Mark Allen Busse is already serving a 30-year sentence for photographing and filming pornographic images of three girls and one boy who were all under the age of 10.

In the plea agreement, Busse admitted that on April 20, 2008, he took pictures and filmed one girl while she was sleeping. He also admitted in 2006 that he took photos of a second girl while she was sleeping. In 2008, he admitted to taking pictures and video of a third girl and a boy. In every instance, the images produced showed the children engaged in sexually explicit content.

According to the complaint, the videos clearly showed Busse fondling and penetrating both victims. Busse abused and photographed the third victim throughout 2006.

In addition to 30 years, Busse will have 25 years of supervised release.

On Thursday afternoon, Mark Edward Wetch, 49, was charged with 13 counts of armed bank robbery in connection to 13 bank robberies between March 9, 2011 and Jan. 3, 2012.

His indictment alleges that Wetsch robbed a bank in Brewster, Alexandria, Hastings, St. Peter, Albertville, Richfield, Gaylord, Hampton, Faribault, Eden Prairie, Cologne and two in Minneapolis.

The amount Wetsch allegedly stole is said to be approximately $69,104.

If convicted, Wetsch could face up to 25 years in prison for each count.

Liana Claassen, who had been the business manager for the Chokio-Alberta School District, was charged on May 2, 2011, with one count of wire fraud in connection with the crime. She pleaded guilty on July 29, 2011.

In her plea agreement, she admitted that between July of 1999 and August of 2010, she used the school district’s computer to pay herself more money than her salary dictated. As the business manager for the school district, Claassen was responsible for the payroll for all district employees and was trusted to authorize bank transfers.

She also admitted to illegally transferring money to her retirement account and covering up the scheme by making misrepresentations to her employers about the district’s financial condition.

Claassen was also ordered to pay more than $260,000 in restitution.

Whether or not he would actually get there was another story. Now in four years with the Tommies, he’s put together a 43-7 record and won two straight MIAC championships. He’s turned a program around in four years and made it relevant not only in the MIAC, but all across the nation.

For the second straight year, Caruso was named the Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year for Division III for his success on the field and dedication to the St. Thomas community off it. Caruso was in New Orleans in the first week of January to accept the award and attended the BCS National Championship game, where Alabama beat LSU.

Caruso and his team didn’t ultimately get to their goal of a national championship this year. The Tommies lost in the national semifinals to UW-Whitewater, which won its second straight national title this year. But the level the program got to this year, under Caruso’s leadership, can’t be denied.

St. Thomas won 13 straight games this year, and the 13 wins were the most in the history of the program. That streak included a 63-7 win over rival St. John’s, the most lopsided win they’ve ever had in the history of the rivalry. It’s also the most points the Tommies have ever scored against St. John’s in one game.

The Tommies landed five players on the All-America list at the end of the season: Linebacker Tony Danna, receiver Fritz Waldvogel, center Curtis James, running back Colin Tobin and offensive tackle Dan Chapman.

Caruso became the youngest head coach to win the award last year at 36. Now he’s the only coach to win it two years in a row. He’s also won the MIAC Coach of the Year Award two straight years. The Tommies finished this year ranked No. 4 in the nation and won consecutive conference titles for the first time since 1948-49. St. Thomas also went 10-0 during the regular season in consecutive years for the first time in the program’s history.

All the awards, honors and records are great, but what Caruso and the players really want is a national title. They saw first-hand against UW-Whitewater what it will take to get there.

Sheriff’s officials say ice conditions are becoming increasingly unpredictable because of the unseasonably warm weather.

Lake access points were closing Thursday and will remain closed until further notice.

Snowmobiles and all-terrain vehicles are still allowed on Hennepin County lakes. But people walking or ice fishing on lakes are urged to be careful because of the thin ice and open water.

Authorities say it’s unsafe for vehicles to drive on lakes, rivers or ponds in Hennepin County. Lake Minnetonka has areas of open water and dangerous channels with moving water.

(© Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

Wild coach Mike Yeo said before Thursday’s game against Vancouver that he expected Koivu to be back on the first line, centering Dany Heatley and Devin Setoguchi to face the Canucks. That was the combination at the beginning of the season, but injuries and ineffectiveness have prompted Yeo to move Heatley and Setoguchi around several times.

Koivu has played in only 41 of their first 53 games, but he still led the Wild with 24 assists.

Defenseman Clayton Stoner was placed on injured reserve with an unspecified leg injury. Yeo called his status “week to week.”

(© Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

Head coach John Anderson announced Thursday that Minnesota’s game on May 1 against Division III St. Thomas will be moved from the Metrodome to Siebert Field. Opened in 1971 as Bierman Field and renamed in 1979, the stadium is on the north side of campus on the edge of an aging industrial area filled with railroad tracks.

With conditions deemed unfit by the school for significant use, the Gophers have made the Metrodome their home field in recent seasons. Anderson has led a fundraising push for a new facility on campus.

(© Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

ST. PAUL (WCCO) — Neighbors helped rescue a family from a fire at a St. Paul duplex early Thursday morning.

Firefighters were called to the 1000 block of Marion Street just before 5 a.m.

St. Paul Fire Marshal Steve Zaccard said a woman living in the lower level of the duplex heard a pop and went outside to investigate because her daughter’s family was living in the upper level.

She went out and saw huge fire on the outside staircase — the only entrance and exit to the upstairs unit.

Neighbors heard the woman outside screaming for the family upstairs, so they came out to help wake up the four people — a 28-year-old woman, her boyfriend, and her two kids, ages 4 and 7.

Neighbors said they threw rocks at the windows and yelled until the family awoke. Then they ran and pulled a mattress out of their home so the woman could throw her kids out the window. Neighbors caught the kids, but the mattress was used as a precaution.

Meanwhile, firefighters arrived and were able to get a ladder to rescue the man and woman still inside. The woman slipped on the ladder and hurt her ankle while evacuating. The man was ill, but it is not clear if it was from the fire or another medical condition. Both were brought to the hospital to be checked out and are OK. The children are also doing fine, according to Zaccard.

The only other injury was a firefighter at the scene who slipped off the roof. He had minor injuries that were checked out at the hospital, too.

Zaccard believes it is an arson fire, but they don’t know yet if the family was targeted or if it was random.

“When someone intentionally sets fire to an occupied residence like this, blocking their escape, they’re trying to kill someone,” said Zaccard. “Arson is not just a crime against property, it’s most certainly a crime against innocent people, too.”

The fire was extinguished in about 20 minutes.

Zaccard said there were smoke detectors in the home that were working.

The home had a lot of smoke and water damage, estimated at $120,000.

Zaccard said the Red Cross is helping the family replace belonging and find a place to live. They much lost everything in the fire, he said.

They will stay with other relatives in the meantime.

(credit: Saint Paul Fire Department)

Sen. Roger Reinert announced plans Thursday for a proposed Vikings stadium in Duluth, by delivering a letter to Gov. Mark Dayton.

Reinert said if the Green Bay Packers can attract ticket holders from more than two hours away (like Madison, Wis. or Milwaukee), then the Vikings can, too.

“Stationing the Vikings in Duluth is economically advantageous and will help further supplant the message that the Vikings represent all of Minnesota and are not exclusive to the metropolitan areas of Minneapolis and St. Paul,” Reinert said.

The proposal puts the stadium southwest of the downtown Duluth area on 500 acres of what used to be the U.S. Steel/Atlas Cement Works Site.

The city says they already support a tourism industry of more than 3.5 million tourists, with a direct economic impact ranging from $750 million to $780 million.

The senator proposes the state’s portion of stadium funding could be paid through the Sunday Sales legislation, which is currently at the Senate Commerce Committee.

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — State officials say Minnesota mortgage borrowers will be eligible for a total of $280 million from a national settlement between states and the country’s biggest mortgage lenders.

Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson and Commerce Commissioner Mike Rothman announced Minnesota’s settlement Thursday. Five major U.S. banks agreed to pay about $26 billion to reimburse American homeowners.

The deal requires the banks to reduce loans for about 1 million households. Some homeowners will be eligible for direct relief checks. The relief is targeted at mortgage holders who owe more than their homes are worth.

Swanson’s office says in Minnesota, $167 million will go to loan reductions and other relief, and $113 million will go to direct payments to and refinancing help for borrowers.

People with questions about the settlement can call Swanson’s office at 1-800-657-3787.

(© Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

WASHINGTON (AP/WCCO) — President Barack Obama on Thursday will free 10 states from the strict and sweeping requirements of the No Child Left Behind law, giving leeway to states that promise to improve how they prepare and evaluate students, The Associated Press has learned.

The first 10 states to receive the waivers are Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, Oklahoma and Tennessee. The only state that applied for the flexibility and did not get it, New Mexico, is working with the administration to get approval, a White House official told the AP.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the states had not yet been announced. A total of 28 other states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico have signaled that they, too, plan to seek waivers — a sign of just how vast the law’s burdens have become as a big deadline nears.

The 10 states still must show they’re getting children ready for college and careers and setting new targets for improving achievement.

Education Professor Joe Nathan, director of the Center for School Change at Macalester College, said, “This is good news for the students, the schools and frankly for the taxpayers of Minnesota because we’re continuing to hold schools accountable but we’re adding some new features that I think are really critical.”

NewsRadio 830 WCCO’s Steve Murphy Reports

The new standards take effect in the fall.

No Child Left Behind requires all students to be proficient in reading and math by 2014. Obama’s action strips away that fundamental requirement for those approved for flexibility, provided they offer a viable plan instead. Under the deal, the states must show they will prepare children for college and careers, set new targets for improving achievement among all students, reward the best performing schools and focus help on the ones doing the worst.

In September, Obama called President George W. Bush’s most hyped domestic accomplishment an admirable but flawed effort that hurt students instead of helping them. He said action was necessary because Congress failed to update the law despite widespread bipartisan agreement that it needs fixing. Republicans have charged that by granting waivers, Obama was overreaching his authority.

The executive action by Obama is one of his most prominent in an ongoing campaign to act on his own where Congress is rebuffing him. No Child Left Behind was primarily designed to help the nation’s poor and minority children and was passed a decade ago with widespread bipartisan support. It has been up for renewal since 2007. But lawmakers have been stymied for years by competing priorities, disagreements over how much of a federal role there should be in schools and, in the recent Congress, partisan gridlock.

For all the cheers that states may have about the changes, the move also reflects the sobering reality that the United States is not close to the law’s original goal: getting children to grade level in reading and math.

Critics today say the 2014 deadline was unrealistic, the law is too rigid and led to teaching to the test, and too many schools feel they are labeled as “failures.” Under No Child Left Behind, schools that don’t meet requirements for two years or longer face increasingly tough consequences, including busing children to higher-performing schools, offering tutoring and replacing staff.

As the deadline approaches, more schools are failing to meet requirements under the law, with nearly half not doing so last year, according to the Center on Education Policy. Center officials said that’s because some states today have harder tests or have high numbers of immigrant and low-income children, but it’s also because the law requires states to raise the bar each year for how many children must pass the test.

In states granted a waiver, students will still be tested annually. But starting this fall, schools in those states will no longer face the same prescriptive actions spelled out under No Child Left Behind. A school’s performance will also probably be labeled differently.

The pressure will probably still be on the lowest-performing schools in states granted a waiver, but mediocre schools that aren’t failing will probably see the most changes because they will feel less pressure and have more flexibility in how they spend federal dollars, said Michael Petrilli, vice president of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, an education think tank.

While the president’s action marks a change in education policy in America, the reach is limited. The populous states of Pennsylvania, Texas and California are among those that have not said they will seek a waiver, although they could still do so later.

On Tuesday, Education Secretary Arne Duncan said states without a waiver will be held to the standards of No Child Left Behind because “it’s the law of the land.”

