have to grow old.
This research offers the potential to eliminate diseases,
literally save millions of lives. Michael J. Fox joined other celebrities on
Capitol Hill today to make a passionate plea for stem cell research.
Good evening, I'm Julie Nelson. And I'm Randy Meyer. Stem cell research is one of
the most promising advances in medicine in decades. It could transform the way
doctors treat and perhaps someday cure people with neuromuscular diseases. It's
controversial because the source of stem cells is human embryos. Tonight its
future is embroiled in politics. General Fiske, Chris Patrick joins us with more.
Chris? Well the race for the White House is less than two months away and this is
one issue both major party candidates are facing. Bush opposes federal funding
that involves destroying living human embryos. Gore supports federal funding
for stem cell research derived from human embryos. Bush supports
innovative medical research using adult tissue and Gore supports a
requirement that stem cells come from embryos donated after they were no
longer useful at fertility clinics. Tonight we talked to one local family who
cares less about the politics of this research. They care about the future for
their sick son. Here we go. Move up Biff, move up Biff, move up Biff. Tom get ready, get
ready Tom, get in there Tom. Playing soccer is hard enough. Good decision, that
away. He knows all of you. But it's harder still when your fancy footwork has to come from a
wheelchair. I get to play in a handicapped soccer team, it's not bad but like to play on a real team.
Brian's open. 15 year old Mike Hanson here is a goalie with a goal to beat the
disease that keeps him in this wheelchair. I asked the doctor well is
there when is this kid gonna walk? He never walked. Spinal muscular atrophy
wasted his nerves and muscles away but he hopes new research will give him a
new game plan. I mean I'm excited about it. So are doctors because they're finding
they can take embryonic cells like these, they're called stem cells, and turn them
into nerve cells or blood cells or heart cells. Even muscle, just about any lost or
damaged cell the body needs. The trick here is gonna be to get those cells to
go where you need them to go and to turn into the kind of cell that you
need them to turn into. Dr. John Day and his fellow researchers at the U of M are
among the leaders in research like this and the first to admit it does take an
awful lot of money. But Mike's parents say if the legislators holding the
checkbook only knew what it means to their son, he does have dreams, he has
goals. They'd kick in the cash, that's a goal, and help him win. Good job. Chris
Patro, Eyewitness News. Researchers propose getting these stem cells from
embryos or fetuses that have died. Opponents say this is unethical and worry
it would increase the number of abortions so doctors could harvest the
healthy cells. Repeat sex offender Gregory Welch is back in jail tonight.
He's the man accused of assaulting a woman last month in Battle Creek Park.
Police caught him this morning in Chicago at his grandmother's house. Channel
5's Bridget Bornstein has more on the story. Bridget? Well Julie, Welch's arrest
has people who live in the East Metro feeling a bit safer tonight. Welch's
criminal history at Battle Creek Park is well known to police. He's been convicted
of three separate attacks on women there. Police say he attacked another woman at
the park a couple weeks ago and that's why people have been uneasy. But today
that all changed. You might say the tunes changed around here.
You know people are feeling more relaxed when they can crack jokes. If he come
near me, I would have gotten hit with my cane. Kali Hassan was hesitant to bring his
three children to the park. He hadn't heard yet that Greg Welch was caught. I
was really sorry about what happened to the lady. The police got him. They got him?
Yeah. Yeah. It's a relief to this group also. All week they've been thinking
about this outing and about the crime that happened here. Very scary. I'm glad
they caught up with a guy and it's good to be out on a nice day like today and
be able to enjoy the park without thinking about that. They're glad after a
week of worry that the situation's been resolved on somewhat of a happier note.
Bridget Bornstein, Eyewitness News. Gregory Welch is held in a Chicago jail
until he can be returned to Minnesota. Four years ago a state trooper made a
split-second decision to shoot and kill a man following a high-speed car chase.
Today the shooting cost the state $375,000 in an out-of-court settlement
with the man's family. Back in 1996 Adam Hotkiewicz was a passenger in a stolen
truck that led police on a chase around the 694 and 494 loop. It ended when squad
cars pushed the truck off 35E near the Maryland Avenue exit. The trooper then
fired the fatal shot. State Patrol admitted no fault in today's settlement
and says the trooper faced a life-threatening situation when he pulled
the trigger. Tomorrow former U of M tutor Jen Gangelhoff will enter a plea
agreement in court. Gangelhoff blew the whistle on academic cheating by U of M
basketball players. She'll agree to plead guilty to misappropriating federal
education grants. Basically she wrote papers for players allowing them to
pass classes and continue to qualify for Pell grants and that's a felony. A Pell
grant is an appropriation of federal money and anytime somebody is
involved directly or indirectly with stealing federal money that
would be a federal crime. As part of her plea she'll agree to become a
cooperative witness against former academic counselor Alonzo Newby and
former coach Clem Haskins. We're covering America in Chicago where an underground
electrical transformer blew sending flames and smoke out onto city streets
today. The three alarm fire in the well-known loop section of Chicago
started around 1 p.m. Firefighters got it under control late this afternoon.
