Marathon negotiations produce tentative contract agreement for Duluth nurses
Andy Brownell KROC-AM NEWS
September 8, 2010
A nearly 30-hour long marathon negotiating session ended today with the announcement that Saint Mary's Medical Center and the Minnesota Nurses Association have reached a tentative agreement on a new employment contract for nearly 1,000 nurses in Duluth. The deal averts a threatened one-day strike that was scheduled for next Tuesday. The terms of the agreement were not released, but the union indicated they were able to win substantive movement on the staffing issues that were at the center of the labor dispute. The nurses will vote on the new contract this Friday. Meanwhile, the over 400 nurses represented by the Minnesota Nurses Association at Saint Luke's Hospital in Duluth are voting on their new contract today.
Local hog producer fined for deadly accident
Kim David KROC-AM NEWS
September 8, 2010
An Olmsted County hog producer has been cited and fined for a deadly incident that occurred this past February. A worker at the Schoenfelder Farms feedlot near Eyota was overcome by lethal levels of hydrogen sulfide while cleaning a barn. The victim - 29-year old Carlos Ramirez-Perez - was in a confined space at the time. The state OSHA office determined Schoenfelder was in violation of four workplace-related laws and three were rated as serious violations. Schoenfelder was assessed a total of $26,750 in penalties for two of those violations. An OSHA spokesman says Schoenfelder has paid $6,750 of the total and the balance is likely to be forgiven if there are no more violations.
MNDOT ready to roll out new traffic signals
Andy Brownell KROC-AM NEWS
September 8, 2010
The Minnesota Department of Transportation is describing the upcoming shift to a new type of traffic light as the biggest change in traffic signal design and operation in 40-years. The new system uses a flashing yellow arrow for left-turns and will replace the traditional "yield on green" configuration. The new lights are already being used at a couple busy intersections in Woodbury, and DOT officials say studies have found they reduce the number of crashes and improve traffic flow.
Research bear taken by hunter in northern Minnesota
Minnesota News Network
September 9, 2010
Authorities say a research bear has been shot and killed in northeast Minnesota. Officials at the North American Bear Center in Ely say a young bear wearing a radio collar and pink ribbons was killed this week. They picked up her blood-spotted collar from the DNR Tuesday after it was turned in anonymously. It's not illegal for hunters to take collared bears, but the DNR has asked them not to. Officials say the other radio-collared bears in the region appear to be safe.
Minnesota colleges recieves big donation
Minnesota News Network
September 8, 2010
Officials at the University of Saint Thomas say an anonymous donor has offered 25-million dollars as a matching grant, the largest such gift in the school's history. University of Saint Thomas president, Father Dennis Dease, calls it an "extraordinary gift," adding it's a "singular opportunity for alumni and friends to double their gifts for twice the impact." Officials say the Saint Thomas Law School will be eligible for twelve-and-a-half million dollars of the matching gift, five million will be used to match scholarship funds, and the remainder will match gifts to other priority projects.