Vikings-Bears

Date: 12/27/2009 10:54 AM
Favre-Cutler falls short of prime-time hype
ANDREW SELIGMAN,AP Sports Writer

LAKE FOREST, Ill. (AP) — It certainly looked like a juicy prime-time pairing when the Minnesota Vikings and Chicago Bears were scheduled for Monday night.

If the script didn't play out as expected, well, at least it had no shortage of twists.

There's Jay Cutler throwing about as many interceptions as completions for Chicago. And rampant speculation about the future of the coaching staff and general manager Jerry Angelo as one of the most disappointing seasons in recent memory comes to an end.

On the other side, there's Brett Favre in the center of drama again, only this time it's not about retirement or a comeback. It's about conflict, with coach Brad Childress playing his antagonist.

So a showcase between gunslingers young and old that might have decided the NFC North instead will have an entirely different tone when these teams meet at Soldier Field.

"I think every team in the league wants to believe they're going to be in the run for the playoffs," Cutler said. "Bottom line, obviously, is this is not where we want to be."

The Bears (5-9) are simply trying to salvage something from this lost season. The Vikings (11-3) are trying to regain their momentum heading into the playoffs after dropping two of three, and put aside that sideline spat between their quarterback and coach last week.

"Well, they were resolved just by sitting down and talking about, as we should have done and ultimately did do," Favre said. "But really the differences, it's gotten blown way out of proportion."

The problem is the confrontation played out on national TV last Sunday night during a 26-7 loss to Carolina. Cameras caught Childress placing his right hand on Favre's left biceps, and Favre pulling his arm away after Childress said something.

It was far from the lovefest in which the coach chauffeured him from the airport to the team's headquarters to sign the contract last summer.

This time, Childress considered lifting Favre after watching him get sacked four times and hit numerous others even though the Vikings were leading 7-6 in the third quarter. Favre indicated after the game the decision was more performance-based. Either way, he was having none of it.

The league's all-time leading passer, he stayed in the game and finished 17 of 27 with 224 yards and an interception. Whether Childress wanted to lift him for preservation or performance, the notion seemed odd despite Favre's recent struggles.

Sure, he's not playing up to the level that drove a 10-1 start, with three touchdowns and four interceptions this month, but he is in the running for an unprecedented fourth MVP award. He's also in the center of drama again.

The conflict last week sparked reports of Favre and Childress clashing over the play-calling while raising questions about a relationship that — for what it's worth — the Vikings insist is fine.

"I think we're both on the same page," Childress said. "It hasn't been a distraction or divisive. ... I'm always animated when I speak. I don't know if it's because I've got Italian blood or what. I speak with my hands."

Cornerback Antoine Winfield said: "We have all the confidence in the world that No. 4 will get the job done for us and we're excited about having him out there."

More important, the Vikings need to win this game. If they do, they would get a first-round bye if Philadelphia loses.

It would help if Adrian Peterson emerged from a December snooze in which he managed 19 yards against Arizona and 35 against Carolina last week after going for 97 in a win over Cincinnati. It would help, too, if Favre played the way he did last month against the Bears and not the last time he visited Soldier Field.

On Nov. 29, he threw for a season-high 392 yards and three touchdowns, and the Vikings racked up 537 yards in a 36-10 win at the Metrodome. This time?

"I definitely think it'll be little bit of a different story because it's on our turf and they've got to come outside," Bears linebacker Hunter Hillenmeyer said.

Two years ago on a bone-chilling, windy and at times snowy afternoon at Soldier Field, Favre threw for just 153 yards for Green Bay in a 35-7 loss that wiped out the Packers' shot at the No. 1 seed in the NFC.

It was a nightmarish performance for him. For Cutler, this has been a nightmarish season.

His 25 interceptions are six shy of Sid Luckman's club record, and only Favre with 29 in 2005 has thrown more in a season this decade. Things were particularly bad for Cutler in last week's 31-7 loss at Baltimore, when he was 10 for 27 with a season-low 94 yards, got picked off threw times and had a 7.9 rating. The optimism that surrounded his arrival is a distant memory after eight losses in 10 games.

