Police investigate potential bomb threat in Granite Falls

GRANITE FALLS — A message written on a bathroom wall at Yellow Medicine East High School led Granite Falls Police to investigate a potential bomb threat. Granite Falls Police said Thursday that a person of interest confessed to writing the message, but there was no actual threat.

Police were notified around 7:08 p.m. Wednesday, when a custodian at YME found a possible bomb threat written on a bathroom wall, a news release from the Granite Falls Police said. School district administration was also notified. Police and school administrators were able to identify a possible suspect from looking through school surveillance footage.

An officer made contact with the person of interest, and learned that there was no actual threat, Police said.

The suspect in the bomb threat incident is a minor, so no information on their identity will be released, Police said.

–Deb Gau

MNRAAA’s Veteran Directed Care Coalition selected for Network Operations

Learning Collaborative

MANKATO — The Aging and Disability Business Institute (led by the National Association of Area Agencies on Aging) has announced that the Minnesota River Area Agency on Aging (MNRAAA) was selected with eight other organizations from across the country to take part in the Network Operations Learning Collaborative.

MNRAAA, in partnership with the Southwest Center for Independent Living (SWCIL), Managed Resource Connections, Inc. (MRCI), Consumer Directions and the Sioux Falls Veterans Affairs Medical Center (VAMC); features a program in southwest Minnesota called Veteran Directed Care (VDC). The program, which started in 2008, provides services to veterans that allow them to remain in their home or home of a loved one.

“We are excited for this opportunity to strengthen our collaboration in providing effective consumer directive care to our veterans, to enlarge our area of services and to find ways to market our services better,” said Jason W. Swanson, executive director for MNRAAA.

Over the next six months, the selected organizations will participate in a curriculum that will help them build and strengthen the operations and sustainability of their networks to deliver home and community-based services through contracts with health care entities. Supported by technical assistance, a peer learning network and a platform for shared learnings, participants will come away with increased knowledge of the business requirements needed to operate a network or serve as a network lead entity; a deeper understanding of legal structures, requirements and risks for network members; and an operations action plan that can be used to move their networks forward.

For more information on the Veteran Directed Care program or to see if you qualify, contact MNRAAA at 507-387-1256 or kwolle@mnraaa.org.

2 pedestrians killed in separate Minnesota crashes

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Two pedestrians have been killed in separate crashes in Minnesota.

Minneapolis police said a man was crossing a four-lane avenue about 3 a.m. Wednesday when a driver struck him at an intersection. The Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s Office Thursday identified the victim as 54-year-old Kurt Dwane Howe, of Minneapolis.

The driver, in his 20s, remained on the scene and was cooperating with investigators. Police say there was no indication he was impaired.

Howe died at Hennepin County Medical Center.

And, a crash in northern Minnesota Tuesday night killed a 45-year-old Squaw Lake man who was standing near a stalled vehicle along Highway 46.

The State Patrol says Tommy John Schultz died at the scene after he was struck by a pickup truck in Itasca County. The pickup driver was not injured.

Man charged with shutting off oxygen to Minnesota hospital

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A Minnesota man is charged with shutting off oxygen to a Minneapolis area hospital in December, an act that authorities say could have hurt or killed many people.

Hennepin County prosecutors on Wednesday charged Larry Raduenz Jr., 39, of Robbinsdale with first-degree damage to property, a felony. Raduenz was arrested at a homeless shelter in St. Paul and appeared in court Thursday, where he requested a public defender. Bail was set at $20,000, and Raduenz remained in jail pending his next court appearance March 5.

“It is shocking that an individual would take a step like this to endanger the lives and well-being of innocent and hospitalized people,” Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman said in a statement. Freeman said his office is still investigating “and we will pursue other charges if evidence supports us doing so.”

Raduenz is accused of shutting off oxygen to North Memorial Hospital in Robbinsdale on Dec. 27. According to the complaint, Raduenz climbed a fence near the oxygen tanks, broke cable ties and metal clasps and shut off the oxygen. Engineers detected the pressure drop and discovered the vandalism.

An engineer said they were happy to find the problem fast.

“If it would have taken much longer, the oxygen would have depleted and could have caused injury or death to multiple patients,” the complaint said.

A hospital spokeswoman has said no patients were harmed.