Cook County Board President Todd Stroger said Thursday he won't stand in the way of legislation to decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana. This week, the County Board approved a measure allowing sheriff's police to issue a $200 ticket for possessing 10 grams or less of marijuana in unincorporated parts of the county. The ordinance took Stroger, the sheriff and others by surprise, and the board president said he was mulling a veto. But Thursday, he told the Chicago Sun-Times he's OK with the legislation, calling it just another option for sheriff's police, who will have the discretion to arrest someone on misdemeanor charges -- particularly a repeat offender. [continues 365 words]
About 75 to 100 people in the Jordan neighborhood of North Minneapolis rioted Thursday evening after police said an officer accidentally shot an 11-year-old boy in the arm while executing a search warrant. The boy did not have life-threatening injuries and was released from the hospital, Minneapolis police said. Several vehicles were damaged and at least six people were injured, including three journalists covering the incident. A Metro Transit bus had several windows smashed and three passengers sustained scrapes, one requiring hospital treatment. A station wagon and an SUV were set on fire. [continues 1002 words]
An off-duty Minnesota State Patrol trooper was charged with possessing crack cocaine after Minneapolis police stopped his vehicle early Wednesday, according to court documents filed by Hennepin County prosecutors. Jeffrey Allen Carstens, 36, a seven-year veteran of the patrol, has been charged with fifth-degree possession of a controlled substance, a felony, according to court documents filed by prosecutors. Carstens, who by his employers' accounts has an exemplary record, has been placed on an "investigatory" leave with pay as the State Patrol conducts an internal investigation. [continues 574 words]
Man Killed After Car Hit Officers Undercover Minneapolis police officers got the call from a suspected drug dealer ready to do business. The man reportedly agreed to sell marijuana to the buyer -- an undercover Minneapolis officer -- on one condition: It had to be in a public place in St. Paul on Tuesday night. The deal unraveled almost as soon as plainclothes officers met the suspect and a second man, described as a drug supplier, about 6:45 p.m. outside Mickey's Diner on West Seventh Street in downtown St. Paul. [continues 924 words]
1 Dies, 1 Injured In Incident Involving Minneapolis Police A suspected drug dealer was shot and killed Tuesday night in downtown St. Paul by Minneapolis police in an undercover deal that went sour, authorities said. A second man, also thought to be a drug dealer, also was shot by Minneapolis police. Minneapolis officers had notified St. Paul authorities minutes before the deal, a courtesy when officers are working in another jurisdiction. The undercover Minneapolis officers also wanted some ``backup,'' or assistance, said St. Paul Police Department spokesman Michael Jordan. St. Paul homicide investigators were investigating the shootings, and at least one member of the Minnesota Gang Strike Force was at the scene. The undercover deal began about 7 p.m., either inside Mickey's Diner or in the landmark restaurant's parking lot at 36 W. Seventh St., said Jordan. Details were sketchy, but the attempted drug buy moved about a block west of Mickey's, and that's when things became heated. [continues 376 words]
Security Request Holding Up Permits For Sept. 16 Rally With or without the blessings of the St. Paul police, the Grassroots Party says it is prepared to hold a block party and march Sept. 16 in the name of legalizing marijuana. So far, event organizer and party chairman Chris Wright said he has been unable to get the proper city permits for the ``14th Annual Minnesota Tea Party'' because he has refused to comply with police requests to hire as many as five off-duty officers. [continues 384 words]
Barbara Harris has become, quite by accident, a missionary seeking to prevent the births of drug-addicted children. Talk to her detractors and they don't see her work as anything close to noble. The 47-year-old California mother is the founder of CRACK -- Children Requiring a Caring Kommunity--and its controversial program that dangles a $200 reward for any drug addict--woman or man--who agrees to undergo sterilization or take long-term birth control. Harris said the goal of the non-profit organization is simply to provide an incentive for drug addicts to stop having children whom they do not want, and more importantly, cannot care for. [continues 1018 words]
Controversial Agency Offering To Pay $200 To Addicts Who Get Permanent Birth Control. Barbara Harris is proud of the controversial agency she founded in California, which aims to curb the birth of drug-addicted babies by offering cash to current and former drug users who opt for sterilization or long-term contraception. But she's relieved not to have to oversee the new Chicago operations. Chicagoans have provided the harshest criticism yet of the cash-for-sterilization program offered by the non-profit CRACK, an acronym for Children Requiring a Caring Kommunity. [continues 516 words]
A C.R.A.C.K. billboard on Armitage Avenue offers $200 to drug addicts who undergo sterilization or long-term birth control procedures. In an attempt to reduce the number of drug-exposed babies born in the U.S., a controversial program that offers cash to drug-addicted women who can prove they were sterilized or given long-term contraception will be unveiled Monday in Chicago. Chicago is the first site for expansion of a California-based project that has drawn fire since it began in late 1997. Various groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union and Planned Parenthood, have objected to what they deem drastic tactics. [continues 1247 words]