Some conservatives viewed Obama’s plan not as giving more flexibility to states, but as imposing his vision on them. Rep. John Kline, R-Minn., who chairs the House Education and the Workforce Committee, said Thursday that, “This notion that Congress is sort of an impediment to be bypassed, I find very, very troubling in many, many ways.”

Duncan maintained this week that the administration “desperately” wants Congress to fix the law.

In an election year in a divided Congress, that appears unlikely to happen.

Kline, speaking at an event at the conservative American Enterprise Institute, said that in the House there was some bipartisan agreement on how to fix No Child Left Behind, but in many areas there was disagreement. Later, he released Republican-written legislation that he said seeks to restore states’ authority in education.

“The administration’s waiver scheme provides just enough temporary relief to quiet the demand for lasting reform,” Kline said in a statement. “Rest assured, my colleagues and I on the House Education and the Workforce Committee haven’t lost our sense of urgency.”

California Rep. George Miller, the committee’s senior Democrat, has said such partisanship “means the end” to No Child Left Behind reform in this Congress. Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, who chairs the Senate committee on education, has said he believes it “would be difficult to find a path forward” without a bipartisan bill in the House.

A Senate committee last fall passed a bipartisan bill to update the law. The administration expressed concerns with it, and it did not go before the full Senate for a vote.

(TM and © Copyright 2012 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2012 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

Police say 43-year-old Stewart Pesheck is suspected in at least seven break-ins in Edina between April 1 and May 31, 2011.

According to a criminal complaint, Pesheck was caught in the act by police who spotted him leaving an Eden Prairie residence that had just been robbed.

Police say they saw Pesheck drive to a residence and leave the vehicle unattended in the driveway. Moments later, the garage door opened and Pesheck was seen driving his vehicle into the garage. Several minutes later, he drove out of the garage and away from the residence, according to the criminal complaint.

After Pesheck left, police noticed the rear door had been forced open with a pry tool and several wires had been cut to the back of the home. Officers said the resident found several items missing, including jewelry, laptops and a flat screen TV.

Police searched Pesheck’s vehicle and found all the missing items, plus a pry bar, three pairs of gloves, a pair of wire cutters and a needle nose pliers.

He was charged in Hennepin County District Court on Wednesday.

In many of the previous cases, Pesheck had allegedly cut wires to home security systems and stole jewelry and other expensive items.

The Eden Prairie Police Department is hosting a multi-jurisdictional press conference to provide an update on the burglaries. Eight different agencies will be present.

The press conference is scheduled for 3 p.m. Thursday.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission says there have been 140 reports of problems with the Tassimo single-cup brewers dousing people, including 37 cases involving second-degree burns. In one incident, a 10-year-old girl from Minnesota was hospitalized with second-degree burns to her face and neck.

The coffee maker’s “T-disc,” the plastic disc that holds the coffee or tea, can burst while brewing, according to the commission. It also announced the recall Thursday of some 4 million packages of Tassimo espresso T-discs.

About 835,000 Tassimo coffee makers are on recall in the United States; another 900,000 are being recalled in Canada. The recall involves brewers made by California-based BSH Home Appliances Corp. that carry the Bosch and Tassimo Professional brand names.

The 4 million packages of Tassimo espresso T-discs, manufactured by Kraft Foods Global Inc., in Illinois, were recalled after 21 reports of problems.

CPSC says the plastic discs of coffee can become clogged, rupture and spray hot liquid. In Canada, a 2-year-old girl suffered second-degree burns to her face.

About 2 million of the recalled disc packages were distributed in the U.S.; the rest were in Canada.

Consumers can contact the company at 866-918-8763 for more information or visit its website.

(© Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

(credit: Magnolia Pictures)

Pssst! Want to win your Oscar pool? Well, it often seems to come down to picking the right candidates in the short film categories.

Most people pick those winners blindly, typically picking the title that sounds the most like your average Oscar winner — metaphors and gerunds score highly on this scale.

