St. Cloud Times from Saint Cloud, Minnesota • Page 1

a' 'a fwiM 111 .11 Kids make pennies go a long way IB Sauk Rapids players double their fun ID Curtain rises on 'Gypsy VUp Next Weather Today: Mostly sunny High: 78 Low: 58 Details: 10A ST. CLOUD Thursday July 27, 2000 A Gannett Newspaper 50S St Cloud, Minnesota 2000 ST. CLOUD NEWSPAPERS INC. 139TH YEAR. NO.

34 1W I Lni i 7 Wf( Slaying suspect investigated for wife's stab wound nan'' she said it did?" Anderson said. "The theory that his wife fell on the knife all I can tell you is that we're still looking into KentR. Jones Charged with murder, assault By David Unze Times staff writer ELK RIVER -The Becker man arrested Tuesday and charged with the 1992 stabbing death of Big Lake Township woman Linda Jensen is being investigated for a February incident in which his wife was hospitalized for four days with a knife wound. Kent R. Jones, 37, is expected to make his first court appearance this morning in Sherburne County District Court on charges that he raped Jensen and stabbed her to death.

Jones faces second-degree murder and first-degree criminal sexual conduct charges. Jones' DNA matches DNA found at the Jensen crime scene, said Sheriff Bruce Anderson. Anderson said Wednesday that sheriff's officials still are trying to determine what happened in February when Deborah Jones, who provided an alibi for Kent Jones on the day Jensen was murdered in 1992, was hospital ized with a knife wound to her abdomen. Deborah Jones has told investigators that while she was putting dishes into a dishwasher, she slipped on a wet floor and fell onto the open door of the dishwasher, where a knife had been placed handle down into a silverware container. The knife pierced her abdomen, Anderson said, and caused a wound that required Deborah Jones to be hospitalized from Feb.

9-13. "Did it happen the way was raped and stabbed. Because of the alibi, sheriff's officials never asked Kent Jones for a DNA sample until more than eight years later. Investigators needed a search warrant to obtain DNA from Kent Jones after the car salesman, who used to work at Miller Auto Center in St. Cloud, refused to volunteer a sample.

The DNA match was confirmed late Monday, and Jones was arrested without incident Tuesday at a car dealership in Inver Grove Heights. The search warrant used to get Jones' DNA has been sealed and is expected to be available to the public this morning, after Jones makes his first court appearance, Anderson said. Court records offer insight into Jones' past troubles with finances and the law. Jones has been convicted of domestic abuse and insurance fraud in Sherburne County and of passing bad checks in Stearns County. He and Deborah Jones filed for bankruptcy in 1997, and less than two months later, Kent Jones wrote nearly $500 in bad checks at a Shopko store in St Cloud.

Kent and Deborah Jones were convicted of insurance fraud for submitting an inflated claim on property they lost when a storage shed they were renting in Becker burned in a 1996 arson fire. Neither of the Joneses was considered a suspect in the arson. Acquaintances shocked by suspect's arrestIB that Sheriff's officials also are looking at whether the state-; ment Deborah Jones gave in 1992 was truthful. Her statement provided Kent Jones with an alibi the day Jensen DMffllfi mm 1 Eugene Michael Glaraton Worth As many as 5 funnel clouds were spotted over city at one time Knutson attend a town meeting. attend a town meeting.

Tornado upends homes, lives "Jfi, mm HL nmfm-wf i.iiiim ii I Mil i GRANITE FALLS (AP) i Hundreds of volunteers streamed into this southwestern Minnesota town Wednesday, offering their help to clean up homes and, businesses devastated by a tornado that killed at least one person and injured at least 14. About 300 to 350 homes i were damaged as the slender twister whipped through a 6-mile swath shortly after 6 p.m. Tuesday. "We didn't have much lead time on this," said Mayor David Smiglewski, who. had watched the funnel from a distance.

"The conditions weren't the classic conditions," he said, describing a sky that seemed normal before the twister hit. Warning sirens sounded when the tornado touched down west of town. As the sirens blared, most people rushed to their basements before the tornado touched down, wiping out whole city blocks in a matter of seconds. As many as five funnel clouds were spotted over the city at one time. Many people estimated residents had about 10 minutes from the time the siren sounded.

A dispatcher for the Yellow Medicine County Sheriff's Department said the warning was 15 minutes ahead of the tornado. The only confirmed death in the town of about 3,000 people was that of Arly Swanson, 82. Smiglewski said the man was crushed by his green Chevy pickup. Authorities said they had no indication the death toll would rise. But they did not Detained at motel near St.

Joseph High-risk fugitives caught near St. Joseph Convicted sex offenders had fled treatment program By Kelly Scott Times staff writer Two high-risk sex offend- ers apprehended by the Stearns County Sheriff's Department Wednesday were in the St. Cloud area without the knowledge of local authorities. The reason: The Minnesota Department of Corrections didn't tell St. Cloud-area authorities until they needed assistance from Stearns County to apprehend the fugitives.

Just after midnight Wednesday, the sheriff's department's Safety Emergency Response Team apprehended Level HI sex offenders Eugene Glaraton and Michael Worth at the Super 8 Motel outside St. Joseph, Stearns County Sheriff Jim Kostreba said. Both men were being held Wednesday in Stearns County Jail. Level III sex offenders are the most likely to reoffend. It is the most serious classification for sex offenders.

