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MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – It is “definitely gross,” “disgusting,” and an outdoor “ashtray,” according to people we talked with. Cigarette butts are the number one form of litter along our nation’s roadways.

But is it illegal to toss a cigarette on the ground? Is law enforcement doing anything about it? And how long does it take for cigarettes to break down and biodegrade?

“It really is a pet peeve of mine, because they’re so small no one is likely to take the time to pick them up,” said Natalie Wires.

But one Maplewood man, Roger Svendsen, does pick them up.

“Some refer to me as the butt man,” said Svendsen, who is a one-man cigarette butt clean-up crew.

“I think they throw the butts, thinking they’re nothing,” he said.

Svendsen walks around Lake Phelan every day, and says he picked up 65,000 butts in a year. One day he said he picked up 2,074 in one day.

“People obviously don’t consider butts to be even litter,” he said.

But police think differently.

“It is. It’s littering,” said Lt. Eric Roeske, a spokesperson for the Minnesota State Patrol.

Minnesota state statue 169.42 specifically mentions “ashes” and “cigarette filters.” Littering is a misdemeanor, and it goes on your driving record. A second offense has a minimum fine of $400.

So why doesn’t the State Patrol do anything?

“Actually we do,” Roeske said. In the year between May 2011 and April 30, 2012, the State Patrol issued 195 citations for littering and 388 warnings.

“Most of those are for cigarette butts,” he said.

Many smokers think the cigarettes are just paper – and degrade quickly. But according to the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, they have a serious environmental impact.

A single butt is tiny, and has no impact; but in the aggregate, about 1.7 billion pounds of butts are tossed on the roads, sidewalks, and beaches in the U.S. every year.

The filters don’t ever really degrade, and their chemicals are just absorbed into the soil and water. Researchers have found dangers for waterways and fish.

State Troopers have bigger safety issues than cigarette butts, but they say they do pull people over.

“It can be an indication about someone who just doesn’t care about other traffic laws,” Roeske said. “Some night shift troopers have arrested drunk drivers on littering stops when they see those cigarette butts fly out the window.”

MONTICELLO, Minn. (WCCO) – For 124 Minnesota soldiers, the war in Afghanistan isn’t over — it’s just beginning.

Three weeks after President Barack Obama said all troops would be out by 2014, friends and family said goodbye to members of the 257th Military Police Company as they left Wednesday, just days before Memorial Day.

“I don’t have any insight on [the war] ending, because mine’s just starting,” said Spc. Zach Haugen.

Soldiers and their spouses find Obama’s anticipated ending date hard to believe.

“I’ll believe it when I see it,” said Andrea Stai, a soldier’s wife. “I think they’ll have to stay there until it’s safe and then hopefully they can move out and go to the next stage for everyone.”

The 257th will be responsible for teaching and coaching members of the Afghan National Army.

It was the first departure ceremony and deployment for a majority of the soldiers, including Haugen.

Haugen has 1-month-old son and a 2-year-old daughter. He says that missing his kids early years will be the most challenging thing for him and his wife.

“She’s holding up strong for now,” Haugen said. “Next week, it’ll be a whole different story.”

The soldiers will leave for training in Fort Bliss, Texas, on Monday before going to Afghanistan in the spring. They’re expected to return in the summer of 2013.

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – No parent wants their child to suffer from hunger pains, but for one Twin Cities family, that’s a constant struggle.

Two-year-old Nick Joncas never feels full. He has a disease that has forced his parents to lock the kitchen cabinets and control his every meal.

When Nick was just 6-days-old, his parents, Colette and Eric Joncas, were told their baby had a genetic syndrome called Prader Willi. Both Nick’s parents are nurses, but neither had heard of the disease.

In children with Prader-Willi syndrome, their metabolism only works about half as quickly as normal, which leaves them constantly hungry.

“He is literally feeling that he is starving to death,” Colette Joncas said.

Dr. Bradley Miller, Nick’s pediatric endocrinologist at Amplatz Children’s Hospital, says even when Nick eats, his body doesn’t register the food.