Luckily for you, the Lagoon Theater and Shorts International will be presenting the ten movies nominated in the short animated film and short live action film categories this Friday, for one week only. So there’s no excuse to enter your pool uninformed.

Here’s my preview of all nominees and a few educated guesses as to which ones will win. But seriously, don’t take my word for it. See them for yourself.

(Note: The animated shorts program also features four extra “highly commended,” but not nominated, titles — Nullarbor, Amazonia, Skylight & Hybrid Union.)

——-

ANIMATED SHORTS

● Dimanche (Sunday) — One of two shorts produced by the National Film Board of Canada in this year’s competition, Dimanche is a wry, slightly cracked look at a boy trying to fight the tedium of Sunday trips to church and grandparents’ countryside homes. He takes to placing coins on train tracks. Nostalgic without being cloying.

● The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore — At 15 minutes, this is the blockbuster epic of this year’s grouping. With nods to Hurricane Katrina, The Wizard of Oz and Reading Rainbow, Lessmore is as arch and dandy as its Wes Anderson-ish title suggests. I thought it wore out its welcome by the time it reached its epilogue, but maybe the forthcoming iPad app will make it snap for me.

● La Luna (The Moon) — Pixar’s only nomination of the year, thanks to the utter critical failure of Cars 2, La Luna is a lovely storybook tale of a boy who joins his seafaring father and grandfather to see the family line of work in action. Stressing magical realism, La Luna stands alongside WALL-E and Up in Pixar’s warm, irony-free legacy.

● A Morning Stroll — But if irony is what you seek (and the voters who gave Logorama the trophy two years ago might be), than A Morning Stroll is your best bet this year. A simple chicken joke gets three versions — one set in the 1920s, one set in the current day, and one set in the future. The second and third sections are borderline strident, but the silent movie-ish beginning might resonate in this, the year of The Artist.

(credit: Magnolia Pictures)

● Wild Life — The other movie from the National Film Board of Canada, Wild Life shows the consequences of a British lad’s ill-prepared relocation to the hinterlands of Alberta. With delicate brushstroke-style images and a poetic, disjointed story approach, Wild Life feels the most fully-rounded of these five.

WILL WIN: La Luna, not just because it’s one of the best in this group, but also because some (read: not me) might say Pixar got “snubbed” in the animated feature category.

DESERVES TO WIN: Wild Life has the most evocative animation of the five, and also has the storyline most likely to appeal to adults regardless of their overall feelings about cartoons.

——-

(credit: Magnolia Pictures)

LIVE-ACTION SHORTS

● Pentacost – As one of my fellow movie buffs suggested, this has the feel of a British Advertisement Award winner, but not so much an Oscar winner. An altar boy named Damian (o rly?) screws up a service and his father punishes him by forbidding him to watch soccer for pretty much ever. But then he gets a second chance thanks to a very important visitor. Basically one long lead-up to its punchline.

(credit: Magnolia Pictures)

● Raju — It’s to Oscar voters’ credit that the live-action short category has often managed to avoid simply voting for the most socially conscious candidate, regardless of its formal level of quality. This year, though, the most obviously socially-minded nominee — about a German couple who try to adopt an Indian orphan only to find themselves trying not to invoke the phrase “First World Problems” — is also one of the most well-produced.

● The Shore — The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore of this category, in that it’s the most obviously expansive and well-funded. However, its excessive length (31 minutes) almost ends up working against it in that its story — about a childhood misunderstanding and a long-deferred reunion — feels somehow shortchanged and preemptive. Still, it’s got Ciaran Hinds, which in this category is some serious star wattage.

● Time Freak — A snarky, one-joke entry about an awkward young man who invents a time machine. It couldn’t be more obviously a student film, but you know what? The last few movies that have won in this category have also been snarky, one-joke shorts that feel like student films. It still feels a little out of its league in this company, but you stand warned that it could be a sleeper cell.