Workers were doing repairs in the area at the time but investigators don't know
what caused the explosion. No one was hurt. Tonight the NAACP and the American
Civil Liberties Union are demanding three Miami police officers be fired. A
news crew videotaped the officers beating and kicking a man suspected of
auto theft. Civil rights activists say the officers used excessive force. Police
say the man led them on a high-speed chase and fired a shot at a police car
before eventually running from his car. The presidential debates will begin next
month but Gore may have an unfair advantage. His campaign mysteriously
received a videotape of Bush practicing a mock debate. The tape has been turned
over to the FBI and a lawyer for Bush says the tape is authentic. Meanwhile the
first debate is scheduled for October 3rd in Boston. They'll square off again
October 11th in Winston-Salem, North Carolina then on the 17th in St. Louis.
Each debate will last 90 minutes but the format has yet to be worked out. It
appears New Yorkers like the way Hillary Clinton handled herself in the first
Senate debate with Rick Lazio. A poll conducted after the debate by a New
York television station and the Daily News showed 49% of people questioned say
the First Lady did a better job. 36% favored Lazio. After a few pleasantries
the debate quickly turned into a full hour of confrontation. Listening to the
congressman's response reminds me of a word I've heard a lot of this past year
chutzpah. He stands here and tells us that he's a moderate, mainstream,
independent member of Congress. Well in fact he was a deputy whip to Newt
Gingrich. Mrs. Clinton you of all people shouldn't try to make guilt by
association. Newt Gingrich isn't running in this race. I'm running in this race.
And when the debate ended the two candidates did not bother shaking hands.
Governor Ventura kept very busy today. Tonight he gave his endorsement to
Nancy Jorgensen, the mayor of Fridley who's running for a seat in the
Minnesota House on the independence ticket. Earlier today Ventura threw his
support behind US Senate candidate James Gibson and 4th District
congressional candidate Tom Foley. By electing these two men and sending them
to Washington we will indeed shock the world again and we will show the world
that Minnesota is the mecca of the third-party movement. A short time later
the governor sat down for a live webcast with ABC's Sam Donaldson. The two talked
about Ventura's new book and his thoughts on the presidential candidate.
Next week while he's in Washington DC promoting his book Ventura will make an
appearance at a national rally for campaign finance reform. A push is on to
make driving and dialing illegal. That story is next. Then will the weekend be
wet or maybe wonderful? Dave has forecast straight ahead and the search is on for
a Renaissance runaway. Then in Focus 5 this couple lost their home but not
their humor after the granite falls tornado. Boss will tell you why this man
never gets tired of hearing fill a rump.
Close caption. Some Minnesota doctors want to ban cell phone use behind the
wheel except in emergencies. That's right the Minnesota Medical Association or MMA
says you're three times more likely to be in a fatal crash talking on your phone
than driving drunk. Dialing a wireless phone while driving is becoming a new
cause of accidents. All you have to do is ask a paramedic. They don't hear us. They
don't pull over and when they do finally hear us they panic and they'll hit the
brakes. They'll throw their cell phone and it's been getting worse and worse.
Wireless companies recommend pulling over to make any calls from your car
using a hands-free attachment. The MMA is expected to vote on that issue
tomorrow. Well the rising use of cell phones is causing a bit of a
controversy in the East Metro. Authorities in the St. Croix River Valley
are calling for a ban on new cell phone towers. People opposed to new towers
requests in Afton, Stillwater, and Somerset Wisconsin say the towers would
be too visible from the scenic St. Croix River. Cell phone companies say they
need the towers to cover gaps in their coverage. Officials hope to draw up a
cell phone tower plan by the end of the year. Well big star of the Renaissance
Festival is missing tonight. This is Scheherazade. The Falcon is a
popular performer at the festival but during a show Saturday she took off and
wasn't able to land because of high winds.
Scheherazade was last spotted Monday in Victoria. Her owner says she could be in
trouble if she doesn't learn to survive on her own.
Well that funnel cloud that formed over Granite Falls in July was fierce. It
spawned one of Minnesota's worst tornadoes. The twister obliterated a
quarter of the town ripping homes completely off foundations. One person
died. But tonight a story of two survivors, Omer and Eldora Peterson lost
their home but not their human. Instead of rebuilding they downsized. In tonight's
Focus Five Rod Rassman shows us how a touch of optimism and a little laughter
can heal the hurt of losing your home.