Miller said children with Prader-Willi syndrome have an issue with how their hypothalami regulate food and hunger. There is no cure.

“We just don’t know how to fix it,” Miller said.

Doctors say people with Prader-Willi syndrome feel ravenous; they liken it to the feeling healthy people get with they haven’t eaten for three days. There’s nothing those with the disease can do to minimize that feeling of constant hunger. But there are ways parents can help kids cope.

Nick’s parents have decided to lock up the food cabinets. They say children with Prader-Willi syndrome often feel better when there’s a lock on the fridge.

“If they know they don’t have access to it, then they don’t think about it, they don’t dwell on it,” Colette Joncas said.

Nick’s parents say he’s becoming more serious about food.

“He’s much more likely to finish or clean his plate than he was before,” Colette Joncas said.

Nick has a brother, Oliver, who is one year older. Oliver’s supposed to have several more calories than Nick, a concept that may only be tougher on the boys as they grow up and become more aware.

“You’ve got one you can’t feed and the other who’s hungry and you should be feeding,” Eric Joncas said.

Colette Joncas worries that later in life, Nick will likely have to live with the stigma of obesity. But unlike with most who are obese, Nick’s poor choices won’t be to blame.

For now, Colette Joncas spends hours each week preparing perfectly portioned meals. The Joncas family has strict food rules to give the boys’ diets structure. There are no seconds, no desserts and no choices when it comes to meals.

“My kids don’t know what suckers are, they don’t know what candy bars are,” Colette Joncas said.

For those with Prader-Willi syndrome, most calories go to fat for storage. Another symptom is that kids’ muscles are weak due to the constant feeling of hunger.

Once a day, Nick gets a growth hormone shot. The daily injection helps him gain more lean muscle and burn off calories. Nick also goes to physical therapy three times a week to build up his muscles.

“He wasn’t supposed to walk til 18 months old, he walked at 14 months old,” Colette Joncas said.

Beating the odds is something Colette Joncas knows a thing or two about.

“Doctors won’t tell you what your child can do, your child will tell you what they can do,” she said.

While WCCO-TV’s cameras were shooting at the Joncas household, Colette asked Nick if he was ready for lunch.

Nick replied, “No.”

“I love to hear my child with Prader Willi tell me he doesn’t want to eat, he’d rather play with his toys,” Colette Joncas said. “It means we’ve got a little more time.”

What looks like a victory to Colette and Eric may not look like a milestone to other parents: that’s where Colette says she’s found meaning. Life is about celebrating the little things.

“I don’t care, I don’t care if he doesn’t go to college; I don’t care if he doesn’t do any of those things,” she said. “I just want him to be happy. I don’t want him to suffer. I don’t want him to hurt.”

While she can’t take away his hunger, she can fill him with love.

“He loves and he knows that he is loved,” Colette Joncas said.

One in 10,000 children have Prader-Willi syndrome.

A walk is planned for June 2 in Apple Valley at the Johnny Cake Ridge Park East at 10 a.m. The walk will raise money for medical research. So far, Colette Joncas is the top fund-raiser.

For more information on the walk, click here. WCCO-TV’s Aristea Brady is emceeing the event.

Sale pitched seven sharp innings and Paul Konerko and Alex Rios backed him with home runs, leading the Chicago White Sox to a 6-0 win over the Minnesota Twins on Wednesday night.

Sale (5-2) held the Twins to two hits and two walks, striking out six. He has allowed three runs or less in all eight of his starts in his first year as a member of the rotation.

“Part of pitching is finding a groove and rolling with it,” Sale said. “I felt early that I got into a groove and A.J. (Pierzynski) back there calling one of the best games I’ve seen him call in a while. It was fun to be out there.”

Still showing a black eye after getting hit in the face by a pitch last Friday, Konerko had three hits and scored three times.

“It’s only when I look in the mirror that I can see something is wrong with it,” he said.

