Local Businessman Charged with Sexual Assault
05/12/2008
MANTORVILLE, MN -- A prominent local business found out some bad news involving one of their workers. The Director of Employee Relations for McNeilus trucking company is facing some pretty hefty charges.

52-year-old Terry Eckstein, the McNeilus Director of Employee Relations, had his initial appearance here at the Dodge County Court house at about 11:30 Monday morning. In the courtroom, Eckstein sat in as the Dodge County prosecutor brought down 3 counts of first degree criminal sexual assault charges.

"Each count is a felony, 30 years in prison, $40,000 in maximum fines on each count," said Dodge County Sheriff Gary Thompson. "And there are three separate counts."

Three counts for three acts of penetration on the victim. According to the order of detention, Eckstein and a female employee went to a Kasson bar to celebrate the woman's promotion.

"They went to his house and that's where these alleged incidences occurred," explained Thompson.

The report explains the victim went to his house to look at some of his new home renovations, but ended up forced onto Eckstein's bed, stripped, penetrated. Eckstein will have to submit a DNA sample.

And in the report, a nurse at Saint Marys Hospital said she found evidence of the acts the victim reported. But even still, Sheriff Thompson said, this isn't an open and shut case.

"There is no such thing as a clean-cut case. We'll see what happens, I mean we think we have a good case, yes."

The judge also set an unconditional bail at $80,000 and a conditional bail at $40,000. Eckstein was able to post bail, but Dodge County authorities aren't saying which type.

According to the record of a taped statement by Eckstein, he said the two did go back to his house after the bar, but he did not sexually assault her. I also called McNeilus Company and they said they would not comment on the current employment status of Mr. Eckstein.

Rochester Native Dies in Duluth
05/10/2008
DULUTH, Minn. (AP) -- Authorities in St. Louis County are investigating the death of a University of Minnesota Duluth student.

Thirty-one-year-old Michael R. Mayhew of Rochester died on Monday, just one day after taking an Army fitness test. The test at Camp Ripley included a two-mile run, two minutes of sit-ups and two minutes of push-ups.

The cause of death has not been determined.

St. Louis County Medical Examiner Thomas Uncini says the death doesn't appear suspicious.

Mayhew was a 1995 graduate of Rochester Mayo High School and was a member of the 134th Brigade Support Battalion based in Cottage Grove.

He will be buried Friday in Grandview Memorial Gardens in Rochester after an 11 a.m. service at Gloria Dei Lutheran Church.

Other Area News

Couple's Passion for the Gophers is a Big One
05/12/2008
FREEBORN, Minn. (AP) -- The big oak tree in the center of Jim Beach's driveway was a Freeborn landmark for years, and that hasn't changed since it died.

He had the trunk carved into a 12-foot statue of Goldy Gopher, the mascot for the University of Minnesota. Then he had it painted. The work finished up last week.

Now when people roll up Main Street in the small southern Minnesota town, they stop and take pictures.

Beach's wife, Janice, says she was a little leery of the idea at the start but she's happy with how it turned out.

If the statue doesn't give it away, the Beach's are huge Minnesota fans. They've been season ticket holders for Golden Gopher football games for 33 years.

Freeborn is about 10 miles northwest of Albert Lea.

Body of Titonka Woman Found in House Fire
05/12/2008
TITONKA, Iowa (AP) -- The body of a woman has been found after sheriff's deputies responded to a fire at her home in Titonka.

Deputies from the Kossuth County sheriff's office were called to the house early Sunday afternoon. The body of 74-year-old Donna Dreesman was found inside the house.

The investigation is continuing.

Titonka is about 20 miles northeast of Algona, in northern Iowa.

Democrats Point to Wellstone as Inspiration
05/12/2008
ALBERT LEA, Minn. (AP) -- Democratic Senate hopeful Al Franken frequently invokes the name of his friend -- the late Senator Paul Wellstone -- as a major inspiration.

But another Democrat is chipping into his support. Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer's background and beliefs spark even greater Wellstone nostalgia for some voters.

Like Wellstone, Nelson-Pallmeyer is a college professor with a long history of political activism and fearless liberalism. His green-and-white campaign signs mimic the Wellstone placards that still hang in the front window of many a Democratic household, and that's not an accident.

Party activists will decide next month whether to endorse Franken or Nelson-Pallmeyer.

Franken has far more money and name recognition, and is seen as the Democratic favorite to take on Republican Senator Norm Coleman. But Nelson-Pallmeyer's underdog effort is getting a new look.