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Local/state briefs

SMSU President Gores retirement celebration April 22

Southwest Minnesota State University President Connie J. Gores will be honored at a retirement celebration from 5:30-7:30 p.m. Monday, April 22, in the Conference Center Ballroom.

A program will be at 6:15 p.m.

Gores is SMSU’s first female present, and began her duties in 2013. She is the second-longest serving president in SMSU history.

The event is open to the public.

Young survivors of fatal house fire released from hospital

BIG LAKE (AP) — A family member said two children who survived a house fire in Sherburne County that killed their father and two siblings have been released from the hospital.

The uncle of the children’s mother, Jim Tully told KSTP-TV the surviving children, 7 and 9 years old, are back home following the April 12 fire that killed 1-year-old Spencer Parker, 2-year-old Landon Parker and 36-year-old Anthony Parker.

Investigators believe the father intentionally started the fire at the family’s Big Lake home. The children’s mother wasn’t home at the time.

Tully said the deaths of the toddlers aren’t something you get over, it’s something you try to get through.

He said his niece, Jessica, and Anthony were recently married and that she was working two jobs and going to school. Tully said her life was coming together and now it’s torn apart.

4 injured, including children, injured in school bus crash

BROOKLYN PARK (AP) — Police said two children were among those injured when a SUV driver ran a red light and crashed into a school bus in Brooklyn Park.

Deputy Chief Mark Bruley said the children and drivers of both vehicles were taken to the hospital for treatment of non-life threatening injuries.

The bus was headed to Athlos Leadership Academy in Brooklyn Park when the SUV struck its side about 7 a.m. Tuesday.

The crash remains under investigation.

Woman sues Chinese billionaire Liu for alleged rape

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A woman who said she was raped by JD.com founder Richard Liu filed a lawsuit Tuesday against the billionaire and his company alleging he and other wealthy Chinese executives coerced her to drink during a dinner in the hours before she was attacked.

Jingyao Liu, a student at the University of Minnesota, claims Liu forced himself upon her in his vehicle after the dinner and later raped her at her apartment. The lawsuit seeks damages of more than $50,000.

Richard Liu, founder of the Beijing-based e-commerce site JD.com, was arrested Aug. 31 in Minneapolis on suspicion of felony rape and released within hours. Prosecutors announced in December that he would face no criminal charges because the case had “profound evidentiary problems” and that it was unlikely they could prove his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

Liu’s defense attorneys said at the time that his arrest was based on a false claim. Liu released a statement on Chinese social media then saying he broke no law, but that his interactions with the woman hurt his family, especially his wife, and he hoped she would accept his apology.

Attorneys for Richard Liu and representatives of JD.com did not immediately respond to messages from The Associated Press seeking comment.

The alleged attack happened while Liu was in Minneapolis for a weeklong residency as part of the University of Minnesota’s doctor of business administration China program. The four-year program in the university’s management school is geared toward high-level executives in China and is a partnership with Tsinghua University School of Economics and Management.

Jingyao Liu is a Chinese citizen studying at the university on a student visa, and was a volunteer in the doctorate program while Richard Liu was there. The Associated Press does not generally name alleged victims of sexual assault without their consent; her attorney Wil Florin said Jingyao Liu had agreed to be named.

The lawsuit said she was 21 at the time of the alleged attack. Florin said Richard Liu and Jingyao Liu are not related.

On the night of the alleged attack, Liu and other executives went to Origami, a Japanese restaurant in Minneapolis. The woman went as a volunteer at the invitation of Charlie Yao, another executive in the program. He pitched it as an event to honor volunteers, but no others were invited and Richard Liu had privately asked Yao to invite the plaintiff, the lawsuit said.

Jingyao Liu felt coerced to drink as the powerful men toasted her, with Richard Liu saying she would dishonor him if she did not join in, according to the lawsuit.

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