Bridge collapse leads '07 headlines

(AP) - It was a warm and perfect August night, with workers leaving downtown Minneapolis as Twins fans streamed in, when one of the worst disasters in Minnesota's history struck.

The collapse of the Interstate 35W bridge into the Mississippi River killed 13 people, injured more than 100 and drew visits from President Bush and journalists from around the world. It was the biggest story in Minnesota in 2007.

Elsewhere, flooding killed seven people in southeastern Minnesota and pushed dozens out of their homes on the western border with North Dakota.

Along the Gunflint Trail in northeastern Minnesota, the worst wildfire in nearly a century burned for weeks and destroyed scores of homes and other buildings.

THE 35W BRIDGE COLLAPSE

--The fallout from the bridge collapse will last for years. It touched the state's bureaucracy and its politics, prompting questions about priorities and fights over taxes and money for roads and bridges. Transportation Commissioner Carol Molnau fought off calls to resign.

Sonia Morphew Pitt, the state's homeland security director, did not escape. She was fired after revelations that she remained on the East Coast for nearly two weeks after the bridge fell and improperly billed the state for at least $26,000 in unauthorized expenses and improper pay. Three of her supervisors were reprimanded. Pitt is contesting her firing.

A new bridge spanning the Mississippi River is under construction and expected to be ready by the end of 2008.

SUMMER FLOODING

--One summer deluge set a state record as 15.1 inches of rain fell in Houston County on Aug. 18-19, topping the old 24-hour rainfall record of 10.84 inches that fell July 22, 1972, at Fort Ripley. More important, damage to private property and public infrastructure was estimated at $67 million in seven flooded counties. Seven people died.

In Winona County, which received $6.8 million from the Legislature, the debris cleanup cost $1 million. As many as 50 businesses were applying for loans, and homeowners continued to clean up into December.

"I think most people feel as though they've been helped and are making progress in getting back on their feet, realizing that their new normal won't be the same as it was before," said County Administrator Bob Reinert. "At the same time, there are some people who are still really suffering from this."

Earlier, in March, the Little Minnesota River overflowed, causing damage to more than 140 structures in Browns Valley, a city of 700 people near the South Dakota border. A few weeks later, flooding in the Red River Valley left Browns Valley residents homeless.

FIRE ON THE GUNFLINT TRAIL

--No one was seriously injured in the fire in the Arrowhead region, but it was the most destructive since 1918. The blaze, which started May 5, apparently from a campfire on Ham Lake, burned almost 119 square miles in Minnesota and Ontario. About 140 structures in Minnesota and 15 in Canada were lost, but fire crews and local residents were credited with saving dozens of other structures.

NOBEL PRIZE

--Leonid Hurwicz, a 90-year-old retired professor at the University of Minnesota, shared the Nobel Prize in economics with Eric S. Maskin and Roger B. Myerson. The trio won for their work on how people's knowledge and self-interest affect their behavior in the market or in social situations such as voting and labor negotiations.

Hurwicz, who grew up in Poland, began teaching at the University of Minnesota in 1951.

IRAQ WAR

--Twenty-six hundred Minnesota National Guard soldiers returned after spending 22 months in Iraq. It was the longest deployment of any U.S. military unit in the war. In response, the Guard set up a program to help the soldiers readjust to civilian life. The federal government is now creating a program based on Minnesota's experiment.

HEALTH

--A statewide smoking ban went into effect in September in most public places and workplaces - including bars and restaurants. Some bar owners complained that the ban was putting them out of business. A few months after the ban began, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota and Medica reported a spike in the number of smokers trying to kick the habit through nicotine replacement products or smoking cessation counseling.

--Chemicals from an old 3M Co. product turned up in private and city wells in six eastern Twin Cities suburbs. The company agreed to pay $8 million to reduce the leaking of perfluorochemicals, or PFCs, from a landfill in Lake Elmo in Washington County and up to $5 million for research into the effects of PFCs on the environment. The company used the chemicals years ago in the making of Scotchgard, fire retardants and other products.

