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TWIN CITIES MAYOR Rybak wins 3rd term as Minneapolis mayor MINNEAPOLIS (AP) Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak locked up a third term as the leader of Minnesota's largest city, even as he lays the groundwork for a possible gubernatorial run next year.

Rybak rolled up more than 72 percent of the vote with almost three-fourths of precincts reporting, far ahead of anyone else in a field of 11 candidates.

His victory came as Minneapolis joined a handful of other cities in using instant-runoff voting for its municipal elections. City officials said the system, which lets voters rank up to three candidates in each race in order of preference, went smoothly.

Rybak, a Democrat, was open during his brief mayoral campaign about the possibility of launching a gubernatorial bid soon after this race.

In St. Paul, Mayor Chris Coleman won re-election and St. Paul voters approved using instant-runoff voting in future St. Paul municipal races.

PETTERS TRIAL Petters attorney highlights legitimate deals ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) Attorneys for Minnesota businessman Tom Petters are trying to establish the legitimacy of some of his business deals as they defend him against fraud charges in an alleged $3.65 billion Ponzi scheme.

Attorney Paul Engh (ENG) pressed Deanna Coleman, a former Petters associate who went to prosecutors last year to reveal the alleged scheme, about operations of Petters Co. Inc. in the 1990s.

Coleman is a star witness for the prosecution, but under cross-examination she acknowledged that Petters did legitimate deals with companies like Dayton's, Polaroid and Best Buy.

Engh also used his questions to remind the jury of the slaying of Petters' son John in Italy in 2004. The defense claims Petters was so distracted by his son's death and other ventures that he was unaware that Coleman and others were carrying out a Ponzi scheme.

The 52-year-old Petters, of Wayzata (wy-ZET'-uh), is charged with 20 fraud-related counts.

MISSING MAN-GUIMOND 7th anniversary of Guimond disappearance next week COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. (AP) It's been nearly seven years since St. John's University student Josh Guimond disappeared after leaving a small card party about midnight.

His friends and family will return to Collegeville next week to mark the Nov. 9 anniversary. There will be public events to remember Guimond, and to demand answers.

On Saturday the inaugural "Justice for Josh" march will be at noon near St. John's. There will also be a march at the Stearns County Sheriff's office at 2:00 p.m.

The family maintains that Guimond was taken against his will, and they're asking the sheriff's office to release all the information it has on the case.

Sheriff John Sanner says his office has spent thousands of hours on the case and he's just as frustrated as the family that it hasn't been solved.

Information from: WJON-AM, http://www.wjon.com OFFICER-SHOOTING Off-duty officer involved in fatal shooting ST. LOUIS PARK, Minn. (AP) The mother of an Iraq war veteran says it was her son who was shot and killed by a St. Louis Park police officer during a traffic stop early Tuesday.

Dawn Marth says a police officer shot and killed Jason Martin.

She says her son never carried a weapon and was the father of a 6-year-old girl.

Authorities say the officer had just gotten off duty at about 2:30 a.m. when he saw a truck being driven erratically on Minnetonka Boulevard.

City officials say the officer pulled the vehicle over and got into an altercation with one of its occupants. The officer then shot and killed Martin.

Authorities would not say whether Martin was armed, or what led to the altercation.

Hennepin County sheriff's deputies are investigating.

Information from: KSTP-TV, http://www.kstp.com LOUNGE CHAIR-drunken driving Police repost motorized recliner on ebay PROCTOR, Minn. (AP) Proctor's police chief fears the city will lose a big chunk of revenue after it was forced to repost the sale of an infamous motorized recliner on eBay.

The police department recently confiscated the customized lounge chair after its owner was suspected of driving it while drunk and smashing it into a parked vehicle.

Police auctioned the chair under the La-Z-Boy brand and received eBay bids topping $43,000 after news of the drunken driving arrest circulated. Police Chief Walter Wobig says eBay notified him Monday the chair was not a La-Z-Boy brand, so it was removed from the site and was reposted as the "DWI Chair," which restarted a three-day bidding process.

By midday Tuesday, bids were up to $2,550, no where near the previous bids. Wobig worried the city of 3,000 could lose a lot of potential revenue.

Information from: Duluth News Tribune, http://www.duluthsuperior.com PAWLENTY-ELECTION Pawlenty: Elections 'barometer' for Obama Washington (AP) Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty says election results in three key races will be viewed as a "barometer" for President Barack Obama's popularity.

Pawlenty was in Washington for an education event on Tuesday. He says that governor's races in New Jersey and Virginia and a special election for a U.S. House seat in New York's 23rd District are important tests.

If the GOP-backed candidates win two of the three races, Pawlenty says, it will be a "pretty good shot across the bow at the Obama administration." In New York's 23rd District, there is no Republican running after one candidate dropped out over the weekend. But Pawlenty had already backed Doug Hoffman, the Conservative Party nominee, and national Republicans have followed suit.

FEDERAL JUDGE-MINNESOTA Klobuchar recommends Nelson for federal judge MINNEAPOLIS (AP) U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar is recommending that a federal magistrate judge be named as the next U.S. District Court judge in Minnesota.

Susan Richard Nelson has 30 years of legal experience, including nine years as a U.S. magistrate judge. Before that, she was a trial lawyer in state and federal courts.

In the mid-1990s, she helped represent the state and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota in the historic litigation against the tobacco industry.

Federal judges are appointed for life, so Klobuchar says it's essential to recommend someone proven to be fair-minded. She says Nelson fits the bill.

Nelson would replace U.S. District Judge James Rosenbaum, who went on senior status in October. Nelson must be formally nominated by the president and confirmed by the full Senate.

NEW FARMER FUNDING Ag Department announces $17M for new farmers Elgin, Minn. (AP) A federal Agriculture Department official in southeastern Minnesota announced $17 million in grants to address the needs of beginning farmers and ranchers.

Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan said Tuesday in Elgin that the money will go to 29 institutions around the country to improve the sustainability and competitiveness of U.S. agriculture.

Merrigan said the training and education provided through the grants will help ensure the success of the next generation of farmers and ranchers.

She was at the Hidden Stream Farm in Elgin the proprietors of which were some of the first graduates of a beginning farmer program run by the Land Stewardship Project. The Minnesota-based group is getting more than $400,000 of the grant money.

FARM FATAL-WINTHROP Rural Minn. man dies in grain bin GAYLORD, Minn. (AP) The Sibley County medical examiner's office is investigating the death of a rural Winthrop man found in a grain bin buried in corn.

Seventy-five-year-old Jerry Wannarka's body was recovered Monday afternoon after authorities were called to a residence in Alfsborg Township, about seven miles southwest of Gaylord.

Gaylord is about 29 miles north of Mankato.

Information from: KDUZ-AM, http://www.kduz.com (Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.) APNP 11-04-09 0131CST | save this article / add to your favorites list