Apple Valley

Joan Baez: I made a decision not to be a nostalgia act

"Ask what you wanna know, not what you think someone else wants to know," says Joan Baez over the phone, her voice laced with years of wry insight. At 72 years old, Baez comes across as decades younger, spry and streetwise but not world-weary -- even for the decades she's seen, living her life out i ... More >>

Apple Valley police stumble upon largest heroin bust in Dakota County history

Last spring, law enforcement officials in Hennepin, Anoka, and Ramsey counties went public with concerns about a dramatic uptick in heroin use in the Twin Cities. It turns out a good portion of the metro area's supply may have been riding around in the car Apple Valley police found Warren Comeaux in ... More >>

Devon Gordon allegedly stole student's phone at McD's, but student took it back by force

A student was cracking his books at an Apple Valley McDonald's on November 7 when he was approached by Devon Gordon. According to a police report, Gordon asked the student if he could borrow his phone to make a call.SEE ALSO:-- Hamburglar lives! Bag of McDonald's swiped from unsuspecting customer-- ... More >>

Rufus Wainwright at MN Zoo, 8/11/12

Rufus Wainwright With Adam Cohen and Krystle WarrenMN Zoo Amphitheater, Apple ValleySaturday, August 11, 2012See Also:Slideshow: Rufus Wainwright at MN ZooRufus Wainwright: forever talented and always entertaining. To a hushed, sold-out audience, the singer approached the darkened stage to open with ... More >>

Hardee's to open 59 new area restaurants. Is one near you? [MAP]

Hardee's recently announced a five-year expansion plan that will increase its Minneapolis/St. Paul-area presence four-fold, from 21 locations to 80. That's 59 new burger joints.If you're interested in heading up one of the new franchises, there's an "Executive Roundtable" this afternoon where you ca ... More >>

Final Exit right-to-die activists booked in suspected Apple Valley suicide

Three members of the Final Exit Network were booked in Dakota County yesterday for their role in the alleged 2007 suicide of an Apple Valley woman. A fourth defendant, Jerry D. Dincin, didn't appear because he is reportedly dying. Dr. Lawrence D. Egbert, Thomas Goodwin, Roberta Massey and Jerry Din ... More >>

John Prine at the Minnesota Zoo, 6/29/12

John Prine With Willie Watson Minnesota Zoo, Apple Valley Friday, June 29, 2012 With fans as passionate (read: intoxicated, borderline rabid) as his, it was perhaps a sin for John Prine to show up 40 minutes late to his own party as he did for his Minnesota Zoo appearance Friday night. Any regular ... More >>

Brandi Carlile at the MN Zoo Amphitheater, 6/20/2012

Brandi Carlile with Jeremy MessersmithMN Zoo Amphitheater, Apple ValleyWednesday, June 20, 2012Brandi Carlile is an artist that can inspire an undying loyalty in their fans -- fans who will sell out two shows during the week in a suburb and sit in the rain for two hours just to hear their favorite a ... More >>

Feist and the Low Anthem at the Minnesota Zoo, 6/2/12

Feist and the Low AnthemWeesner Family Amphitheater, Minnesota Zoo, Apple ValleyJune 2, 2012Feist kicked off the 20th season of Music In the Zoo in grand fashion on Saturday night, delivering a two-hour set that spotlighted not only her deft guitar playing and insightful songwriting, but also her ... More >>

Ocean Buffet in Brooklyn Center: A first look

Ocean Buffet in Brooklyn CenterThe Twin Cities has no shortage of Asian buffet restaurants. But who would have guessed that the award for highest per capita concentration of Asian buffets would go to Brooklyn Center? With the recent opening of Ocean Buffet on Shingle Creek Parkw ... More >>

Twin Cities restaurants offer Thanksgiving Day options

On a holiday that's all about food, why not let the professionals do the cooking? Whether you're hosting notoriously judgmental family members or looking to start a new lower-key Thanksgiving tradition, choosing one of the many Twin Cities restaurants that offer Thanksgiving Day meals just might be ... More >>