"I don't worry about anybody's observations, except for the people in this building," he said. "I can't get wrapped up in what's going on outside of this building."

Minnesota stimulus-broadband

Date: 12/27/2009 5:00 AM
Minn. gets $1.7 million for broadband initiatives

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Minnesota is getting $1.7 million from the federal stimulus to map broadband Internet access and plan for service improvements.

The money comes from the U.S. Department of Commerce.

It will go to Connect Minnesota, a nonprofit collaboration between the state Department of Commerce and Connected Nation, a national nonprofit that promotes increased broadband access.

Connect Minnesota will use $1.2 million for mapping and data collection and another $500,000 for planning over five years. The group will feed the state mapping data into a national broadband map, set for release in 2011.

Connect Minnesota says it also plans to start a new mapping tool called BroadbandStat to help plan broadband expansions.

Holiday storm

Date: 25/12/2009 18:28
White Christmas turns into a headache for some
DINESH RAMDE,Associated Press Writer

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Residents across the Midwest and the Plains who made it home for Christmas were digging out on Friday after a fierce snowstorm while those who spent the night in airports and shelters tried to resume their journeys. Meteorologists warned that roads across the region remained dangerous.

The National Weather Service said blizzards would hit parts of North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Wyoming, Minnesota, Iowa and Wisconsin through Saturday. The storm had already dumped significant snow across the region, including a record 14 inches in Oklahoma City and 11 inches in Duluth, Minn., on Thursday.

Slippery roads have been blamed for at least 20 deaths this week as the storm lumbered across the country from the Southwest. Ice storm warnings and winter weather advisories had been issued for parts of the East Coast on Friday, but the region was largely spared.

Paul Mews, who drove from Faribault, Minn., to a relative's home in Plum City, Wis., on Friday morning, said the first 15 minutes of the 80-mile trip were clear, but a sudden surge of heavy snowfall produced a stretch of near-whiteout conditions.

"It was snow-pocalypse. It was wicked," said Mews, 25. "We thought about turning around and going back."

He and his wife decided to continue when the surge passed minutes later, noting that plows were doing a good job of keeping roads clear.

"Spending Christmas day with family was more important than the weather," Mews said.

Others weren't as lucky.

Army Sgt. Mark Matthey was spending Friday night at the Flying J Travel Plaza in Sioux Falls, S.D., after Interstate 90 closed. Matthey, 26, had left Fort Bragg, N.C., on Wednesday for his hometown of Spokane, Wash., in hopes of making it by late Friday or early Saturday.

Instead, he spent the afternoon drinking coffee, watching TV and making friends at the truck stop. He planned to find a spot to sleep on the floor or in the cab of his truck.

Matthey said he and his fellow stranded travelers were in decent spirits.

"Everybody has the attitude that you have to play the cards you were dealt," he said. "No use in getting upset about something you can't control."

Interstates also were closed in North Dakota and Nebraska. Meteorologists warned that massive snow drifts and blustery winds could cause whiteouts across the northern Plains. They urged travelers to stay home and pack emergency kits if they had to set out.

Since Tuesday, icy roads have been blamed for accidents that killed at least seven people in Nebraska, five people in Oklahoma, four in Kansas, two in Minnesota and one each in North Dakota and near Albuquerque, N.M.

Winds were gusting from 45 mph to 60 mph across the Dakotas and Nebraska on Friday. Crews were working to restore power to thousands of customers in Nebraska, Oklahoma, Kansas, Illinois and Iowa.

About 200 people were stuck overnight at Oklahoma's largest airport, which closed Thursday afternoon after several inches of snow clogged runways, said Mark Kranenburg, director of the Will Rogers World Airport in Oklahoma City. The airport reopened Friday morning, but only one of three runways was operational.

Most of the stranded passengers were gone by Friday afternoon. While some were able to catch flights, many simply went home. Kranenburg predicted it would be two or three days before all runways were open and flights resumed as scheduled.