● Tuba Atlantic — This Norwegian short has already won the Student Academy Award (for whatever that might be worth), and that’s not the only thing going for it. A black humored tale of a craggy, sea-weathered man trying, in his last few days of life, to get in touch with his estranged brother on the other side of the pond is canny, with a perfect balance of slapstick and sentiment.

WILL WIN: Tuba Atlantic, which also stands to benefit from its placement at the tail end of the program. The punchline will send voters out on an undeniable high note.

DESERVES TO WIN: Tuba Atlantic. As a Norwegian, I’m admittedly biased, but see if the protagonist’s increasingly vicious ways to pick off those pesky seagulls don’t win you over.

Hecker was moved to central Wisconsin after a short stay at the Federal Prison Camp in Duluth, Minn. — a minimum security prison.

The Federal Correctional Institution in Oxford is located about 60 miles north of Madison, situated off I-39 at the intersection of County Road G and Elk Avenue.

The FCI Oxford is a medium security institution for men.

Hecker is currently serving a 10-year prison sentence for bankruptcy fraud.

The state House passed the gun bill last year and senators gave it a final committee vote Thursday. A number of law enforcement groups are against the bill, but opponents say they see little opportunity at this point to stop it from passing. Those critics say they fear the legislation could endanger police officers.

The bill allows the use of deadly force with a weapon if people feel like they’re in imminent danger while defending a dwelling. That could include a home, a hotel room or other overnight accommodation, a tent, car or boat.

Gov. Mark Dayton has not indicated if he supports the bill.

(© Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

The Army wanted to replace the 1903 Springfield bolt-action rifles the volunteer rifle squad used to provide military honors at nearly 60,000 burials. The predated World War I model was to be replaced by a World War II vintage semiautomatic. The newer model is heavier, with a tricky reloading mechanism that could give the older volunteers some trouble. The Army’s new policy had also limited the squad to 15 rifles, down from 50 now shared among five details.

Kline planned to introduce legislation Thursday to allow the Army to loan or donate excess rifles to American Legion and VFW local chapters.

(© Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

The story comes from our CBS business reporter and hometown favorite, Rebecca Jarvis.  Jarvis shared details on the WCCO Morning news on Thursday.   Here is the update from CBS.

Here’s the story from CBS News.

ST. PAUL (WCCO) — Light rail construction along University Avenue is on schedule, but the work has come at a cost. It’s taken a toll on many of the businesses along that street.

Around Valentine’s Day, Chocolat Celeste in St. Paul is approaching what should be one of its busiest times of year.

“Chocolate is a happy business. People come here to be happy. I want to be happy,” said owner Mary Leonard.

She is hoping she’ll feel the love from her customers this Valentine’s Day. The last year and a half has left her with a lot of heartache.

“It really is almost like starting over,” said Leonard.

She moved her shop off University Ave. and Highway 280 when light rail construction got underway because she lost customer parking. The move cost her a lot of business.

“A lot of people thought we closed permanently,” she said.

Without the traffic she was forced to cut two full-time employees.

“Our revenue is about half of what it was previously, but I haven’t been able to take home a salary,” she said.

Leonard is not alone. According to the University Avenue Business Association, 25 percent of the shops and store fronts along the stretch of road under construction on University Ave. are vacant.

President Jack McCann said for this are it should be around 8 percent.

“Some people took a large hit and they’re still here and they have three more years to stay here to realize the benefit of the rail. And that’s gonna be difficult,” said McCann.

He said a lot of people have avoided the area because it was such a mess. Currently, he said it is easier to maneuver.

“People are rolling through here, this is not a hard place to get around,” said McCann.

He expects people will slowly come back and a new million dollar marketing campaign funded by Corridor Project could give business a boost, too.

Leonard said she’s already changed her strategy and she’s hoping Cupid will help her out.

“We hope customers will start coming back (on Valentine’s Day),” she said.

Leonard has tried some new things to keep her business going. She’s been using social media and she recently did a Groupon to help drive people to her website. She is also doing specialized chocolates for corporations.

One of the difficulties has been letting people know where she’s located; just off Cleveland and University Ave. which turns into Transfer Road, near the Amtrak station.

