End-O-Line Railroad Park in Currie to host annual open house event

The End-O-Line Railroad Park and Museum in Currie is having its annual open house on Saturday June 1. The park will be open from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. with normal admission to the park being waived for the day in lieu of free-will offering donations. All buildings will be open to self-tour with volunteers/staff around to answer questions. Throughout the day there will be children’s take-home crafts, free treats and beverages, and different historical demonstrations. Proceeds for the day will go toward continued preservation of the park’s historic structures and rehabilitation of flood damage from summer 2018 and winter 2019.

At 2 p.m. in the Presbyterian Church, Minnesotan author and orphan train historian Renée Wendinger of Sleepy Eye will give a free presentation about the Orphan Train Movement and her book “Extra! Extra! The Orphan Trains and Newsboys of New York.” The Orphan Train Movement was a supervised welfare program in the United States that transported children from crowded Eastern cities to foster homes located largely in rural areas of the Midwest between 1854 and 1929; relocating about 200,000 orphaned, abandoned, abused, or homeless children. Wendinger’s mother, one of the children on the orphan train, took part in a phenomenal journey from New York City and is discussed in her book. Wendinger’s work has been featured in a PBS documentary “West By Orphan Train,” USA Today, People and O magazines, CBS and WVOX New York, WCCO Minnesota, American Radio Broadcast, New York City Tours, and in numerous newspapers across the country. Her books are available for purchase now in the End-O-Line gift shop and will be available that day and after.

Teen pleads guilty to killing man who intervened in assault

ST. PAUL (AP) — A teenager has pleaded guilty to murder in Ramsey County District Court for killing a man who tried to stop him from assaulting his girlfriend.

Theotis Thomas pleaded guilty Tuesday to second-degree murder in the fatal shooting of 21-year-old Mark Franklin Jr. The 19-year-old defendant also pleaded guilty to making threats of violence toward a 17-year-old who witnessed the shooting.

The St. Paul Pioneer Press reported Franklin was trying protected his cousin when Thomas wrapped his hands around her neck last March at a Frogtown home. Thomas fired a gun into a bedroom wall. Franklin tried to wrestle the gun away from him. Thomas’ girlfriend also tried to intervene, but Thomas wound up shooting Franklin in the face.

A plea deal called for four additional criminal counts to be dropped when Thomas is sentenced in August.

Man who died while rock climbing was from Minnesota

WINONA (AP) — Authorities have identified the Minnesota man who died while rock climbing in Colorado.

Twenty-two-year-old Mitchel Halberg of Winona died of a head injury after falling while climbing in Poudre Canyon near Fort Collins, Colorado on Saturday. The death was ruled an accident.

Halberg was a student at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls. An obituary said he was president-elect of the university’s rock climbing club and was celebrating the completion of his first year there with friends in Colorado.

Woman shot by Minneapolis cop sounds breathless in 911 calls

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A woman who was fatally shot by a Minneapolis police officer in July 2017 was breathless and sounded concerned when she called 911 minutes before she was killed.

Audio recordings of Justine Ruszczyk Damond’s two 911 calls were made public Thursday, as a judge began granting access to the exhibits shown in the recent trial of Mohamed Noor.

Noor was convicted of murder.

Damond, a dual citizen of the U.S. and Australia, had called 911 to report a possible sexual assault behind her home. In the first call, she says a woman sounds distressed and she thought she heard the word “help.” Damond called back eight minutes later to ensure police had the right address. She was told officers were on the way.

Audio from the calls was published online by Minnesota Public Radio News.

Best Buy warns of higher prices for shoppers due to tariffs

NEW YORK (AP) — Best Buy’s outgoing CEO warned Thursday that U.S. shoppers will likely see prices rise if the next round of tariffs on Chinese goods happens.

CEO Hubert Joly said the electronics chain has been able to avoid price hikes on most of its products with a few exceptions, like washing machines. Joly said that he is working directly with the Trump administration to minimize the impact new tariffs could have on U.S. shoppers, and plans to continue to do so when he steps down as CEO next month and becomes executive chairman of the company’s board. His replacement, Corie Barry, will be Best Buy’s first female CEO.

Joly said it’s too early to know what products could see price hikes, since it’s not yet known which goods will be on the next rounds of tariffs of Chinese goods. Other retailers, including Walmart and Target, have also warned of rising prices due to tariffs.

Shares of Best Buy Co. fell 5.5% Thursday, despite the company reporting better than expected earnings for the most recent quarter.

Best Buy reported net income of $265 million, or 98 cents per share, during the fiscal first quarter.

Adjusted earnings came to $1.02 per share, beating Wall Street expectations by 14 cents, according to Zacks Investment Research.

Revenue rose to $9.14 billion in the period, meeting Wall Street expectations.

For the current quarter ending in August, Best Buy said it expects its per-share earnings to range from 95 cents to $1.

It still expects full-year earnings in the range of $5.45 to $5.65 per share.

Shares of the Richfield, Minnesota-based company fell $3.80 to $65.37 midday Thursday.