Hearing delayed for Waseca teen accused in violent plot
The Waseca teen accused of plotting a massacre at the local school will undergo a revised study to see whether he should be certified as an adult in court.
John LaDue, who was 17 at the time of his arrest last year, was scheduled for an adult certification hearing on Wednesday, but that was postponed to June 30 after both the defense and prosecutor agreed to let experts update their study of him first.
A judge dismissed the most serious charges against LaDue — attempted murder and attempted property damage — after seeing no evidence that he had "made a substantial step beyond mere preparation" toward committing the crimes. The judge let stand six lesser charges that LaDue was in possession of explosive devices.
Under the remaining charges, being convicted in juvenile court instead of adult court could mean the difference between having a felony on his record or not and facing less severe penalties, with options focused more on rehabilitation rather than punishment.
LaDue was caught April 29, 2014, when a citizen reported a suspicious teen going into a storage unit. When police officers arrived at the unit, they found bomb-making materials and LaDue told them of a plan to kill his family, set a distraction for police, then attack his school.
Now 18, LaDue remains at a juvenile facility in Willmar. His parents have stood by him, saying they believe he never would have actually carried out the plan.
Pam Louwagie @pamlouwagie
Austin
Museum breaks ground
Hormel and Austin, Minn., leaders broke ground Tuesday on a new Spam Museum downtown. Construction on the 14,000-square-foot building starts this week.
The brick, white and blue museum will stand on the 400 block of Main Street, south of its current spot near Hormel Foods Corp.'s headquarters.
A soft opening is scheduled for next spring, according to a spokeswoman.
Jenna Ross @ByJenna
Knife River
Slow down, town says
North Shore tourists traveling though the small town of Knife River on scenic Hwy. 61 will be getting more warnings to lay off the gas pedal.
With businesses now drawing more parked cars and visitors to the town, residents told Lake County officials that they're concerned about cars speeding above the 40 miles-per-hour limit.
So the county is installing more signs, including a bigger speed limit sign and an electronic sign showing motorists how fast they're actually traveling. They're also collecting data on how fast cars are speeding through.
"It gets a bit busier now during the summertime especially," said Krysten Foster, county highway engineer. "Our first step is to make sure that the speed limit is clear to drivers."
Pam louwagie @pamlouwaie