The new marketing project is expected to start sometime in the next few weeks when construction picks up again. They’ll be spending $1.2 million to help bring people back to the area.

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — If you need a break from winter, head over to the Minneapolis Convention Center and think spring.

The RV, Vacation and Camping show gets underway Thursday and there’s plenty to see.

This is the 45th year for the RV, Vacation and Camping Show. Watch the videos from Chris Stanford’s live reports.

WCCO-TV’s Chris Stanford Reports

Photo Credit: Momento Images

By Emily Buss

Commanding attention in a very male-dominated music scene, female powerhouse Ryanne Noelle is making damn sure you hear her out. As one of the local scenes female-led groups, she is making a name for not only herself but her band as well. Singing lead vocals for the rock band 7th Ascent, Ryanne Noelle and band mates have taken their talents to new heights. From music videos and album signing parties, Ryanne Noelle and her band are making their names known. Music has given her the chance to show off what she’s got, and alongside 7th Ascent, she’s got it all.

——-

CBS Minnesota: So, Ryanne, briefly explain to me who you are and what you do.

Ryanne: I’m real. I’m true. I’m Ryanne Noelle. I’m soon-to-be 26 years old. I was born in California to two wonderful people, Laurie and Tim, and raised here in Minnesota. I’m a singer, songwriter, and semi-decent musician. I’m self-taught, with my dad’s help, on the piano and guitar. I currently sing lead vocals for the Minneapolis rock group 7th Ascent. We’re pretty much the coolest thing ever, if I do say so myself. But, I totally could be biased. You decide.

Photo Credit: Andrew Brown Photography

CBS Minnesota: How did you get your start here in Minneapolis?

Ryanne: It all started with my dad who is a musician and he is where I caught my “music gene.” So my childhood was submerged in music. After high school I regularly attended karaoke nights at local restaurants and ran into a group who called themselves The Sole City. They invited me to join them as their piano player and after the first practice my titled was changed to singer. It was a very diverse group and the females of the group had some seriously ridiculous pipes and ridiculously amazing vocal talent. As they pushed me and challenged me to keep up with them, my singing style, influence, and stage presence slowly evolved. If it wasn’t for those lovely individuals of The Sole City, I wouldn’t be the vocalist and performer I am today.

CBS Minnesota: What is what you are doing here in the Twin Cities so important?

Ryanne: Music is my passion. Singing is my life. It’s my therapy, my public diary. I sing with soul, my heart and hope that the end product is something that moves people, connects with them, and hopefully makes a difference in their lives.

CBS Minnesota: What is your favorite thing about working in this music scene?

Ryanne: I think it’s a combination of the following. One, having being ridiculed my entire school life. I finally have the opportunity to prove to those who always said I’d be nothing, that I am something. So getting to perform where I grew up, that’s definitely a possibility. And, two, getting to work and perform with some seriously amazing artists and bands. I’ve had the privilege to work with three Minneapolis hip hop artists, and I even got to do a music video with on of them, Mike Dreams. And, I’ve absolutely loved every second of it. I adore my band, and I am with them 100 percent. But, I’ve also enjoyed working on these side projects as a solo artist.

Photo Credit: Andrew Brown Photography

CBS Minnesota: Five-second shameless plug … GO!

Ryanne: You can find me regularly flexing my vocal chords with my band, 7th Ascent. Find us on Youtube, Facebook, and iTunes or at 7thascent.com. You may also find my solo music page and projects at facebook.com/ryannenoelleofficialpage.

Emily Buss is a music journalist from Minneapolis and author of On the Rechord blog. On the Rechord is a music site dedicated to the local music scene in the Twin Cities. Emily writes concert and album reviews, band and artist profiles, and provides information about local shows. A college graduate with a degree in Mass Communications with an emphasis on Journalism, Emily has been professionally writing for newspapers and online outlets for six years. You can find Emily at ontherechord.com, on Facebook at On the Rechord and on Twitter @TheEmilyB.