MINNEAPOLIS – Federal authorities have arrested a relative of a Red Lake tribal leader in connection with the shootings that killed 10 people on the tribe’s Minnesota reservation last week, officials said Monday. A U.S. Attorney in Minneapolis announced the arrest Monday. Officials familiar with the investigation said the teenager, arrested Sunday in Duluth, is suspected of helping Jeff Weise, 16, plan last week’s assault and had expected to be part of the attack. Prosecutors are considering whether to charge the juvenile as an adult with conspiracy to commit murder, officials said. Authorities have not ruled out more arrests.
New Jersey: Scrutiny for truckers
The truck drivers who haul cargo labeled as flammable, combustible, radioactive or poisonous are now going to be scrutinized as closely as the hazardous materials that fill their tankers and trailers. In the coming months, about 3 million drivers across the nation will begin to be fingerprinted and put through FBI criminal background checks. Their names also are cross-referenced with federal databases related to terrorist activity, a practice the U.S. Transportation Security Administration began last year.
Colorado: Ruling on Bible verses
The Colorado Supreme Court on Monday threw out the death penalty in a 1995 rape-and-murder case because jurors had studied Bible verses such as “eye for eye, tooth for tooth” during deliberations. On a 3-2 vote, justices ordered Robert Harlan to serve life in prison without parole for kidnapping 25-year-old cocktail waitress Rhonda Maloney in 1994 and raping her at gunpoint for two hours. Defense lawyers found five jurors had looked up Bible verses, copied them down and talked about them while deliberating a sentence behind closed doors.
Arizona: Young condor dies at 2
The first California condor chick born in the Arizona wilderness since the birds were reintroduced has died. Biologists found the dead body of the chick Saturday. It was less than 2 years old. The chick’s birth had been heralded as a sign of success since the giant birds were reintroduced in the wild. It fledged in November 2003. Two other chicks that fledged in the wild in 2004 remain healthy, park officials said. California condors are the largest flying land bird in North America, with a wingspan up to 91/2 feet.
Florida: Death in petting zoo probe
A girl’s death is being investigated for possible links to an outbreak of E. coli bacterial infections among people who attended one of two fairs that included petting zoos, the state’s top health official said Monday. Florida’s health secretary said there are 14 confirmed cases of people becoming ill after attending the Strawberry Festival in Plant City or the Central Florida Fair in Orlando in early March. He said they have tested positive for either E. coli infection or a kidney disease that sometimes results from E. coli.
New York: Teen forcibly tattooed
A man and a teenager have been charged with forcibly tattooing an obscenity on the forehead of a 17-year-old boy, police said Monday. Police in Norwich declined to describe the tattoo, except to say it was a phrase. The two suspects were charged with assault and unlawful imprisonment. The victim told officers he had been held down by a man and another teen while they forcibly tattooed the vulgarity. Police said the attackers used a homemade tattooing instrument. They said it was likely the victim would require plastic surgery or a laser process to remove the ink.
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