LAW AND POLITICS

--U.S. Attorney Rachel Paulose resigned to take a job in the Justice Department in Washington after a 21-month term marked by the resignations of three top deputies. In April, the supervisors stepped down from their management roles in Paulose's office and went back to prosecuting cases, prompting a visit from a high-ranking Justice official.

That occurred just as Congress was investigating allegations that eight U.S. attorneys were fired and replaced by loyalists of President Bush. Her predecessor, Tom Heffelfinger, said he wasn't forced out and left on his own - though he was on a list of U.S. attorneys considered for dismissal.

--A U.S. senator's career imploded after an incident in a Minnesota bathroom. Sen. Larry Craig, an Idaho Republican, pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct stemming from his arrest at the Twin Cities airport for allegedly soliciting sex from an undercover officer. Craig's attempts to undo his plea failed.

--Comedian Al Franken, a St. Louis Park native who gained stardom as a "Saturday Night Live" writer and performer, jumped into the race for U.S. senator, moving to Minnesota and quitting his talk radio job to campaign for the DFL endorsement to run against Republican Sen. Norm Coleman.

--U.S. Rep. Jim Ramstad, a moderate Republican, announced that he would not seek re-election next year, ending a career in Congress that began in 1991. Ramstad drew kudos from editorialists for his civil and pragmatic approach to politics and his work on addiction and alcohol issues.

BUSINESS

--Northwest Airlines emerged from bankruptcy protection after a 20-month reorganization aimed at making the nation's fifth-largest carrier competitive for years to come. The Eagan-based airline slashed its debt by $4.2 billion, cut $400 million a year in the cost of its fleet and trimmed unprofitable routes. It also cut $1.4 billion a year in labor costs.

--Star Tribune publisher Par Ridder resigned after a judge barred him from the paper for one year. Ridder came to the Minneapolis paper from the St. Paul Pioneer Press, which his family had helped run since the 1930s. Ridder admitted in court that he took sensitive advertising data from the Pioneer Press when he switched jobs.

--In a groundbreaking music piracy case, Jammie Thomas of Brainerd was convicted of illegally sharing copyrighted music through a file-sharing network and ordered to pay $222,000. Thomas was the first person to actually go to trial in such a case; thousands of others have settled by paying a few thousand dollars.

CRIME

--A 19-year-old Savage man, Michael Anderson, was charged with first-degree premeditated murder after allegedly posting an ad on Craigslist to lure a woman to the home he shared with his parents. He allegedly shot Katherine Olson, 24, once in the back in his bedroom, then dragged her down stairs and left her in the trunk of her car in a nearby park.

--Tiffany Johnson, 26, who grew up in Chisholm and graduated from Hibbing High School, was killed along with another person Dec. 9 when a man began shooting at a missionary training center in Arvada, Colo.

SPORTS

--Rookie Adrian Peterson shot to stardom in his first season with the Vikings, first by rushing for a team-record 224 yards against the Chicago Bears and then, on Nov. 4, exploding for an NFL-record 296 yards rushing against the San Diego Chargers.

--Work began on two major sports stadiums. The Twins broke ground on a 40,000-seat, $522 million ballpark after years of wrangling for public funds in the Legislature. The park promises majestic views of the Minneapolis skyline and ease of travel for those coming by light rail.

The University of Minnesota broke ground on its 50,000-seat, $288 million football stadium - dubbed TCF Bank Stadium after its top sponsor - which will open for the 2009 season.

IN REMEMBRANCE

Minnesota lost a distinctive voice and some well-known names:

--Herb Carneal, the Hall of Fame broadcaster and voice of the Twins since 1962.

--Activist Vernon Bellecourt, who co-founded the American Indian Movement in Minneapolis in 1968.

--Charles W. Lindberg, one of the U.S. marines who raised the first American flag on Iwo Jima - before a similar flag-raising was staged for the famous AP photograph.

(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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