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Bridge Collapse-CONTRACTS Firms sued in bridge collapse still get work ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) Two firms the state of Minnesota accuses of negligence in the Interstate 35W bridge collapse have won a combined $50 million in new highway contracts since then.

Engineering consultant URS Corp. and paving company Progressive Contractors Inc. are targeted in lawsuits by the state and victims.

A lawsuit filed by the state last week seeks to recover at least $37 million. That's how much a government settlement fund paid to the 145 people injured and relatives of the 13 killed on Aug. 1, 2007.

The transportation department won't comment on the new contracts, and legal experts doubt the agency could have stopped either company from bidding or signing new public contracts.

Federal investigators blamed the collapse primarily on poor bridge design.

US-IRAN-MISSING AMERICANS Minn. mom: Son is 1 of 3 Americans missing in Iran MINNEAPOLIS (AP) The mother of an American freelance journalist missing in Iran says she is concerned for the "safety and welfare" of her son and two other Americans.

Shane Bauer's mother, Cindy Hickey, says her son is one of the three Americans believed to have been arrested by Iranian authorities last week on a hiking trip in northern Iraq.

Hickey, who lives in Pine City, Minn., said Monday she hopes the three return safely to the U.S. She refused to comment further.

A Kurdish official in Iraq has said the three contacted a colleague to say they had entered Iran by mistake on Friday and were surrounded by troops. Iran's state television later said the Americans were arrested after they did not heed warnings from Iranian border guards.

MOUNDS VIEW DEATHS Sentencing postponed in Mounds View triple murder ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) Sentencing has been postponed for a north Minneapolis man who pleaded guilty to killing three women in Mounds View last October.

Thirty-nine-year-old Johnny Lee Ellis Jr. pleaded guilty in May to three counts of murder. He was due to be sentenced Monday, but Judge Edward Wilson announced that the defendant was not in court because of a medical condition. Sentencing was rescheduled for Aug.

17.

The victims included Ellis' girlfriend, 40-year-old Angela Vigen. Also killed were her sister, 35-year-old Jennifer Vigen, and their mother, 75-year-old Jolyn Vigen.

Prosecutors say Ellis agreed to three consecutive sentences that could put him in jail for more than 75 years.

Investigators say Ellis killed Angela after an argument. They say he told a friend that he killed her mother and sister because he couldn't leave any witnesses.

Information from: Star Tribune, http://www.startribune.com DAUGHTER STARVED-MINNESOTA Minn. mother accused of starving daughter to death SANDSTONE, Minn. (AP) A Sandstone woman is accused of starving her developmentally disabled 10-year-old daughter to death in 2006.

Ludusky Sue Hotchkiss, 29, was charged with second-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.

Authorities found Hotchkiss' daughter, Lakesha Victor, dead at her family's home in Hinckley on Aug. 20, 2006.

Lakesha had cerebral palsy, Autism and a seizure disorder. She was fed with a feeding tube that connected through her stomach.

Authorities say the girl went from about 50 pounds to 31 pounds at the time of her death, a 34 percent body weight loss in four months.

An autopsy found the girl died from malnutrition, dehydration and pneumonia.

Hotchkiss is due in court Sept. 29. A phone number for Hotchkiss could not be found. She has not been arrested, according to the Pine County Jail.

MINNESOTA TRIBAL HQ ARSON Arrest in northern Minn. tribal HQ arson Duluth, Minn. (AP) Federal agents have arrested a 20-year-old Nett Lake man in last month's arson that destroyed the Bois Forte Reservation center offices in northern Minnesota.

FBI and Bureau of Indian Affairs officers arrested William Lynn Isham on Friday at a Duluth residence where he had been staying.

A criminal complaint and warrant for Isham's arrest were filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Duluth, charging Isham with setting fire to the Bois Forte (boyz fohrt) Reservation Tribal Center at Nett Lake near Orr.

Isham is an enrolled member of the Bois Forte band. He remains in custody.

Information from: Duluth News Tribune, http://www.duluthsuperior.com SUSPECT KILLED-NO INDICTMENT Owatonna cop cleared after fatal 2008 shooting MANTORVILLE, Minn. (AP) A Dodge County grand jury has cleared an Owatonna police officer who shot and killed a man during a drug investigation last year.

Police Sgt. Joel Welinski was part of an undercover operation with other agents in August 2008. At one point the suspect fled in his vehicle, striking and injuring one Bureau of Criminal Apprehension agent. Welinski responded by firing at the suspect.

Twenty-six-year-old Mario Alejandro Molina-Campos of Rochester died of his injuries.

The grand jury announced its decision Friday.

Information from: Post-Bulletin, http://www.postbulletin.com TICK TROUBLE Risk of tick disease rising in Upper Midwest MINNEAPOLIS (AP) Deer ticks are expanding their range in the Upper Midwest, increasing the threat of disease to hikers and others tramping through the region's woods.

Public health officials say it's happening in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa and southern Canada. The number of Lyme disease cases has been growing with the expansion.

No one is sure why the range is growing, but there's growing suspicion that subtle changes in the climate are tipping the ticks' complicated ecosystems toward expansion.

Health officials in Minnesota and Wisconsin are trying to get funding to test that theory.

Officials agree that it's not enough to keep people out of the woods, but they say outdoors enthusiasts should be smart and take precautions against tick bites.

MINNESOTA CROP REPORT Cool weather slows MN crops ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) Cool weather continues to slow crop development in Minnesota.

In its weekly crop report for Minnesota, the U.S. Department of Agriculture says crop development continues behind the five-year average pace.

Average temperatures ranged from 3 to 9 degrees below normal statewide. The Minnesota Climatology Office says July was the third coolest July in state history.

While the lack of extreme heat was good for maturing crops, especially in drier areas, the report says producers need warmer days for crop development.

Eighty percent of Corn was at or beyond the silking stage.

That's 5 percentage points ahead of last year but 10 points behind the five-year average. Thirty-three percent of this year's Soybean crop was setting pods, compared with an average of 51 percent.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.) APNP 08-04-09 0130CDT | save this article / add to your favorites list