It's just a vacant lot now, but one year from today you might be coming to this spot to
shop at Austin's new Walmart Supercenter.
I'm Dan Conrad.
I've got the story coming up in a live report.
High gas prices could be more than just a pain at the pump.
I'm Lauren Dittmer.
I'll tell you where else it's affecting local residents.
And Minnesotans may not have to deal with a higher gas tax after all.
Good evening everyone, I'm Nicole King.
And I'm Brandon McElwain.
Your News starts now.
For News and Weather Source, ABC 6 News.
Thanks for joining us.
Well, it's not much now, just some dirt and some construction equipment.
But a year from now there will be something on that lot.
That's right, ABC 6 News reporter Dan Conrad joins us now live from the sawed off Austin's
Future Walmart store.
Dan?
Brandon and Nicole, the future took a step forward today.
Yeah, there's not much here now, but as you can see behind me, work is underway on Austin's
new Walmart Supercenter.
If we don't have any weather delays or any unforeseen conditions, we're shooting for
summer of next year.
After more than two years of planning, work has begun at the site of Austin's 180,000
square foot Walmart Supercenter.
Before construction work can start on the actual Walmart store, site preparation work
is taking place.
That's why, for now, crews are taking steps to protect the groundwater and the soil.
Representatives of Walmart and the city of Austin sat down for the first time with the
project's contractors for a pre-construction meeting to lay out the timeframe for the project,
starting with the land itself.
There's also some soil corrections that are required to support the building.
And storm water and drainage issues.
We have an engineer here to certify that the site is ready.
What of those things are the responsibility of Walmart and what is the city doing?
As far as the costs associated with all the improvements, Walmart is paying for all of
those costs, whether they're private or public improvements.
By the end of this summer, much of the outside work will be done and the building will be
roughed in to let construction crews work inside over the winter.
That's not the way Walmart usually does it.
Usually it's kind of reversed in the sense that the building goes up and then site work
afterwards.
But even with a smaller store 20 miles down the road in Albert Lee, Walmart is confident
its new store in Austin will fill a niche.
And each store is sized appropriately for the community and surrounding county.
I'm sure that if they did those studies then it's a necessary store.
The Austin Walmart store is being built on a 29-acre parcel of land just off 18th Avenue
Northwest, just across the street from Oak Park Mall.
Zachary Pearson from Walmart said he wasn't exactly sure how many employees the store
might have.
He estimated two to three hundred.
Live in Austin, Dan Conrad, ABC 6 News.
Now Dan, does Walmart have any other plans in Minnesota so far?
This is going to be a busy year for them, Brandon.
According to Zachary Pearson, they just finished stores in Fairmont and Faribault.
They're looking at probably seven other stores in his territory, which doesn't even cover
all of Minnesota.
So, busy year for Walmart again.
Alright, thanks a lot, Dan.
Hi everybody.
High pressure brought us a really nice day today.
Let's go to satellite imagery.
There's not a cloud to be found around southern Minnesota and north Iowa.
We have to go all the way up to the U.S.-Canadian border to find any sort of cloudiness.
That high pressure is solidly in control and that will mean a mostly clear sky for tonight.
Let's get a look at temperatures outside.
They were very pleasant this afternoon with winds not too bad today, either 70 right now
in Dodge Center and Oatono, 66 for Albert Lee, Austin at 64 in Rochester, reporting
68 with mid-60s across north central Iowa.
Let's go to your first forecast for tonight.
Here it is.
Looks like mostly sunny this evening, mostly clear overnight, a little bit chilly but not
as cold as last night.
We'll start our day with 49 degrees and tomorrow looks like lots of sunshine.
We have some changes in the weekend forecast, which we'll be back in just a few minutes
to tell you all about.
Okay, thanks, Fred.
Well, authorities have now recovered three bodies from the Mississippi River near the
dam at Dresbach.
Today authorities identified a third body pulled from the Mississippi River as Amanda
Zong, the daughter of 34-year-old See Her.
Searchers are still looking for Amanda's brother, Josh.
The bodies of See Her and her fiance, 34-year-old Cha Kang Yang, were recovered earlier.
The four family members were boating on Saturday when their boat capsized at Lock and Dam number
seven near Dresbach.
Gas prices aren't the only place people are seeing higher prices.
Essentials like eggs, milk and bread are also becoming more expensive.
In fact, the price of milk is up 30 percent in California.
So we sent ABC's Six News reporter Lauren Dittmer to the grocery store to find out how
local people are coping.
Tomatoes, milk, bananas.
Chances are you've noticed you're paying more at the store.
And you are.
Food prices are up close to four percent and local shoppers are taking note.
I have noticed that prices are a little bit higher in the produce section.
This time of year it seems like typically produce will be a little more reasonable,
but it's definitely higher.
Especially things that are shipped in, you can see that the prices are going up.