The 14 inches of snow in Oklahoma City broke a record of 2.5 inches set back in 1914.

The previous record for Christmas Eve in Duluth, which has gotten more than 22 inches in two days, was a "paltry" 3 inches in 1893, said Kevin Kraujalis, a National Weather Service meteorologist. By the time the storm is over, it could be one of the 10 worst in Duluth's recorded history.

With heavy winds producing snow drifts as deep as 5 feet, "it's awful, it's just awful," Kraujalis said. "It's a big workout just walking outside to check my weather equipment."

Still, he acknowledged that not everyone was turned off by the fresh powder.

"I'm sure kids with new sleds, skis, any outdoor sports equipment that Santa brought them, I'm sure it's exciting for them," Kraujalis said. "The snow is wet and heavy, so it's good for packing, for making snowmen or whatever."

In central Iowa, a sheriff's deputy in Guthrie County, where about a foot of snow had fallen by Friday evening over two days, said he saw only snowplows on his way to work.

"It's going to be one of them days," Deputy Jesse Swenson said. "Everybody wanted a white Christmas — and they got it."

Since Tuesday, icy roads have been blamed for accidents that killed at least seven people in Nebraska, five people in Oklahoma, four in Kansas, two in Minnesota and one each in North Dakota and near Albuquerque, N.M.

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Associated Press writers Patrick Condon in Minneapolis, Eric Olson in Omaha, Neb., Melanie Welte in Des Moines, Iowa, John Hanna in Topeka, Kan., and Sophia Tareen in Chicago contributed to this report.

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On the Net:

National Weather Service: http://www.nws.noaa.gov

Hunting death

Date: 25/12/2009 18:12

Minn. man found dead in apparent hunting accident

AUSTIN, Minn. (AP) — Minnesota deputies say an Austin man has died in an apparent hunting accident.

KIMT-TV in Mason City, Iowa, says authorities found the body of 44-year-old Bernard Olson on Thursday evening.

Fillmore County deputies were investigating a report of a missing person when they found Olson's parked vehicle. They followed tracks in the snow to his body.

An initial investigation suggests Olson might have fallen on an arrow, injuring himself too severely to make it back to his vehicle.

Fillmore County is in the southeast corner of the state.

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Information from: KIMT-TV, http://www.kimt.com

Train wreck rescue

Copyright 2009, The Associated Press

John Zimmer, right, and his nephew Justin Widell, both of Lake City, Minn., are pictured at the rail crossing over West Lakewood Avenue, Lake City on Tuesday, Dec. 22, 2009. Zimmer and Widell pulled Emery Henn, 87, of Lake City out of his minivan minutes before a train hit the stuck vehicle. (AP Photo/ Rochester Post-Bulletin, Michele Jokinen)

Train/car wreck

This van, owned and driven by Emery Henn, of Lake City, Minn. stalled and was hit by a train Tuesday, Dec. 22, 2009 in Lake City, Minn. Henn was rescued by John Zimmer and Justin Widell.(AP Photo/Rochester Post-Bulletin, Michele Jokinen)

Virginia fatal stabbing

Date: 24/12/2009 13:15
Man charged in stabbing death of Minnesota man

VIRGINIA, Minn. (AP) — A 33-year-old man accused of stabbing a Minnesota man to death has been charged with second-degree murder.

A judge on Thursday set Robert Russell's bail at $1 million after prosecutors said the Duluth man was a flight risk.

Defense attorney Bruce Williams had asked that bail be set at $250,000. He didn't immediately return a message Thursday afternoon seeking comment.

The Mesabi Daily News of Virginia says Russell is accused in the stabbing of 33-year-old Jamie John Drumm of Virginia on Saturday.

Police say Drumm and another man were walking down a street when a vehicle with two men and a woman drove by. Words were exchanged and a fight ensued.

Russell's next court appearance is Jan. 4.

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Information from: Mesabi Daily News, http://www.virginiamn.com