Konerko connected in the seventh for his ninth homer of the season. He’s hitting .548 (17 of 31) during a nine-game hitting streak and his .381 average for the season is two points better than Texas’ Josh Hamilton for the AL lead.

“You’re always grinding out there,” Konerko said. “I had one good swing the whole night, a really good swing at the end there that turns into a home run.”

Rios sent a two-run homer into the Twins’ bullpen in left field in the fourth, his first home run since April 7 at Texas.

“I think he’s been swinging it pretty good and not really hitting home runs,” White Sox manager Robin Ventura said. “Just approach-wise he’s been looking good at the plate, putting in his work and feeling comfortable at the plate.”

The White Sox recorded their fifth shutout of the season and have won five of six. Chicago had lost 9-2 to Minnesota on Tuesday.

“These guys are resilient,” Ventura said. “They find a way to come back and as difficult as yesterday was all the way around to be able to bounce back and put together a game like this all the way around, pitching and the offense, is nice to see.”

The Twins entered the game with the worst record in the AL, but had gone 5-1 on their current road trip. They hurt themselves by making three errors, setting up three unearned runs — Minnesota had committed just one error in its previous eight games. Minnesota has been shut out eight times this season.

“Sale was really good on us,” Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. “He didn’t give us much of a chance. Our defense, which has been playing really good, as talked about before the ballgame — I think we jinxed ourselves.”

Scott Diamond (3-1) allowing five runs, only two of them earned, and gave up a season-high nine hits. He left the game with a 1.78 ERA this season.

“He threw the ball well,” Gardenhire said. “Unfortunately, we didn’t make some plays behind him. We made him throw some extra pitches and made him work a little bit harder.”

Sale permitted just one runner past first base and was aided by a pair of double plays. He’s made a seamless return to the rotation over his last three outings after a brief shift to the bullpen, the team’s response to his elbow soreness.

“I felt like I was commanding my fastball well and I threw the changeup for strikes more so than I have been,” he said.

Chicago scored an unearned run in the first on Adam Dunn’s RBI single, helped by an error from second baseman Jamey Carroll. The White Sox tacked on two more unearned runs in the sixth on an RBI double by Pierzynski and an RBI groundout by Orlando Hudson, with right fielder Darin Mastroianni dropping a fly ball during the inning.

NOTES: Joe Mauer reached base three times for Minnesota on a single and a pair of walks. He’s reached base in 13 of his last 18 plate appearances. … Hudson made his first career start at third base. … Ventura said that rookie Addison Reed is now his full-time closer. Reed has converted all four of his save opportunities this season.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Union workers have overwhelmingly ratified a new three-year contract that averted a strike at eight Twin Cities hospitals.

The union represents 3,500 nursing assistants, technicians and support staff. The agreement was reached last week after union members voted to authorize a 2- to 5-day strike.

The union says the new contract holds back on increases in health benefit premiums, retains overtime benefits and includes small wage increases.

The Service Employees International Union Healthcare Minnesota represents workers at Bethesda, Fairview Riverside, Fairview Southdale, Methodist, St. John’s, North Memorial and Children Hospitals in Minneapolis and Children’s Hospital in St. Paul.

Kimberly Michele Burkett, 33, of Browerville, faces one count of theft and one count of theft by swindle, according to documents filed Wednesday in Todd County. If convicted of both counts, she could face a sentence of up to 20 years in prison and/or a fine of up to $40,000.

According to court documents, the charges stem from an investigation conducted by the Otter Tail County Sheriff’s Office and the Todd County Sheriff’s Office.

Investigators were first tipped off about the alleged misconduct after a bank called the chamber, saying there was an overdraft on one of the chamber’s accounts.

An investigation revealed that funds were missing from three chamber accounts over which Burkett had exclusive credit card access.

Chamber account statements showed that Burkett had written checks to herself (not regular payroll) and used account funds to fill what appeared to be personal needs. The statements showed payments to Victoria’s Secret, tattoo removal facilities and nail salons.

