Minneapolis / St. Paul News Blog

City Pages is sitting cageside at the Sears Center in Illinois for Brett Rogers vs. Fedor Emelianenko. We'll be updating the fights all the night (including all the undercard bouts). The  stars of Strikeforce are ready to battle, including Antonio Silva, Fabricio Werdum, Gerard Mousasi, Rameau Sokoudjou, Jake Shields, Jason Miller. It's showtime on CBS, starring our boy from St. Paul who says he's ready to dominate.

​ You aren't likely to see this epic Minnesota tree in person, but the legend is enough to make it amazing. The tree is located on the shore of Lake Superior in Cook County and is at least 300 years old. It's growing on bare rock on the shoreline.

Most people can't see the tree up close anymore after a number of vandalism problems, so only visitors accompanied by a local Ojibwe band member can make the trek. The tree is considered sacred to the Ojibwe.

Photo by Thoth, God of Knowledge, more photos on Flickr.

​ Whoops: The Minnesota campaign finance board ruled today that Minneapolis Mayor R.T. used money from his mayoral campaign for his gubernatorial campaign before he officially filed to run for governor. The board announced their decision after receiving a complaing from the Minnesota Republican Party.

Rybak used mayoral campaign funds in May to conduct a poll about his strength to run for governor. The board ruled his gubernatorial committee owes his mayoral committee $26,500 to cover the cost of the survey. Rybak submitted the required paperwork to run for governor on Thursday.

​ Minnesota's famed DWI motorized chair (It's not a La-Z-Boy! Don't be fooled!) has finally been sold on eBay. Final price, 64 bids later: $10,099.99.

That's a whole lot less than the first set of bids on the original eBay item. The Proctor police originally listed it, calling it a La-Z-Boy. Bids soared above $40,000. When the recliner producer came after them claiming it wasn't actually a La-Z-Boy, the police closed to auction and restarted it under a more factually correct title.

The second sale didn't seem to go so well.

The chair became mega-famous after Proctor, Minn. man "drove" it home from the bar drunk. He hit a parked vehicle and police seized it.

​ Today on Citypages.com's 'In The Stream' with T.D. Mischke:

• It's music, music, music with guest Andrea Swensson (City Pages Music Editor)
• Also an interview with a man who says we've all been tricked, duped, screwed. Guess who by?
• And a ride down a treacherous Brazilian waterfall with a bevy of beautiful young co-eds (what?)
• All this and the usual Friday banter with JD Comrax, the man who invented Pop Rocks.
• No joke. Please explain this to me. Please. Please.
• Come on in, people, the water's wine! I mean the water's fine.

Tune in from 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m., and feel free to leave comments about today's show below. Call and talk to Mischke live on the air: (651) 330-4091

Comments WILL be posted within minutes -- please do not hit the 'Post' button more than once. If you are having trouble, send us an email.

Check out the previous shows in the archives or subscribe to the iTunes podcast. If you are having problems downloading the show via iTunes, please try using a browser other than Internet Explorer.

​
The man who killed his wife in St. Paul on Monday admitted the crime to police and to Regions hospital staff.

When the Regions staff asked if he felt like hurting himself, Gerald B. Wassenaar, 67, responded "C'mon, I killed my wife. What do you think?" according to the criminal complaint, the Star Tribune reports. Later, he told police "I did it. I killed her."

Jean Andrine Wassenaar, 67, was found dead in her home about 9:30 p.m. Monday. Police found Gerald Wassenaar near Lake Elmo earlier that evening, sitting a stalled car and in a confused state of mind. A sheriff's deputy took him to his home on Barclay Street in St. Paul, but he refused to enter the house. Here's more details from the Strib:

The prosecution continued the questioning of restauranteur Dean Vlahos about his friendship and business dealings with Tom Petters.,Vlahos was best friends with Tom Petters. They gave watches to each other and they weren't Timex watches.

Vlahos put up his homes as collateral for the lone Petters said he was using to buy merchandise from Circuit City. The loan went bad and Vlahos had to sell his homes to pay off his debt.

PCI associate Bob White took the stand and testified how he forged thousands of documents at the request of Tom Petters. In a taped conversation played earlier in the trial, Petters compared White to Quasimodo ringing the bells (of fraud) in PCI's belfry.

Bob White testified about the day the FBI raided PCI and came to his office. He agreed to cop a plea on the spot and cooperate with the investigation.

More recorded conversations were played in court today. We listened to a brainstorming session on the eve of the collapse of PCI. Petters gave a bizarre one-man, stream of consciousness rant that went on way too long. The witness held his head in his hands and yawned. If Judge Kyle had not called a break, my head would have exploded.

After the break, we heard another taped conversation in which a Petters talks with Bob White on the phone about fleeing the country on Bob White's boat.

Bob White explained that it wasn't easy to just take off... they would have to fuel the boat and load up with food and other stuff.

Tom Petters told White to Google "Marc Rich", the fugitive financier who was pardoned by President Bill Clinton. Bob White is sixty-eight years old and facing thirty years in jail.

Tomorrow will be a short day with more testimony from the Bob White.

Photo by erix!

​ When Austin police captain Curt Rude was busted with two bottles of OxyContin from the departments evidence room, he claimed he had borrowed them to investigate the death of a friend who had overdosed on the pills. That's what they all say. Prosecutors argued he planned to use the drugs for fun time.

On Thursday, a jury convicted him of felony drug possession and another misdemeanor. He will likely face a fine, but no jail time for the crime. He's been on unpaid leave since the incident two years ago.