We've seen debris so we thought boy let's get to the basement. Then we heard
the train. Much help as we can up here right away. It dropped out of a black July sky,
changed Granite Falls forever. There was just a roaring and glass and the way the
house went. The tornado left people like Omer and Eldora Peterson looking for
even the smallest sign of the life they once led. Where's the house? There is the
house is all over. In the house they once had. 56 years we gathered the things
together. Only a few seconds took it away. Today more than a month and a half
later there are places in Granite Falls that look like they just got hit and
places people are clearly putting the pieces back together. This battered lamp
pole is about the only reminder of Willie Roy's old house but Willie is
well on his way to a fresh start in a new improved version of home. I had the
garage in the back before so now I think it's gonna be nice to have it attached.
Willie Roy is using this as an opportunity to change how he lives but
at least a few people here in Granite Falls are taking this tornado as a sign
they should change where they live. This is home. We have to make it our home so
we're gonna save this our home. Home for Omer and Eldora Peterson now
consists of just three rooms and one is a bathroom. This is what you call
togetherness. The three-bedroom ranch they lived in for 20 years just happened
to get in the way of the tornado's worst winds. This is our kitchen where we do
our cooking. So now a tour of the Peterson home has gotten a lot shorter.
Here's where we do our sitting. But that's okay with the Petersons in fact
they don't plan to rebuild. It's too much stress and in our age we want to take it
easy. We don't want to think. I don't want to think too much because they've
learned during their occasional visits to their old house. They filled our
basement. Those thoughts bring them back to how it used to be. Oh we're gonna
miss this house. How it'll never be again. Yeah you see that writing on that
house over there? Santa please bring back our neighbors and trees. One Christmas
wish that'll never come true. Although that's not to say the Peterson's will
go without a Merry Christmas this year because they choose to hold on to the
good thoughts about all the people who have helped them. People have been
wonderful. Oh the people. It's unbelievable. Really surprising. They also hang
on to the little things that survived along with them like their wedding
picture taken while Omer was on leave from World War II. And I come home and I
said I went from one war into another one. The one he'll never win. He'll never
win it. Although now they say they've survived another war huddled together
next to that freezer down there in the basement. Say he never squeezed me that
hard when we were going together. We held on tight. After more than a half century of
marriage it took a tornado to show Omer and Eldora Peterson that all the rest of
it is just stuff. They still have the only thing that really matters. We're
together. You know we both survived and that's the best. Rod Rassman, Eyewitness
News, Granite Falls. Well as Rod mentioned the Peterson's are still living in
Granite Falls but ain't an apartment complex for seniors. Well they planned on
living there eventually but the tornado pushed up that timetable a bit. And you
know they said people are so wonderful we're so surprised. For wonderful people
like that. What a cute mirror. It's not surprising. You might remember Eldora. She was the one that
lost her purse. Wanted to find her purse so badly and I got a chance to talk to her there.
Finally they found it in the bushes and that's all she wanted. That's very cute.
It happened again guys. We had another one of those CMEs. I'll explain.
Chronal Mass Ejections. You know what that leads to. That does need an
explanation. Northern lights. Possibly. I learned that one the hard way didn't I Dave?
Now how does this happen? Well we get one of those solar flares on the sun and
that emits some particles in our direction. So we're going to take a close
up look and show you what a solar flare looks like on the surface of the sun. And
this happened a couple of days ago. There it is and that ejects those
particles toward the earth and they're collected around the magnetic poles. And
what happens is the northern lights. So where do you want to look? Well the next
two nights look up in the northern sky and of course well after dark usually
after midnight before this really becomes visible. The only problem is the
moon which is almost full may hinder the viewing a little bit. Out there right now
here in the eastern part of the state it is a gorgeous evening. We have clear
skies and our temperatures are dropping off in a hurry. It's down to 56 in
Minneapolis, 58 in St. Paul, 55 in White Bear Lake, 53 in Stillwater and 50 in the
Afton area. And a close-up look at the Afton area at a high today of 70. Their
current temp now stands at 50 and we have still a northwest breeze blowing
across the area. What's going to happen over the next couple of days? Well the
weekend outlook calls for sunshine statewide on Saturday all the way
through Wisconsin. Sunday not much of a change, a little bit warmer though
especially up north. 70s for temperatures up there, 70s as well in
Wisconsin and near 80 here in the southern part of the state. Very hard to
find the cloud in the entire picture. We have clear skies tonight that could lead
to a little frost especially up in northeastern Minnesota. That's where the
air is fairly dry and the wind has settled down already. With that clear
sky it's kind of a perfect setup for that to happen. Now I think even
temperatures in the outlying suburbs, maybe in the Afton area, could get down
close to the upper 30s for overnight lows tonight but I think the frost if it
does occur will be up in northeastern Minnesota, maybe the far northwestern
corner of Wisconsin where temperatures already are in the 40s. Overnight tonight
then that cool high pressure system kind of settles in that lightens up the winds,
keeps the sky clear. Tomorrow during the day we'll start off with a lot of
sunshine, a few clouds covering up the sun during the afternoon tomorrow.