Chamber bank records also showed that Burkett made car payments on her husband’s vehicle using chamber funds. He husband is Nathan Burkett, the Todd County Administrator.

The chamber estimates that Burkett embezzled $29,191.68.

Records showed that suspicious transactions took place shortly after Burkett was hired in July 2011 and that they continued through April 30, 2012.

Police arrested Burkett on May 11 and brought her to the Otter Tail County Detention Facility, court documents said.

NEW ULM, Minn. (AP/WCCO) — A burst of strong winds has damaged dozens of vehicles at a south-central Minnesota car dealership.

Winds and heavy rain ripped through Kohls-Weelborg Chevrolet in New Ulm around 4:30 p.m. Wednesday. Cars sustained broken windows, metal flag poles snapped like twigs and air conditioning units flew off nearby store ceilings.

General manager Doug Schablin says the storm hit without warning. He says the rain and wind “turned everything white.”

Within 20-30 seconds, Schablin says it was over. He says the wind blew out the windows of 70 vehicles and bent flagpoles at the dealership to the ground.

The National Weather Service says winds at the airport were clocked at 75 mph.

A Brown County sheriff’s dispatcher says trees and signs are down in New Ulm, but no injuries are reported.

Much of central and northern Minnesota and parts of southern Minnesota are under flash flood watches until Thursday.

(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.)

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — The University of St. Thomas baseball team is heading to its fifth Division-III College World Series.

The Tommies begin play on Friday afternoon in the double-elimination tournament in Appleton, Wis. This year’s team has an impressive pitching staff that’s helped pave the road to the series – the Tommies’ top three pitchers are 28- 3 and have an ERA under 2.

And for senior pitcher Bryce Gapinki, he’s hoping for a bit of déjà vu.

“We were fortunate to win it my freshman year,” Gapinski said. “And I think we have the talent to come back and win it again. It’d be the perfect ending – win in it my freshman year, and come back and win it my senior year.”

GARRISON, Minn. (WCCO) – With its walleye chop and whitecaps, Lake Mille Lacs is more playground than place for commercial navigation.

But in March 2010, the U.S. Coast Guard issued an administrative ruling, claiming the lake was a federally navigable body of water and subject to limited federal authority.

The decision was based on historic circumstances dating back to the French fur trade, when Mille Lacs was reachable by canoes traveling up the Mississippi and Rum rivers.

Critics point out that Mille Lacs is not navigable, because the Rum River is dammed at Anoka, preventing any commercial navigation.

But that hasn’t stopped the Coast Guard from laying claim on the lake and the fishing guides who use it.

“Technically, I guess it’s the law right now,” said Phil Erickson, owner of Myr Mar Marina on the north shore of Lake Mille Lacs.

Erickson’s talking about a federal boating license called the “six pack,” a reference to the Coast Guard required license for fishing guides who take on six or fewer customers on their boats.

Guides and resort owners like Erickson said the Coast Guard was threatening to enforce the requirement in 2010, but then never followed through. But recent rumblings in Washington D.C. could indicate that enforcement isn’t far off.

“We have licenses for our launch captains, but it’s not the Coast Guard license,” Erickson said. “It’s through the state.”

While the launches that many resorts operate on Mille Lacs are inspected annually by the state of Minnesota, smaller boats and their guides are allowed to operate freely, just as long as they follow the state’s public fishing and boating laws.

“It’s an overkill, as far as I’m concerned,” said long-time guide, Bob Carlson, about the Coast Guard’s regulations on Mille Lacs.

Carlson grew up on Mille Lacs and has guided on the lake for the past 22 years. He said if more safety oversight is needed, it should be the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources that does it, not the U.S. Coast Guard.

“I see the Coast Guard on Lake of the Woods and on larger bodies of water like that,” Carlson said. “But in Mille Lacs Lake here? I don’t see the need.”

On May 17, Eighth District U.S. Rep. Chip Cravaak (R-Minn.), introduced the “Freedom to Fish Act,” legislation to stop the Coast Guard’s actions. Cravaak calls the Coast Guard ruling on Mille Lacs an intrusion and redundant of state enforcement.