And that's in small time.
When you get to catering, you're buying large quantities of stuff.
But if you need it, you need it.
Kathy Lawrence has her own catering business and says she's noticed the price of food going
up at the store.
An observation not shared by some grocery store workers.
Right now we don't notice this much difference in prices.
But if the gas price is not going to back down, then we might see some changes in prices.
But Kelly Penrose says she's already seen an increase in the aisles.
Somewhat.
I mean, I'm a bargain shopper, so I kind of go for the cheapest ones.
But I have noticed some of that goes up too, but the gas is the worst one.
With gas prices on the rise, some local shoppers are having to cut back at more places than
just the pump.
I just go get what I need and I don't get the extra things anymore because I can't afford
to.
It depends on what they really need.
I think that they're buying more things that they really need.
Now local folks are left waiting for relief at the pump and the store.
Lauren Dittmer, ABC 6 News.
Now relief may not come quick because the culprit, they say, is corn.
Corn is used in so many of the foods we buy in the billions of gallons of gas that we
use each year.
It's that growing demand that's hitting you in the wallet.
In your capital countdown 2007, Minnesotans can breathe a little easier when heading to
the pumps.
Democrats say they don't have enough votes to override a veto transportation bill that
would have tacked on a five cent gas tax.
Democratic spokesperson Joel Johnson says at least two Republicans will not support
an override.
The tax was intended to provide funding for MnDOT.
Johnson says it's unclear if there will be a compromise on the transportation bill before
the session ends.
Just a few days left in this year's session, Governor Tim Pawlenty's approval rating is
down slightly from two months ago.
Our exclusive polling partner SurveyUSA shows 53 percent of Minnesotans approve of Governor
Tim Pawlenty.
Now that's down three percent.
Forty-four percent disapprove and three percent said they're not sure.
Two people were killed today after their minivans slammed into the back of a school bus in Hugo,
which is just near the Twin Cities.
The accident happened around three o'clock this afternoon.
Both people in the minivan were killed.
The driver of the school bus was taken to the hospital.
And authorities say not one of the 11 students on board that bus were seriously injured.
The Bush administration released a statement this morning threatening to veto a $640 billion
defense spending bill.
The bill has provisions for a pay raise and increased benefits by $40 for soldiers surviving
spouses.
President Bush calls the raises unnecessary.
Congressman Tim Walls has two amendments in the bill, one for tuition reimbursement and
another to develop better medical records.
Walls says one problem with the current tuition assistance is that it's distributed on a first-come,
first-serve basis.
So our soldiers who are coming back in Minnesota in the late fall trying to pick up in, trying
to get back to school are going to be too late to get any money.
Walls says the current benefits aren't enough and the current tuition system is too confusing.
Minnesota Senator Norm Coleman is joining the call for Attorney General Roberto Gonzalez's
resignation.
Coleman claims the former U.S. Attorney for Minnesota, Tom Heffelfinger, was also on
the list of prosecutors to be considered for dismissal.
Coleman also cites this week's testimony that Gonzalez tried to get his predecessor,
John Ashcroft, to approve Bush's eavesdropping program while Ashcroft was in intensive care.
Coleman says he has lost confidence in Gonzalez and it's time for new leadership at the Justice
Department.
Meanwhile, Senator Amy Klobuchar is calling for an investigation into the removal of the
former Minnesota attorney.
Minnesota's minority population is growing, reflecting national numbers that show the
country's minority population has now topped 100 million.
From 2000 to 2006, the two populations showing the largest increase in Minnesota were Hispanic
and African Americans.
Hispanic numbers went up 37 percent.
The African American population grew 28 percent.
Close to home, Austin has the largest percentage of minorities at 10 percent, followed by
Albert Lee and Rochester.
The trend is visible in this kindergarten classroom at Woodson Kindergarten Center in
Austin.
About one-third, or 37 percent, of this year's kindergarten class are minorities.
That's four percent more than last year.
And at Woodson, that poses challenges in communication.
Especially if they have a language diversity as well, we're sometimes not able to know
what their needs are.
Is it because they're not understanding us and the directions that we're asking of them?
Do they not have the ability to perform the skill we're asking them?
Nationally, the number of Hispanic school-age kids surged 21 percent, while the non-Hispanic
white school-age population dropped four percent.
The Austin man accused of adding dog feces to his parking payment will pay for his crime.
22-year-old Josh Solberg has been charged with misdemeanor disorderly conduct for putting
dog feces inside an envelope along with his parking ticket.
Solberg told ABC6 News he's sorry for what he did.
His first court appearance is scheduled for June 15th.
Now let's take a look at some of the stories you'll see tonight at 10.
The state budget remains in limbo at 10.
How possible cuts for education will affect school districts already struggling to make
it work.
Plus, a wildfire forced them out of their homes, but today they were allowed to return,
at least for a while.