When a Level III offender relocates into a community after serving a sentence, authorities are supposed to be notified of the new address, and the offender's neighborhood must have some public notification. See FUGITIVES, 4A Times today AP photos The storm's lone fatality, 82-year-old Arly Anderson, was crushed beneath his green Chevrolet pickup (above) during Tuesday night's storm. fit rule it out. "How could there just be only one fatality in all of this?" Smiglewski said Wednesday as he escorted media through town. Gov.

Jesse Ventura toured the hardest-hit areas Wednesday afternoon and vowed the state would do all it could to help residents. On Wednesday, a newly built dike held back about 700 gallons of herbicide that spilled at a grain elevator. Power had been restored to all the homes aged area to check on their homes. "Really, the emergency is over," said Duane Hoeschen of the state's Division of Emergency Management. "We are now in the recovery.

We don't want to injure and kill more people than the tornado did." Fourteen people with cuts and bruises were treated and released at Granite Falls Municipal Hospital, hospital administrator George Gerlach said. Tornado survival tipslC GRANITE FALLS (AP) Todd Reishus covered his son's body with his own just as the tornado struck his house with a Peeking from behind a' tarp family members used to shield themselves from raining glass in their basement, his wife Vicki watched their home rise, hover above its foundation, and land essentially in place. When they emerged, they found their garage gone; the houses no more than 20 yards away across the alley from them had also disappeared. It was the beginning of a line of destruction that rescue workers Wednesday morning were calling "tornado alley." "Lots of people were screaming in my neighborhood because they couldn't get out of their homes," said Todd Reishus, who helped free neighbors. Said his wife: "It was just total devastation" Five houses away, the storm claimed its one fatality.

Arly Swanson, believed to be 82, was crushed by his green Chevy pickup, according to the town mayor. In the early morning, people from this town of 3,000 emerged to tell stories of damage, stories of luck and stories of the strange and seemingly random targets of the storm. One man said his dog house disappeared; the dog inside stayed put. In the Reishus' garage, the storm moved their pickup across the street but left in place a neatly folded pile of plastic tarps. Elsewhere, a twisted semi truck lay just yards from a row of large diesel tanks undamaged.

Some of the scenes were bizarre. Two grain silos were obliterated. Their See TORNADO, 4AK tr, A mattress is suspended in a broken tree above a rooftop in Granite Falls. where it was possible, city dents were to be issued and emergency manage- numbers to allow them back ment officials said. Resi- into the most heavily dam Communities rush in to offer helping hand Local IB More Local Nation 3A Opinion 7B Sports 10 Scoreboard.2D Television.

Advice 2C Births 2B Business 8A Comics 6D Crossword Calendar Health ganize St. Cloud volunteers to help with clean-up in the coming days, but in the meantime, they're warning against visits outside the auspices of organized assistance. "They're not helping anybody if they go there without being asked," said Beth Bromen, executive director of the Red Cross in the 15-county St Cloud area. Red Cross officials categorized Granite Falls' disaster at Level 4, the same By Sue Halena Times staff writer St. Cloud businesses and relief agencies are helping shocked Granite Falls residents recover from a tornado on par with one that devastated the city of St Peter two years ago.

Teams from the St Cloud Salvation Army and American Red Cross headed southwest to the community of 3,000 within a few hours of the twister's touchdown Tuesday evening and organized additional help How to help Cash or palate-loaded goods are the most effective means of help after a disaster like the one that struck Granite Falls. Cash donations can be sent to: American Red Cross 1204 Seventh St. St. Cloud. MN 56301 Wednesday.

Local businesses donated water, loaned cell phones and offered hotel rooms. Both agencies hope to or i ij ii ii i --rii iriimt ii i' Sw ii Times photo by Jason Wachter Coborn's employees Tony Jordan (left) and Chuck Walters (right) help the Salvation Army's Sam Logan load See 70 cases of bottled water for the people of Granite Falls. Obituaries On Page 2B Elinor Elletson, Sartell Ethel Heitke, Paynesville William Kalton, Milaca Muriel Kelly Parr, Texas Bruce Kist, St. Cloud Margaret Meyer, St. Joseph Eldon Rohs, St.

Cloud John Rudolph, Pierz Arbelle Swenson, Sartell Adam Winters, Paynesville Lottery Powerball: 3-20-22-37-44 (36) Cash4Life: 30-49-61-92 Daily 3: 3-1-9 Judge gives Napster 48 hours to shut down online music sharing unrestrained, illegal, online bazaar. The heavy metal band Metallica also sued, saying more than 300,000 Napster users had traded its songs online. Napster responded by blocking access for more than 30,000 people, but new users continued trading the band's music. "We're elated," Metallica SAN FRANCISCO (AP) A federal judge shut down Napster Inc's Internet clearinghouse oh Wednesday, saying the company that revolutionized music distribution was encouraging "wholesale infringing" against recording industry copyrights and would likely lose at trial. against any financial losses Napster suffers from being shut down pending trial.

Napster's attorney, David Boies, said the San Mateo, company will appeal. The Recording Industry Association of America sued Napster in December, accusing it of encouraging an U.S. District Judge Marilyn Hall Patel noted that 70 million people are expected to be using Napster by year's end unless the service is halted. The injunction will go into effect at midnight Friday, after the nation's largest record producers post a $5 million bond drummer Lars Ulrich said. "Sharing is such a friendly word.

This is not sharing, it's duplicating." RIAA attorney Russell Frackman told the court that 1,400 songs were being downloaded each minute via Napster 's software. i The music industry has made Napster the focus of a long-running dispute between copyright owners and Internet enthusiasts who believe information of all sorts should be traded freely. i On the Net: www.napster. com, www.riaa.com or http:gnutella.wego.com On the phone: 2S5-S710 or (GOO) S35-5333.