Guide Tony Roach has seven others working for him. Just getting the Coast Guard’s license could cost each of them between $1,200 and $2,000, pricing many of these part-timers out of a job.

“It’s going to be a huge expense for them, considering the summer window is pretty short,” Roach said. “There’s really no commercial shipping, no navigation whatsoever out on this body of water, so other than public safety, I don’t see any need for it.”

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – The number of homes sold due to foreclosure or short sales is the lowest it’s been in more than a year. Economists say that’s a good sign for Minnesota’s housing market.

In fact, home sales across the country are up 3.4 percent. And in Minnesota last month, foreclosures and short sales were just 20 percent of all houses sold. That’s the lowest it’s been in 17 months.

While the numbers seem to indicate foreclosures are finding a bottom, a day in the Hennepin County Housing Court suggests the crisis isn’t over.

A WCCO-TV camera was allowed into a courtroom as part of a pilot project ordered by the Minnesota Supreme Court.

“Good morning everybody,” said referee Mark Labine. “All of you are here either because a landlord or owner is seeking possession on breach of a lease.”

Labine heard 43 cases before noon the day cameras were allowed in court. He says the housing court is one of the fastest courts in the state.

“Housing court is very fast,” he said. “There’s no other court in the state where things happen so fast. In a lot of countries it takes a year or two to evict somebody from a home, and in Minnesota it takes about two weeks.”

In Minnesota, most cases settle, Labine said.

“But over 90 percent of the cases involve non-payment of rent, and it’s pretty straight forward. If you don’t pay the rent, you’re probably going to be evicted.”

Of the 43 cases Labine heard,, 23 were settled with agreements, 16 led to immediate evictions, and only four went to trial. Although that seems like a lot of work, Labine says the numbers are down.

“In 2008, we had about 11,000 cases in housing court,” he said. “And we’re going to be lucky to hit 8,000 this year.”

Watch the video above to get a pulse on the pace of Minnesota’s housing court.

ST. PAUL (WCCO) – A dramatic protest from a group of Minnesota seniors Wednesday: They cut up their AARP cards, upset because AARP is opposing the Voter ID amendment on the ballot this fall.

Minnesota seniors make up the largest single voting block on Election Day. Polling data seems to show a majority of Minnesotans support the idea of showing ID when they vote. But AARP, the state’s largest senior advocacy group, says the amendment could stop thousands of the elderly from voting.

So, in a show of protest and defiance, conservative seniors cut up their AARP cards. They are calling the state’s biggest advocate for the elderly out of touch with its members, whom they say support Voter ID.

“We think it’s wrong for a membership-based organization to take a position on an issue that’s diametrically opposed to a super majority of its members. It’s just upside down,” said Jeff Davis | MN Majority

AARP Minnesota says it’s never polled its 700,000 member, but says that seniors oppose it once they hear what’s in it. What’s in it, says the state director, is troubling.

“For not only seniors, but for the disabled, this will make it significantly more difficult for them to vote. It may even prevent them from voting,” said Michele Kimball of AARP Minnesota.

The Minnesota Secretary of State’s office estimates at least 64,000 Minnesotans 55 and older do not have a current, valid ID.

AARP says seniors also face sudden life changes that could put them in a nursing home, and many others gave up their driver’s license long ago.

“Right now, we know there are 64,000 people in the state of Minnesota who would have great difficulty getting a valid ID, a government-issued ID, in time to vote in the election,” added Kimball.

However, the protesters who cut up their cards say it’s not hard to get a new ID, and claim AARP’s alternative is worse.

“I am concerned that what they are promoting is continued voter fraud, and not voter freedom,” said Joe Rimley of White Bear Lake.

AARP Minnesota says it is non-partisan and has only one goal: protecting seniors.

AARP saw similar protests when it supported President Barack Obama’s federal health care plan, but also President George W. Bush’s Medicare prescription drug plan.

