A Republican National Convention protester has pleaded guilty to a gross misdemeanor conspiracy charge and has been sentenced to 91 days in jail.

23-year old Erick Oseland of Nisswa pleaded guilty Friday to 3rd Degree Conspiracy to commit criminal damage to property.  Under the plea agreement, the other charges against him were dismissed.  He'll also pay a $100.00 fine. 

Oseland was one of eight defendants known as the RNC-8 who were accused of plotting to disrupt the convention in 2008 in downtown St. Paul.  The others are still fighting felony charges and say they're commited to going to trial.

Oseland declined to comment after the hearing.  His attorney, Ted Dooley, said the fact that oseland does not have to testify against his co-defendants was "pivotal" to taking the deal. 

The lane restrictions on the Highway 10 overflow bridge over the Mississippi River north of Little Falls will be lifted on Monday. At that time, the westbound ramp from Morrison County Road 76 to westbound Highway 10 will also open to traffic.

The bridge was closed to traffic on Wednesday, March 17, due to damage from an ice jam in the main channel and erosion to the overflow bridge. Crews built temporary traffic crossovers on each end of the bridge and stabilized the westbound lanes to allow motorists on the bridge. Motorists had been restricted to a single lane in each direction on the newly-constructed westbound bridge.

Motorists are advised that crews will be conducting off-road completion work for the next two weeks.

The 15th Annual Northwoods Arts Festival & Book Fair will be held on Saturday in downtown Hackensack.

Organizer Sharon Peterson tells KLKS News, over 70 vendors will be there:

Peterson says the event will run from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Lake shore owners and farmers in Cass and Crow Wing Counties are getting together Saturday to promote locally grown foods while protecting water quality.

The 2nd Annual Harvest Dinner sponsored by Clean Water activists from Lakes Associations and local Farmers and Ranchers will be held at the Nisswa Community Center tomorrow. At 4:30pm, the Farmers Market Opens. At 5:00pm a Social Hour will be held followed by a 6:00pm Dinner serving local beef served by Prairie Bay Restaurant with coffee provided by Stonehouse Coffee.

Organizer Meg Bye tells KLKS News, the program will include livestock and water quality research.

Cost of the event is $20.00 per ticket.  For more information call: 218-568-5530.

A virulent strain of Newcastle Disease is responsible for the death of nearly 1,000 gulls and 500 cormorants in Minnesota this summer including Leech Lake in Cass County.

The specific strain of Newcastle Disease was confirmed this week by the National Wildlife Health Center in Madison, Wis.

DNR officials are recommending Minnesota poultry producers practice, what they term, sound biosecurity procedures, including the monitoring of their poultry flocks for signs of illness and taking steps to prevent wild birds from having contact with their flocks.

Newcastle Disease has not yet been detected in Minnesota’s poultry flocks. If birds show clinical signs suggestive of this disease, producers should immediately contact their veterinarian or the Board of Animal Health at 320-231-5170. Similarly, cormorants, gulls and pelicans suspected to have the disease should be reported to the local Department of Natural Resources (DNR) area wildlife office.

In recent days, sick and dead cormorants have been discovered at Leech Lake. To date, all dead birds have tested negative for the avian influenza virus.

A viral avian disease, Newcastle rarely affects humans. When it does affect humans it generally causes a relatively mild pink eye.

The last outbreak of Newcastle Disease occurred in 2008, when about 2,400 birds died at eight different locations. State officials ensure that dead birds are buried or incinerated.

(AP)  A Bemidji teen is the man of the hour in the northern Minnesota town. 

14-year-old Brett Hartje was riding his jet ski on Lake Bemidji this past weekend when he spotted a swimmer in distress. 

Apparently, the 28-year-old man jump off his pontoon boat to retrieve a towel which had blown into the water.  His anchored boat was blowing away from him faster than he could swim to it, and the people on the boat couldn't get the motor started.

By the time young Hartje caught up to the man, all he could see was an arm sticking out of the water.  Hartje hoisted the man onto his jet ski and ferried him back to the pontoon boat. 

The man refused medical treatment.

(AP)  Officials in the Red Lake School district want to put the designation of worst school district in the state behind them.

With the help of a $2 million federal grant, the school system is working on the problem even before school officially begins on September 7th. 

Elementary and high school teachers have been contacting the parents of their students to encourage them to increase their involvement and prevent dropouts.

The school district is adding 20 minutes to each day and 8 days to the school year as part of a comprehensive approach to help every student succeed.

A special regulation that requires anglers to release all northern pike less than 40 inches long in Fifth and Sixth Crow Wing lakes in Hubbard County will be the subject of a public meeting at 7 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 17. The meeting will be held at the Northwoods Bank Community Meeting Room, on 1200

The regulation, which has been in place since 2003, was intended to remain in effect at least through 2013, but will be reviewed at the meeting.

Minnesota Department of Natural Resources fisheries staff will provide information about the regulation, changes in fish populations since the regulation was implemented and solicit comments about whether to continue, modify or rescind the regulation.

Minnesota Senator Al Franken will barnstorm the Brainerd Lakes area Wednesday.

Franken will be at the Community and Technical College in Wadena, at 11 a.m. to talk to Mayor Wayne Wolden about the ongoing tornado recovery efforts.

Franken will then travel down the road to Brainerd to meet with Mayor James Wallin, and other community, business and labor leaders to discuss job creation efforts in the region.  The confab will be held at Central Lakes College at 1 p.m.

The junior Senator will also Tour Camp Ripley with members of the Minnesota National Guard at 2:30 p.m.

The Morrison County Sheriff’s Office is participating with the Minnesota Sheriff’s Association Scholarship Program for 2010. Sheriff Wetzel says scholarship fund of $9 thousand is available for up to 15–$600 scholarships this year.

The Association gives special recognition to the financial needs of students attending mandated peace officers skills course or a two/or four year law enforcement degree school.
Applications will be received until October 15th, with scholarships awarded by December 31st. Application forms and a statement of procedures are available at the Morrison County Sheriff’s Office. Scholarships are only available to students currently enrolled in one of the following three categories.

Scholarship application forms are available from the Sheriff’s Office or online at http://www.mnsheriffs.org/.

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources will hold two public meetings to solicit comments on a proposal to implement special fishing regulations on Farm Island Lake, and experimental fishing regulations on the Big Sandy Lake system in Aitkin County.

The DNR proposes to implement a 16- to 19-inch protected slot for walleyes on Farm Island.  Currently the slot is experimental.

Big Sandy and connected waters would see an experimental 14-inch to 18-inch harvest slot for walleyes and a bag limit of five sunfish.

The meetings will take place Friday, Aug. 27, at the Hazelton Town Hall, on Highway 169, from 6 to 9 p.m.; and in St. Paul on Wednesday, Sept. 29, from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., at the DNR Central Office at 500 Lafayette Road.

More than 70 bicyclists are expected to peddle 150 miles out of Little Falls over the Labor Day Weekend.