Gary Brown charged in child prostitution sting

Gary Brown denied he planned to distribute the videotape. ​In a pretty sick "take your pick," Gary Brown was allegedly given the choice of paying to have sex with a 12-year-old girl, an eight-year-old girl, or a five-year-old girl. He chose the eight-year-old, and was willing to pay $400 for a vid ... More >>

James Arthur Ray, new-age guru, may only get probation in death of Liz Neuman, two others

James Arthur Ray goes from new age guru to convicted felon.​Disgraced new age guru James Arthur Ray has already been found guilty of negligent homicide for running a pseudo-Indian sweat lodge ceremony that killed Apple Valley's Liz Neuman and two other clients. But there's a possibility he may ... More >>

Parbati Kalicharan not guilty of stabbing her granddaughter over puzzle dispute

Kalichari was convicted of a lesser charge last week.​Hopefully this will ease some tension at the Kalicharan family gatherings. Parbati Kalicharan has been found not guilty of stabbing her granddaughter in the ear with a kitchen knife last fall over a dispute that arose while the two constru ... More >>

Southwest High School is the best in Minnesota

Not the Taj Mahal, but better than your school.​Any minute now, all those families who abandoned Minneapolis and St. Paul for Edina, Minnetonka, and other assorted Twin Cities suburbs "for the great schools" are going to be sticking "for sale" signs on their front lawns, right? Nah. Just kid ... More >>

Lawrence Martin Valencour, 60-year-old masseuse, sentenced for groping clients

Lawrence Valencour gave Fox 9 a demonstration.​The only thing more gross than 60-year-old massage therapist Lawrence Martin Valencour groping six of his female clients was the wince-inducing demonstration he gave a Fox 9 reporter two years ago when he was first arrested. Valencour was sentenc ... More >>

Rhonda Arkley jailed after torching house with husband inside [UPDATE]

Rhonda Arkley, fresh from the hospital, is jailed.​After being hospitalized for nearly a month, Rhonda Lee Arkley has finally swapped her hospital bed for a Dakota County jail bunk. She made her first court appearance this morning for charges of arson, fleeing police and assault. Cops say she ... More >>

BirthOrNot.com vote: No abortion. Or not?

BirthOrNot: There was a recount.​Pete and Alisha Arnold of Apple Valley say they've tallied the votes from their infamous BirthOrNot abortion poll, and the results are conclusive. Have the baby, the poll said. Or did it?

John Kalal admits Pete Arnold is Zeeboid the internet troll

Behold, the man known as Zeeboid!​Pete and Alisha Arnold are sticking to their story. BirthOrNot.com is a real internet vote to determine if they should abort their pregnancy and not, as we discovered ample evidence of last week, an anti-abortion hoax. So today we drove the icy road to Apple Vall ... More >>

John Kalal's mugshot: Meet the wholesome spokesman for BirthOrNot.com

John Taylor Kalal has been the face of BirthOrNot.com in Apple Valley.​Turns out everyone involved in this BirthOrNot hoax has something to hide. The last two times we've tried to get Alisha and Pete Arnold to explain the trail of internet evidence that shows BirthOrNot.com -- the supposed poll t ... More >>

Birthornot.com owners: It's not a hoax [UPDATED]

Photo via wiki.racetotheright.comPete "ThePete" Arnold gets his Star Trek on.​Pete and Alisha Arnold have gone on the record saying their website poll asking whether Alisha should have an abortion is not a hoax. Update: It's looking like anti-abortion advocacy. More after the jump. But while ... More >>

Grady Sizemore's sexts allegedly hacked by St. Cloud student

Photo by UCInternational, WikipediaThe Internet loves athletes' dicks pics.​Just ask Old What's His Name: Athletes' dongs and cell phones are a bad combination. Cleveland Indians' Grady Sizemore learned this last year when sexts meant only for the eyes of his girlfriend, Playboy model Britta ... More >>