By cutting up the cards, the seniors lose the senior discounts and other AARP-sponsored programs, including insurance help.

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — In the old days, summer vacation would be a time when kids would put the books away and play.

But as concern about school performance and testing has grown and there has been a growing trend toward schools either assigning or recommending summer homework.

Experts in education said students lose an average of two to three months of what they learned over the summer. And, studies show that for low-income children the drop off is often greater because their families may not have the resources, or time to encourage reading or math.

That’s why schools across the nation are putting together summer programs.

At Deephaven Elementary, the principal has set up a “challenge” for students over the summer for the past seven years.

It’s a math, reading and writing program that’s been a big success.

At first, children weren’t sure. Fourth-grader Harry Koeppen said, “Some of them were like, ‘Oh, homework in the summer.’”

But last year, one-third of all kids at Deephaven Elementary completed the three-part Summer Reading, Writing and Math challenge. Students and parents are given this calendar and log their daily work.

Fourth-grader Brooks Carver said, “Reading — I think it’s like 20 minutes a day.”

The reading goal is 1,500 minutes, the writing goal is two stories per month, and the math goal is 50 days at five minutes a day.

Principal Bryan McGinley said it’s the daily work that pays off.

“The idea of doing it every day is more important I believe, than say, a week out of your summer,” he said.

Kids that complete the challenge get taken out to lunch, and get coupons for the school book fair.

“The goal is to stave off that summer learning loss,” McGinley said.

Interested in seeing on of the summer challenge calendars? Click here.

CRYSTAL, Minn. (WCCO) — Police in Crystal are asking for the public’s help in finding suspects after more than 100 vases were stolen from a cemetery in the city on Tuesday.

Police said the incident happened at the Glen Haven Memorial Garden on the 5100 block of West Broadway. Vases were stolen from the cemetery on three separate occasions, with the most recent incident happening Tuesday.

“The ones we noticed missing had the flowers thrown to the side and the vase was totally missing,” said Washburn-McReavy’s, Dale Carlson.

Two of Washburn-McReavy’s cemeteries, Crystal Lake and Glen Haven Memorial Garden, have been targeted by thieves looking to cash in on the bronze. At eight pounds each, the vases are disappearing at an alarming rate. More than 100 have been stolen since May 15.

“To find out that your personal property has been stolen right from the gravesite of a loved one, it’s very sad,” said Carlson.

Crystal Police believe that the bronze vases are being sold for scrap metal. Local salvage dealers have been notified to be on the watch for suspicious customers looking to unload scrap bronze.

“It’s pretty low,” said Debbie Mauch, who just learned of the thefts as she and her family came to Glen Haven to decorate the grave of her daughter. “First, I was surprised! Why would somebody do that? I would hate to come out to find out that it was gone.”

Replacement of the vases, even at wholesale, will cost each family about $200. Washburn-McReavy is offering a replacement plastic version at no cost to fill the need created by the upcoming Memorial Day weekend.

Still, it’s the loss of respect for this very sacred and solemn place that carries no price tag.

“It’s tragic, it’s tragic when they come out at a time like this to have that happen,” Dale Carlson added.

To help solve the thefts, Washburn-McReavy is offering a $1,000 reward for information that leads to the arrests of those responsible.

“They’re worth a lot of money,” said Deputy Chief Stephanie Fealy of the Crystal Police Department. “So we are really looking for the help of the public.”

NewsRadio 830 WCCO’s Steve Murphy Reports

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Crystal Police tip line at 763-531-1020.

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — Minneapolis announced that the city will be hosting the USA Volleyball Girls’ Junior National Championships in 2014.

The tournament will feature the top girls volleyball talent in the nation ages 12 to 18. It’s expected to be an eight-day event that will start June 25 and wrap up on July 2, 2014. Along with showcasing the talent from across the country, the event will also bring out college recruiters.

The estimated economic impact the city can expect from hosting the event is more than $60 million.

