County Sheriff Accuses County Commissioners of "shortchanging" the Sheriff's Department.

Vista County Commission had denied equipment and personnel finances for the sheriff's department. Commissioners voted 5-2 against Sheriff Gus Dicesari request for new cruisers and deputies at a meeting last Thursday afternoon.

"Your putting the lives of the people of this county in jeopardy," Dicesari said.

Dicesari said the eight police vehicles they have now have over 150,000 miles on them and need to be replaced. Commission President Anne Chenn disagreed. Chenn says the county does not have the money to fulfill those requests.

The county's budget this year was $127 million, most of it was spent on a new prison and also to increased costs for employees health care and fuel costs.

Dicesari made it clear that this is the first time in 27 years that the county has not allocated money to the sheriff's department to buy new equipment.

"My deputies can't keep driving these old vehicles. Something bad is going to happen," he said.

Several commission members agree with Dicesari, and several disagree. Two commission members that agreed with Dicesari, Anita Shenuski and Raymond Laybourne, blamed the shortage of funds on the recent influx of migrant workers in the area. They said during the meeting that the county should spend more money on law enforcement and less on migrant programs.

Chenn denies that immigrants are a problem,"Those people who come here to work are decent, hardworking people being employed at jobs local residents don't want. They add a great deal to the local economy and they pay taxes." Chenn then accused Shenuski of being a hypocrite for blaming the migrants for everything.

Commissioner Jose Gardez said many of the migrant workers become permanent members of the community, opening businesses and eventually earning citizenship.

Chenn suggested that deputies not drive their cruisers home each day. She said that would make more cars available and preserve mileage. Then the sheriff came back saying, that letting the deputies drive the vehicles home each day and parking them in their neighborhoods is a major deterrent to crime.

The sheriff's departments will have to make do this year because the county does not have the additional $580,000 it would need to supply Dicesari with what he claims to need.

My Earliest Memory

It was a cold rainy day. I was gazing upon life outside my hotel window. It was my sixth birthday. My parents surprised me by taking me to Disney World. My Mom had just got done curling my hair and putting my dress on. "Don't jump on the bed and screw up all my hard-work young lady," she howled from the room attached to mine. It was such a nasty day out for my birthday. I remember wanting to go on the tea cups and eating on the boardwalk, dancing to the music and watching the sunset. Instead we ate dinner at the hotel restaurant, with surprises from some Disney characters from time to time. I wanted to go back up to the room to take off my itchy dress and put on some more comfortable clothing. Before we left the restaurant the waitress brought me a disgusting coffee flavored cupcake, what six-year-old likes coffee flavored anything. I'll never forget blowing out my candle wishing I could start the day over with the sun shinning away.

Missed court date, Minneapolis woman faces deportation

Hoa Nguyen, 29, came to America from Vietnam on a student visa 10 years ago. She got married to Dan Hanson, an Illinois-born U.S.-citizen, and made a life in Minneapolis. But she failed to file for a green card and missed an immigration hearing in August. Nguyen was placed in Sherburne County jail. An immigration judge denied her motion to re-open her case, stating that her arguments did not constitute the "exceptional circumstances" needed to grant the motion. Nguyen now faces deportation within the next two weeks.

http://www.startribune.com/local/61986587.html?page=1&c=y

My first day at ARCC.

Well I never technically had my first day at ARCC. This is my first year doing PSEO and my classes are online. It's nice to go home from Anoka High School, while only being there for two hours, and just sit on the computer to do my schooling. My first day of this class was a little confusing to me. I didn't have a clue what to do. I had to ask my older sister that had taken online classes before for some help. If I had to base my college experience from online classes I would have to say that I love college.

Buffalo teen hit and killed by train may not have heard it approaching

Tyler Wood, 16, of Buffalo, was killed Thursday walking along the railroad tracks. Wood was listening to headphones attached to her phone, when she left home on Thursday. She was wearing noise-canceling headphone buds and might not have heard the approaching Canadian Pacific freight train, police said Friday. The device and the headphones were found near her body.

Her death seems to be an accident said Buffalo Police Chief Mitchell Weinzetl. The engineer told Weinzetl that he tried to stop the train and that he sounded the train's horn and siren. It would have taken from three-quarters of a mile to a mile to stop the train.

Although there were no eyewitnesses, several people in the area reported hearing the train's sirens. In the next week, officials will review the train's "black box" video recorder, which will contribute to the coroner's eventual ruling.

http://www.startribune.com/local/west/59761412.html?elr=KArks:DCiUHc3E7_V_nDaycUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUUr

Deadly accident on Interstate

Two tractor-trailers collided leading to a chain reaction crash.

The accident occurred at 6:45 a.m., on Interstate 790. A total of four tractor-trailers and 14 cars were involved. Fire Chief Tony Sullivan said, "It looked like something from a war zone. Bodies laying along the road, people covered with blood sitting next to their cars, emergency workers running from place to place trying to help the injured, and the sirens wailing."

Authorities know that two were killed and 20 others injured, four were seriously hurt. Sullivan said that those who were seriously hurt have life-threatening injuries.

The police department is not done investigating. According to police department’s Sgt. Albert Wei, police officers on the scene had trouble identifying the drivers, passengers, and the vehicles they were in.

"My firefighters had to cut the roofs off three of the cars to free the drivers and passengers that were trapped inside," Sullivan said, "in my 18 and a half years I’ve been with the fire department, I've never seen anything this bad." All five of the fire department’s ambulances were on the scene, along with ones from four nearby cities. Two of the drivers and passengers with the worst injuries were flown to the trauma center in Statesville.

According to Wie, the accident, which happened in the northbound lanes, closed the entire highway; north and south. The interstate was still closed at 10 a.m. he has no idea of when it would open again. Traffic on I-790 had to take Interstate 690, causing traffic for three hours.

Expert fears swine flu vaccine will come too late.

The U of M's Michael Osterholm expects swine flu cases to be at its worst in the next six to eight weeks. Vaccines are due to arrive in Minnesota next month. Osterholm is worried that it won't be enough. State epidemiologist Ruth Lynfield says " People need to be more conscious that ever about not spreading illness." In that case don't be "Minnesota brave" and go to work or school. Minnesota has 265 swine flu cases, three ending in death.

The Coffee Shop Right Around the Corner.

It was a cool day in Rochester. Cloudy with huge gusts of winds. I looked above at the sky, smelt like rain. My friend Taylor screeched,"I'm freezing, lets go to Caribou!" As my soccer team skipped down the streets of down town Rochester in search of a Caribou, we finally found one. The people looked so grown up. Doctors, nurses, and lawyers filled up the seats. The smell of coffee lingered through the air put a smile on my face. The room was warm and homey. We all got warm drinks to fight off the coolness. As the coffee penetrated right through me I slowly got warmer. The coffee tasted like dirt. I couldn't believed I paid $3.95 for something that tasted so bad. It wasn't just my drink that tasted horrible, it was every one's. A teammate of mine got what tasted only like water. We complained and the workers gave us new drinks. They just didn't taste right. We left, only later to face our mothers who said we wasted our money on a pointless drink. Even though the coffee was terrible the environment was so calm, I could have stayed there all day.

Lessons I've learned about leads.

I never fully understood what a lead should contain and what it should not. After reading Chapter 7, I got it.

One of the things that they tell you to avoid, but I tend to do quite often, is "label" leads. I mention a topic but I don't say what was done about it. I just leave the reader hanging. The reader will then be questioning what happened, what was said.

The most important thing that I have learned about leads this week is to strive for simplicity. A lead should be clear and to the point. Not over detailed. You have to decide what the most important point is and place it in the lead.