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Counterfeit Bills Circulating

Counterfeit Bills Circulating

 

A warning from police to carefully check your cash. Counterfeit bills are once again making the rounds.

According to the Austin Chamber of Commerce 4 counterfeit bills have been detected at businesses in the city.

Thieves Target Fastenal Stores In Georgia

Thieves Target Fastenal Stores In Georgia

ATHENS, Ga. (AP) — Thieves in the South have been targeting a Minnesota-based tool supply company, and police are wondering why a specific company's stores are being burglarized.

Police say one of the most recent thefts occurred Sunday night or early Monday morning at a Fastenal store in Athens, the fifth such burglary within about a week.

Athens-Clarke County police Lt. Mike McKeel said officers have been told that about a dozen Fastenal stores had been burglarized in the Atlanta metro area. McKeel says he can't recall any one company being targeted like Winona, Minn.-based Fastenal has in the recent crime spree.


 

Added DWI Patrols Target 13 Counties in 2012

Added DWI Patrols Target 13 Counties in 2012

Informatiom from Minnesota Department of Public Safety

ST. PAUL — Roads in Minnesota’s 13 counties with the highest combined totals of alcohol-related traffic deaths and serious injuries will be hot-spots for increased DWI enforcement through September, according to the Minnesota Department of Public Safety (DPS) Office of Traffic Safety.
The following 13 counties accounted for nearly half of the state’s alcohol-related deaths (202) and half of the state’s serious injuries (462) during 2008–2010 (click on county names for maps plotting alcohol-related deaths and serious injuries): 1. Hennepin, 2. Ramsey, 3. Anoka, 4. St. Louis, 5. Dakota, 6. Wright, 7. Olmsted, 8. Rice, 9. Washington, 10. Stearns, 11. Sherburne, 12. Scott and 13. Carver. 

Minnesota Sues Accretive Health for Patient Privacy Violations

Minnesota Sues Accretive Health for Patient Privacy Violations

Information from the Office of Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson:

Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson today filed a lawsuit against Accretive Health, Inc., a debt collection agency that is part of a New York private equity fund conglomerate, for failing to protect the confidentiality of patient health care records and not disclosing to patients its extensive involvement in their health care through its role in managing the revenue and health care delivery systems at two Minnesota hospital systems.

Last July, Accretive lost a laptop computer containing unencrypted health data about 23,500 patients in Minnesota.  The lawsuit alleges that Accretive gained access to sensitive patient data through contracts with the hospitals and numerically scored patients’ risk of hospitalization and medical complexity, graded their “frailty,” compiled per-patient profit and loss reports, and identified patients deemed to be “outliers.”

Albert Lea Man Indicted for Child Pornography

(ABC 6 NEWS) -- An Albert Lea man has been indicted for receiving and possessing child pornography.

Jesse Stewart, 33, is charged with one count receiving child pornography and one count possessing of child pornography.  According the indictment, Stewart received a video containing child pornography images via a peer-to-peer file sharing program on in 2007.  Stewart was also found in possession of child pornography in 2009.  The indictment says authorities found 5,700 images at Stewart's residence after executing a search warrant.

German Federal Police provided the initial information to U.S. authorities.

If convicted, Stewart faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.

2,573 Cuffed During Holiday Drunk Driving Enforcement

2,573 Cuffed During Holiday Drunk Driving Enforcement

Information from Minnesota Department of Public Safety:

A statewide enhanced DWI enforcement campaign in December resulted in the arrest of 2, 573 impaired motorists. Preliminary DWI arrest totals were reported to the Minnesota Department of Public Safety (DPS) Office of Traffic Safety by 314 law enforcement agencies.

The highest alcohol-concentration reported was 0.39. Twenty agencies reported their highest alcohol-concentration in an arrest was at or above 0.30, and more than 100 agencies reported their highest alcohol-concentration was at or above 0.20. The legal limit is 0.08.

In Minnesota, all repeat DWI offenders — and motorists arrested for a first-time DWI with an alcohol-concentration level of 0.16 and above — face stronger DWI sanctions. Under these sanctions, DWI offenders must use ignition interlock for at least a year or face at least one year without driving privileges. Interlock requires a driver to provide a breath sample under 0.02 for their vehicle to start.

Don't Be Duped, Fake Deed Company

Don't Be Duped, Fake Deed Company

The Better Business Bureau of Minnesota and North Dakota (BBB) is warning consumers not to be duped by a company that’s offering homeowners copies of their property deeds for an exorbitant price – in some cases more than 40 times the price consumers would pay if they were to purchase the same copies themselves at their county offices.

The company, Deed Retrieval Department (which also does business as Deed Retrieval Services and Record Retrieval Department), has been sending Minnesota and Wisconsin homeowners letters that appear to be a bill for $87 from the U.S. government for a property deed. However, despite the fact that it looks official, it's not a bill nor is it from the U.S. government. The letter says, “Why do we believe you need a copy of your current Grant Deed and Property Profile?  State Record Regulation Department recommends that all U.S.