The tournament is expected to bring more than 30,000 athletes and spectators to the city, marking one of the most significant influxes the Twin Cities has seen since the Republican National Convention in 2008.

Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak and the president of Meet Minneapolis were on hand Wednesday morning to make the announcement.

Minneapolis business owners, like Ann Kim, who owns Pizzeria Lola, are eager to see an uptick in business during the tournament.

“To have people come from outside the state and see what we do and how well we do it, in terms of food, in terms of hospitality, in terms of the arts…I think it’s fantastic,” Kim said.

Hotels will likely feel the biggest economic impact.

About 8,000 hotel rooms are in Bloomington alone. They’ll host players and some of the 20,000 spectators from across the country.

The event should also be good news for the Mall of America, which caters to young girls and their families.

“An event like this is so great, because they eat in our restaurants, they shop at the mall,” said Dan O’Neill with the Bloomington Convention and Visitors Bureau. “It provides an economic impact that we work so hard to bring to the area.”

Bloomington stands to gain $15 million from the tournament.

Twin Cities leaders call hosting the tournament a major score. They’re now set to host these national championships for the second time.

“I welcome it!” Kim said. “I think it’s fantastic! Bring it on!”

In an email to parents, Eastview High School said two students released over-the-counter pepper spray into the school’s main office and C2 hallway following an “exceptional” student awards ceremony. Students and faculty began to feel irritation in their eyes and throats around 10 a.m.

There were no “medical injuries,” the school said. But Apple Valley firefighters responded to the scene.

The school said the two students involved were immediately identified and reported to Apple Valley police.

The school sent the email to parents at 1 p.m.

In an interview with The Associated Press, John Linc Stine said his agency is developing a voluntary program to encourage farmers to help reduce sediment that muddies the rivers and threatens to transform Lake Pepin — a scenic wide spot on the Mississippi — into a bog in coming years. He acknowledged that farmers who don’t want to clean up their runoff won’t have to.

“The fact that agriculture is exempt under the federal Clean Water Act, that’s something we can’t change,” he said.

In a wide-ranging interview, the state’s top pollution watchdog also said he believes copper-nickel mining in northeastern Minnesota can be done responsibly. He said he’s not inclined to get his agency closely involved with frac sand mining in southeastern Minnesota. And he defended Gov. Mark Dayton’s push to streamline the MPCA’s environmental permitting process.

Stine became commissioner of the MPCA on May 9. Two weeks into his new job, Stine still hasn’t moved into the corner office of his predecessor, Paul Aasen, who left for a job with the city of Minneapolis and recommended his deputy’s promotion. Stine, 54, has spent most of his career in state government, including high-level posts in the Department of Natural Resources and the Minnesota Department of Health.

Cutting sediment in Minnesota’s largest rivers is one of the MPCA’s top current goals. The public comment period on a draft plan closes next week, but environmentalists have already criticized them as weak on one of the leading sources of that sediment, agricultural runoff.

Stine said the voluntary certification program being developed by his agency with the state and federal agriculture departments to reward farmers who reduce their runoff can make a difference. He said every successful environmental quality program includes a strong voluntary component. Farmers who voluntarily use the best management practices ought to be recognized for it, and doing so will provide peer pressure for other farmers to sign up, he said.

Stine also defended how the MPCA is spending the extra sales tax money it gets under the state’s Legacy Amendment, which funds environmental, outdoors and cultural projects. Critics say the agency’s focus has been too much on collecting data and doing studies, and too little on actually cleaning up lakes and streams. Stine said the data his agency is collecting on the state’s watersheds is critical to understand where its energy needs to go.

“First you have to know where you stand,” he said. “Then you fund and support actions that will, in a targeted way, improve water quality and watersheds around the state.”

Proposed copper, nickel and precious metals mining in northeastern Minnesota is another contentious issue facing the MPCA. Backers say the mining will bring an economic boom to a depressed corner of the state, while critics fear it will be an environmental disaster.