And the fate of the federal World Bank president appears to be sealed.
Join us for all those stories and a lot more coming up new tonight at 10.
And still to come on your news at 6, what you can do to keep thieves away from your
credit.
And you can place a bid on an item, but you can never amount how much that helps.
And the winds will pick up from the south tomorrow.
That means we will be a few degrees warmer.
Some big changes for the weekend.
It looks like that cold front that we were talking about will get a little bit closer
to us.
We have some better chances of scattered storms.
Still does not look like a washout of a weekend though.
The main rain event comes next Tuesday when we will see some much needed rainfall.
We'll show you that revised 7 day forecast in just a few minutes.
Dolan's Landscape Center.
Welcome back.
You can help make a 4 million dollar project reality tonight.
The Ironwood Springs Christian Ranch in Stewartville is holding an auction right now to benefit
the Riverview Log Lodge.
Lodge, the project has been in the works for 7 years.
Now since construction began in 2000, more than 800 volunteers have helped build the
conference and a retreat center that is completely wheelchair accessible.
The goal is to have the lodge open by Labor Day.
And in March we reached a huge milestone of 25,000 volunteer hours of labor.
Which is an absolutely amazing thing.
Now you've still got some time if you want to go down there and show your support.
A live auction begins at 7 o'clock.
Vehicles and furniture are just some of the items that you can bid on.
The Ironwood Springs Christian Ranch is located on Country Road 6.
Now at last check we were supposed to be getting a little warmer every day from here on out.
Generally that's true, however, with one big exception now.
Cold front that we were watching for Sunday.
It looked like it was going to stay well to our north.
It now looks like it's going to plow right through our area on Sunday and that's really
going to shave several degrees off the temperatures.
You always change things on us.
Well the weather changes.
It's not staying.
You've got to keep up to date on it.
The weather changes.
That's why I'm here.
We're going to start with weather video and this was shot today in Austin.
We're calling this Quack.
And we have, I'm told, a combination of ducks and geese here on the weather video.
And it looks like all the waterfowl enjoying the terrific day.
They like high pressure too, you know.
Sunshine, light winds and great day for the whole family there.
Ducks and geese today in Austin.
Quack.
Here's Albert Lee where it's a really nice evening.
Winds are light, temperatures are agreeable and it looks like a great night there by the
lake with very, very nice conditions around the entire area actually.
Let's go and look then at temperatures.
How are we doing outside?
68 for Rochester, 64 for Austin, 64 for Charles City.
The warm spot is both Dodge Center and Oatana at 70 degrees, 66 for Albert Lee and Mason
City and Decorah checking in with 64 with Preston right now at 63 degrees.
Here's satellite and radar.
High pressure clearly in control of our weather.
Look at this.
Again, we have to go almost up to Canada to find any clouds so it looks like a mostly
sunny evening if you want to get outside tonight and mostly clear overnight as well.
Going ahead to the next 24 hours, not a lot of drastic changes.
However, the high will continue to move off to the east and that will really pick up that
southerly wind.
So tomorrow will be a lot more breezy than what we saw today but that southerly wind
will bring in warm air and we will be several degrees higher than what we saw today temperature
wise still with those mostly sunny skies.
So a really nice end to the work week I think and we'll show you that weekend forecast momentarily.
First though, your first one forecast for tonight, mostly clear skies and your lows
in the 40s.
Last night, many of us were in the 30s for lows so we will be a little bit warmer here
for tonight with a south wind at 10 miles per hour helping us to stay just a little
bit warmer.
44 your low tonight in Rochester, 44 for Spring Valley and it looks like about 68 tomorrow
in Cresco under mostly sunny skies, 68 for Preston.
Then it just gets warmer as we move off to the west.
Now it will be borderline breezy here in the east around Rochester, around Adams, around
Riceville but as we look to the west around Interstate 35 the winds will pick up even
more probably around 15 to 20 miles per hour in that area so hold on to your hats tomorrow
if you're outside.
Looks like a nice, nice day though overall coming up for tomorrow.
Now for Saturday, a cold front will approach with a chance of showers and thunderstorms.
They will be scattered, not widespread.
We'll see how that goes tomorrow.
We'll see how that goes for the next couple of days.
For Sunday that front will plow through and really shave several degrees off of our temperatures.
Our computer forecast models show that about 60 is as warm as we are likely to go now on
Sunday with scattered showers.
Again, not a washout of a weekend though.
Monday we rebound quickly with a warm front and then the main rain event, the big system
comes through on Tuesday with that much needed rainfall and you can still pick up your weather
radio.
They're available at Hy-Vee stores.
They're made by Midland.
That is the company.
They're a great company.
They put out a great product.
I encourage you to at least consider getting one.
If not buying one.
There you go.
That would be good.
Yeah.
Thanks Fred.
