Jeff Wheeler/The Minnesota Star Tribune)
Other counties are bracing for an increase in county assistance cases.
Years ago, Hennepin County raised its burial assistance to $3,000, with up to $2,000 in additional family contributions permitted for enhanced services, spokesperson Carolyn Marinan said. “Suffice it to say we are definitely seeing an increase [in requests for burial assistance],” she wrote in an email, citing the opioid epidemic and COVID as factors driving an increase in demand in recent years.
However, the number of people dying of opioid overdoses has declined recently, partly attributed to more widespread availability of overdose-reversal drug naloxone.