Stine said economic development can happen while still protecting the environment. But he acknowledged that environmentalists have a point when they say mining these metals has caused serious problems elsewhere because they’re bound up in sulfur-bearing minerals that can generate toxic acidic runoff.

“The legacy of mining activities cannot be ignored when you consider the permitting of future mining activities,” Stine said.

The proposed PolyMet mine near Hoyt Lakes is farthest in development. The Environmental Protection Agency rejected PolyMet Mining Corp.’s original environmental impact statement as inadequate, and revisions have taken longer than expected, with the next version now due in early 2013. The DNR is the lead state agency on the environmental review, but Stine said the MPCA is involved because of the air and water quality standards PolyMet must meet.

“They believe — and I don’t disagree with them yet — that they’ll be able to design treatment technologies that will satisfy our water quality standards,” he said.

Stine said he sees only a limited role for the MPCA in an emerging mining issue — frac sand mining in southeastern Minnesota. It’s been dealt with primarily as a local issue so far, and Stine said he doesn’t envision that changing.

He said the silica sand sought by oil and gas companies that use it for hydraulic fracturing in other states is similar to sand and gravel that have long been mined in Minnesota, and has always been regulated locally. He said the MPCA and health department are providing advice to local governments that seek it.

Another major challenge is expected when the EPA tightens its standards for ozone and fine particles. Minnesota complies with current federal standards but may not with the new rules.

If that happens, Stine said Minnesota could have to enact tough restrictions seen in other areas. He noted that Milwaukee and Chicago don’t let trucks drive into the core cities.

“We’ve got to get our particulate matter and our ozone numbers lower before that happens,” he said.

One of Dayton’s top priorities for the MPCA was streamlining its often-slow environmental permitting process, and the goal is now to process them within 150 days. Stine said that doesn’t have to conflict with his agency’s mandate to protect air and water.

“You can streamline and tighten up the timelines but you never compromise on the standards. That’s the way you assure that the environment is protected,” he said.

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

SOUDAN, Minn (WCCO) — A collared bear, named Gentle Jo, was shot and killed in Soudan, Minn. Monday evening, according to the North American Bear Center’s website.

Biologists Lynn Rogers and Sue Mansfield wrote on the website that Jo may have been lured into the town of Soudan due to scarcity of food before being shot. Jo made it into the forest before collapsing on the run from a shot through lung.

Rogers said property owners can legally shoot bears if they think they are a threat.

“She had great potential as a research bear and was one of the gentlest, calmest bears,” Rogers said. “Never did anything that would make us think she would hurt us.”

The Department of Natural Resources has confiscated Jo’s body in their investigation of the shooting.

According to the website, BBC’s Planet Earth Live will being covering Jo’s death on Thursday.

Dan Cook: Turkish earthquake has made cats suicidal
“Over in Turkey, things have been getting even sadder for the cat population. After the earthquake which hit the city of Van last year, Professor Abuzer Tas of the Faculty of Veterinary Studies has claimed that there’s been an increase in feline suicide attempts. He believes that the quake has triggered psychological disorders in local cats and because of this, they’ve been throwing themselves off buildings in desperate attempts to “make it all go away.”

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Jimmy Erickson: City official consults Ouija board before vote
A San Francisco supervisor says he consulted a Ouija board before city leaders voted on whether to recommend naming a Navy ship after slain gay rights activist Harvey Milk. Supervisor John Avalos tells the San Francisco Chronicle that he believes he made contact with Milk’s spirit and that Milk spelled out letters indicating: “Good riddance to don’t ask, don’t tell.”

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Salina Jones: Snake Bites in Wal-Mart Stores Not Isolated Incidents
Snakes? Why did it have to be snakes? A Washington man was built by a snake at Wal-Mart, and as it turns out, this wasn’t the first time someone’s been bitten by a snake at Wal-Mart. Who knew?

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Adam Carter:
Rocks in pants start fire. Whammy.
A 43-year-old woman was hospitalized with second and third degree burns after rocks she collected at the beach burst into flames when she got home. Flames were seeing shooting out of the pants by her kids.

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