Ex-cop Timothy Carson sentenced in Apple Valley bank robbery

Timothy Carson will spend eight years behind bars​Timothy Carson, an Iraq war veteran and a former Minneapolis cop, left no doubt in anyone's mind yesterday that he was guilty as charged in an Apple Valley bank robbery last winter -- and sorry. The judge made it clear at the sentencing that Ca ... More >>

Ex-SWAT Timothy Carson sought suicide by cop confrontation

Timothy Carson​Timothy Carson, an Iraq war Marine veteran and former Minneapolis SWAT officer, was evidently hoping for a suicide-by-cop confrontation the day he robbed a bank, the man's lawyer told U.S. District Judge Patrick Schiltz today in St. Paul. Andrea George sought leniency in Carso ... More >>

Should we get to vote for our judges?

Image Courtesy of State of Minnesota​There's a fight over how we decide who can be a judge in Minnesota, and it's being fought out this week in front of the Supreme Court and on the floor of the legislature.The state constitution says judges are supposed to be elected every six years, but in r ... More >>

Willie A. Johnson headed back to prison

​Willie A. Johnson, who vanished from a Stillwater halfway house last June, and was arrested in the Chicago area on March 17, learned today that he's going back to prison until March 17, 2014. Johnson had been under "intensive supervised release" and was serving the remainder of a sentence fo ... More >>

Timothy Carson, former Minneapolis cop, pleads guilty to bank robbery

Carson still faces charges for other robberies and attempted robberies in Hennepin and Dakota counties.

Lindsey Vonn ditches "Minnesota nice" and takes a shot at Tiger Woods

The Apple Valley native couldn't resist taking a shot at golfer and serial philanderer Tiger Woods' marital problems.

Andrea Puckett vents to Gail Rosenblum about James Ray's sweat lodge fiasco

"My mom would never have put herself in a life-threatening situation on my birthday," Puckett says.

After Judge Judy taping, Minnesota women duke it out in a bar

Two women from Eagan who used to be roommates get into a fist fight following a TV courtroom conflict.

Girl: Can't remember sexual contact with coach

A criminal sexual conduct case involving a girls basketball coach and one of her players is hardly a slam dunk.

Double your giving with $100 in free Morrissey gift cards

Treat others as you treat yourself: Buy a $100 gift card to The St. Paul Grill, Pazzaluna, Restaurant Max, Tria, or Enjoy!--and receive $100 in free cards.

Victory Ship's new album sails through '70s revivalism

Name change and new record see group reinventing the jam band

Femi Kuti outshines the Wailers at the Zoo

Crime blotter: divine intervention

Powerline: Tom DeLay "too liberal"

Space Cadets

A new Lyn-Lake pizza joint combines do-gooding, fun, and pizza to charming effect

Confessions of a Commodore

I used to be a prince, you know

The Big Kahuna

Captain Budd sails off in pursuit of the great tan whale

Off Beat

Ted�s Excellent Adventure

Ted Mondale thought he could sweet-talk the 'burbs into building their share of affordable housing-- but Eagan told him to get lost.

Meet Miss Ratafia

Their Generation

Not trying to cause a big sensation--just stoked on Mountain Dew and Parliaments

Off Beat

Zooropa

Tigers' Keepers

A real-life fairy tale in which the wild beasts are hunted, the jungle is a plantation, and the knight in shining armor hails from Apple Valley.

No Can Do on Man Doo in Eagan

Bill of Goods

Ten years ago Minneapolis officials turned the heart of downtown into a parking lot. Now they've got an even better idea

The Making of an Angry White Guy

Behind Closed Doors

Garbage houses made the news briefly nine years ago when police discovered the notorious Eggert house in St. Paul. But the truth is that Twin Cities-area inspectors have been finding them for over 20 years. How do lives fall so completely--and so privatel