Well as summer heats up it might be time to cool down your risk of identity theft.
KBC's Betsy Stark tells us how you can place ID bandits on ice as they try to cash in on
your credit.
If you're worried about identity thieves using your personal information to open new
accounts, a credit freeze just might be the solution to ease your fears.
When you request a freeze on your credit file, your report cannot be seen by any third party,
effectively making it impossible to open new credit accounts.
Consumer Reports says that thanks to recent changes in local laws, people in 28 states
can put a freeze on their reports.
To get a credit freeze you might have to spend up to $20 and removing it from your accounts
can cost another $20.
To start the process you need to send a certified letter to each of the three major credit reporting
agencies.
That letter should have your full legal name, all your home addresses for the past two years,
social security number and date of birth.
You'll also need to include a copy of a state issued ID, a recent utility bill and a copy
of the police report if you've been the victim of identity theft in the past.
The agencies will then process your request.
With the ABC News Money Minute, I'm Betsy Stark in New York.
Coming up in sports, the twins look to avoid the sweep in Cleveland.
And some of the best in off-road driving pour into Oatana.
Dave's got it all.
Coming up next in sports.
And it's the season finale on Grey's Anatomy tonight at 8 o'clock, then lost right before
you're back here at 10 o'clock.
in O-Town.
Welcome back everyone.
The World Series of Off-Road Racing or the WSORR picks Oatana as their inaugural spot
to begin the season.
It's going on this weekend.
It's the first year for the series beginning tomorrow.
The country's best in off-road racing will take over the Steel County Fairgrounds on
Saturday.
Ten classes will compete on the short course for a purse of $100,000.
These high-performance trucks are built for the dirt and will provide some solid family
entertainment.
If you like snowmobile racing, motocross racing and even if you're into car drifting, you're
going to see it all on dirt here.
I mean, you're talking 100 miles an hour, 150 feet, flying through the air.
It's going to be a very, very competitive series.
There's going to be a lot of top people going to be here and it's going to be the place
to be for this weekend, no doubt.
Once again, ten classes, three of which are professional off-road drivers.
Tomorrow's practice, open to the public, more fun, comes again on Saturday.
Gates open up at 8 a.m.
Opening ceremonies with a special tribute to the troops.
It all begins at 11.05.
Johan Santana, the twins in Cleveland, wrapping up their three-game set.
The lefty looking to get his team back on track.
They could use a win and avoid the sweep.
Pretty, pretty pitching throughout most of this one.
Santana gets Grady Sizemore swinging twice in this one.
Johan with 11 Ks, seven innings pitch.
Countering, Fausto Carmona whips one past Torrey Hunter, bottom seven.
Still scoreless late in this one.
Victor Martinez takes advantage of a slip-up by Santana.
He goes deep.
His fifth home run of the year.
I don't know if that was sign language for sweep, but they would do it.
Two-nothing, bottom nine.
Carmona trying to go the distance with a runner on.
Gets Torrey Hunter to ground out.
Complete game, shutout.
They win two to nothing.
Closer to home, postseason underway in high school softball.
Todd Park in Austin, a buzz.
The 1A West subsection taken over.
Third-seeded BP, Blooming Prairie, taken on six-seeded Goodhue.
Seventh-seeded Southland facing off against the two-seed in Lyle Pacelli.
Both games still underway at this moment.
Two tight ones out there.
We'll recap them both.
Coming up tonight at 10 o'clock.
So postseason already underway for at least one spring sport.
Kind of fun.
Looking good.
Thanks, man.
Now let's take a live look outside in Austin.
Really nice picture.
And Fred, as a recap, your forecast coming up.
It's a great night outside in Rochester.
Let's go and take a look outside right now.
There it is.
The traffic moving along happily with such beautiful weather.
High pressure will continue to control our weather for tonight and for the better part
of tomorrow too.
Let's take a look at that seven-day forecast.
Southerly winds pick up.
It will be breezy at times tomorrow, but that'll bring in that warmer air.
Highs in the lower 70s.
Then for Saturday, we have a cold front approaching, so we have a chance of showers and thunderstorms.
Scattered though.
It's not going to rain all day.
Then for Sunday, the front will push through.
And look what it does to our temperatures.
About 60 for a high.
Still with scattered showers and thunderstorms.
But it's still not going to rain all day.
For Monday then, we get a little break as a warm front moves quickly back in.
So we're back to the 70s.
Then a much bigger system comes in on Tuesday.
Showers and thunderstorms are likely, especially in the afternoon and evening.
And we could see some much needed rain with that system.
And I know a lot of the lawns would appreciate that.
You keep making me pull out the blanket and put it back.
It's kind of that time of year.
All right.
Thanks, Fred.
Have a good night.
See you at 10.
Take care.
Everyone has their own way.
It's the most interesting weather in the world right now, Fred?