Otherwise not a bad way to kick off that weekend as we head in
toward a real nice weekend here for late summer. Overnight tonight then the
Weather Center 5 forecast calls for a clear sky low down to 41 as I said
outlying suburbs upper 30s. Then for tomorrow morning starting out with
sunshine right around 44 in the afternoon more sunshine, few clouds out
there 63 for the afternoon temps. We look ahead though it warms up quickly
Saturday and Sunday temperatures in the low to mid 70s possibly up close to the
upper 70s on Sunday and then the next chance of rain comes our way Monday. Top
out at 81 then. Wow. Yahoo. Nice nice weekend. Thank you David. Thanks Dave. Joe's
talking Vikings and sports next. All right plus Creighton Durham Hall continues
its morning. This eyewitness news weather report is brought to you by your local
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your favorite team. Catch the latest Viking news each week on Vikings Live.
This week your local Dodge dealers help deliver the highlights from the Viking
Patriots game. Joe Schmidt and Eric Giselson break down the big plays and
look at next week with special guests Orlando Thomas and Corey Stringer.
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Clearance. Old-fashioned full service that's our Minnesota moment tonight. In
Clara City for more than 60 years Augustauner has been pumping gas and
people call him Sonny. Most other gas station owners have stopped providing
full service but Sonny still does. There's almost time to retire ain't it?
Well I did that a few years ago but I couldn't stand it. Sonny plans to pump
gas until he just can't do it anymore and you know didn't we just have that
conversation with Dave Dahl? Yes we did. Just kidding Dave. I used to pump gas. Did you really? When I was in high school and we were full service. Did you do the windshields? To this day I can clean windows better than my wife.
That's not very. Well you better be careful you'll be doing that. Why don't you just talk sports? I think you're better at that. Julie you cleaned this little window on the desk. Since the NFL decided to play 16 regular games in 17 weeks there has not been a team in the NFL better at the buys than the Minnesota Vikings. Danny Green priced himself on it.
The game against New England is going into bye week. A win would leave the Vikings feeling pretty good. The Vikings are 16 and 2 in sandwich games. 8 wins and 1 loss going in. 8 wins and 1 loss going out. What's the secret? Most players say it's Danny Green.
I think it's just a credit to him the way he prepares us. The amount of rest he gives us. The respect he gives the guys by giving them time off for doing good work. I feel like he's good to us as far as the amount of time off he does give us and obviously the guys in past years have responded.
The bye is this week after the bye the Vikings play at Detroit. After the game on Sunday be sure to check out the rap for the scoop on the Patriot game. Carl Ellers and Sid Hartman will be in studio. Eric Giselson joins us from New England. I'm sorry. It wasn't that funny. It all starts at 10.35.
Joe Smith and Glenn Taylor found out this week. This hasn't happened to me ever. A 93 million dollar secret is hard to keep. That's the amount that Taylor had secretly arranged to pay Smith over the next 10 years.
An NBA spokesman says that the Timberwolves deliberately tried to hide tens of millions of dollars in Smith's contract and it's the worst kind of salary cap offense possible. The matter is currently under arbitration.
Taylor is trying to skirt the NBA's salary cap by giving Smith some big guaranteed money in the future. If the league rules against the Wolves they could receive a hefty fine, lose rap choices and Glenn Taylor himself could be suspended.
Taylor and Kevin McHale did not comment on the report today. Creighton Durham Hall likes to play on Thursday nights. The Raiders have steamrolled three straight teams on Thursday. Tonight it was Humboldt.
Joe Mauer had a pair of touchdowns passed in the first quarter. How pretty is this? A perfect strike to Tony Lessiman. Rashawn Powers-Neal also scores twice on the ground. The Raiders look unstoppable. They hammer Humboldt 63-0.
We had a great finish tonight between Harding and Highland Park. Harding ties the game with five minutes to play. A toss from Dan White to Jeff Winslow. But with 29 seconds to play, Highland Park Marcus Smith goes in from three yards out. The Scotties win 22-15.
That's it for sports. I really wish I could have been in on that joke. You got a little sweat going there Joe. It's hot in the studio tonight. We'll be right back with weather. Wow.
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Oh, Joe's inside. Joe's burned up all the time. We gotta say good night. We'll see you tomorrow.
Sometimes the final moments.