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State Patrol: BAC of killed Mankato student was 0.06 percent

State Patrol: BAC of killed Mankato student was 0.06 percent

Rissa Amen-Reif, the Mankato college student who was struck and killed by a car after attending a sorority party in November, had a blood alcohol level of .06 percent, below the legal level of intoxication, according to the State Patrol.
by Melanie Sommer

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Fire at Minnesota's largest paper recycling facility

Fire at Minnesota's largest paper recycling facility

Officials say all employees were evacuated without injury as firefighters battled a blaze at the Rock-Tenn recycling plant in St. Paul Thursday.

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Why did no one ever look at the gusset plates?

Why did no one ever look at the gusset plates?

In their many reviews of the 35W bridge, why did inspectors never look at the thickness of the gusset plates?
by Tom Scheck

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The battle over transportation funding

The battle over transportation funding

Gov. Pawlenty's bonding bill calls for $416 million in transportation projects, including a record amount of state borrowing for bridge repair and replacement, but members of the DFL say that's not enough. Midmorning looks at the looming battle over funding for transportation.

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Crews continue to work on freeing ship stuck in Duluth-Superior Harbor

Crews are pumping water out of the ship that sprung a leak Monday in the Duluth-Superior harbor. The Walter J. McCarthy's engine room flooded after the ship struck an unidentified object under water while docking in Superior.
by Bob Kelleher

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Collapsed bridge design firm has deep Minn. roots

Collapsed bridge design firm has deep Minn. roots

The investigation of the I-35W bridge collapse is bringing new focus on the engineering firm that built it. The National Transportation Safety Board said design errors led to the disaster.
by Tim Nelson

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Work resumes at Swift plant after emergency evacuation

Work resumes at Swift plant after emergency evacuation

Production has resumed at the Swift and Company meatpacking plant in Worthington, Minn., after an ammonia leak prompted a temporary shutdown.

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NTSB briefing

NTSB briefing

On Jan. 15, 2008, National Transportation Safety Board Chair Mark Rosenker blamed bad design, not bad construction or maintenance, led to the collapse of the I-35W bridge in Minneapolis that killed 13 people. That's the finding of the National Transportation and Safety Board Tuesday. The NTSB chairman says the original bridge design from the early 1960s called for supporting gusset plates that were simply too weak. While the NTSB says it knows why the bridge collapsed, it has yet to determine exactly what caused the disaster.

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Process for scrutinizing bridge design has changed

Process for scrutinizing bridge design has changed

A lot has changed since the 1960s, when the first I-35W bridge was planned and built. Today there's a different process for scrutinizing bridge designs. MPR's Cathy Wurzer talked with MnDOT's Terry Ward, one of the people in charge of quality control during the construction of the new I-35W bridge.
by Cathy Wurzer

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Transport funding battle still looms in wake of NTSB findings

Transport funding battle still looms in wake of NTSB findings

Gov. Tim Pawlenty says the NTSB's findings on the I-35W bridge collapse largely exonerates his administration from responsibility for the disaster. The NTSB found flaws with the original design of the bridge. The findings dramatically alter the debate, but not the disagreement, over transportation policy in Minnesota.
by Tom Scheck

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