Star Tribune from Minneapolis, Minnesota • Page B1

here are two minor problems with unveiling in St. Paul of a bronze statue of Herb Brooks, the hockey legend who engineered the greatest sports moment of the last century, but who always liked to say: just a guy from the East One: This is the first time that Herb Brooks ever settled for a bronze. And two, although he said he was a guy from the East there Target Center offer Minnesota Timber- wolves owner Glen Taylor wants to take over management of the Target Center. Turn to B3. Allowed to talk Terrorism suspect Mohammed Warsame will meet with his lawyer today.

Turn to B3. Pension fund problem The Minneapolis teachers pension fund is in danger of going broke, a pension expert said. Turn to B3. Doug Grow A group called Minnesotans Against the Death Penalty is holding a forum. Turn to B2.

Governor to address Minnesotans today Gov. Tim Pawlenty will give his second State of the State Address today. When: Noon. Where: House chambers at the Capitol. On TV and radio: Stations carrying the address will include KMSP- TV, Ch.

KSTC-TV, Ch. 45; KTCI-TV, Ch. 17; Minnesota Public Radio (91.1 FM in the Twin Cities); WCCO Radio (830 AM), and WMNN Radio (1330 AM). First club touts reading for kids First Lady Mary Paw- lenty has created a new Club for Web site that was developed for fourth-, fifth- and sixth-grade students and teachers. This program allows students to independently read a book, complete the activities and discuss the book with others.

Three fifth-grade teachers helped Paw- lenty develop a series of discussion questions and vocabulary exercises. The Web site features teaching resources and educational opportunities to help a teacher incorporate the book club into a classroom project. The Web site includes games, a bookmark maker, an electronic dictionary, educational tools and will feature a book selection. The First Lady will select two books during each of the upcoming school years. Side of the by Jean Craighead George, is the first featured book.

For more information, visit http://www.governor. state.mn.us. Patricia Grice Thursday, February 5, 2004 www.startribune.com/metro INDEX Faces Places B5 Obituaries B8-B9 Weather B10 Comments or complaints about the news? Contact the representative at 612-6734450 or readerrep tribune.com. If you have news tips, call 612-673-1769 or send an e-mail to metrostate 0INSIDE0 0FYI0 0COMMENTS0 2004 Legislature ALSO INSIDE: legislators offer their own proposals for prescription drugs. B4 courtroom met the emergency room in a debate over a plan to limit medical malpractice awards.

B4 try to raise awareness about the methampheta- mine epidemic in rural Minnesota. B4 Greta McClellan, 4, of Stillwater, take her eyes off Tempest, a bald eagle, which was among the Minnesota Zoo residents paying a visit Wednesday to the State Capitol for Zoo Day. grandfather, Sen. Dennis Frederickson, R-New Ulm, said he understands the need for zoo upgrades. do this for children like he said.

At left, bird trainer Dave Cruz worked with 19-year-old, Tempest. An opossum, a cockroach and a hognose snake were among the creatures displayed. Nick Coleman COLUMNIST Fur and feather lobby visits Capitol Photographs by Jim Tribune Herbie was a guy from the East Too many sex predators put at large, Hatch says By Conrad deFiebre Star Tribune Staff Writer As many as 40 dangerous sexual predators may be at large in Minnesota because of a failure by state prison officials to recommend them for indefinite civil commitment, state Attorney General Mike Hatch said Wednesday in a new escalation of the partisan debate following the disappearance of college student Dru Sjodin. Hatch, a DFLer, made the charge in a letter to Corrections Commissioner Joan Fabian, an appointee of Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty.

On Tuesday, Fabian had written to Hatch asking his help in assessing whether sex offenders scheduled for release from prison should be civilly committed. Hatch rejected that plea, saying such decisions should be made on psychological grounds, not legal ones. is absolutely inappropriate to have an attorney involved in making such a medical he wrote. Fabian, speaking before the Senate Crime Prevention and Public Safety Committee on Wednesday, said, trying to make a better recommendation with the help of legal expertise. We are trying to do our Review praises MnDot land deals By Dan Browning Star Tribune Staff Writer A review panel has given the Minnesota Department of Transportation high marks for the way it acquired property for a giant highway project in Rochester.

Despite a public outcry over the land acquisitions, the report released by MnDOT on Wednesday concluded that the agency was in with state and federal rules, and that it had offered owners the certified fair market value for their land. The review examined about 10 percent of the acquisition files, said Jeanne Aamodt, a MnDOT spokeswoman. MnDOT requested the review last year during a Star Tribune investigation of alleged low-ball offers to property owners. Trooper charged in high-speed lift for a friend By Jim Adams Star Tribune Staff Writer State trooper Jennifer Schneider was on duty, with a State Patrol-sponsored Explorer Scout along for the ride, when she learned that a colleague had a flat tire and make it to a hockey game in Eagan at 10 p.m. So she picked him up in Lino Lakes about 9:30, and raced down Interstate Hwy.

35E, reaching more than 110 miles per hour with lights and sirens flashing, authorities said. When she reached Eagan, Schneider, 25, allegedly hit a car trying to pull out of her way on Pilot Knob Road. Nobody was hurt in the Dec. 18 crash. When police arrived, she claimed to have been chasing a car that ran a red light, according to charges filed this week in Dakota County District Court.

The ruse went unnoticed until an anonymous tipster called the State Patrol, which asked Eagan police to investigate. Schneider, who is on paid leave pending the outcome of the court case, could lose her law-enforcement license if she is convicted of gross-misdemeanor misconduct, said a state police licensing official. The investigation revealed that shortly after the crash, an Eagan police officer arrived and took off-duty trooper Michael Olson to the Civic Ice Arena in Eagan to play for the State Patrol hockey team. husband also played on the team. When a state trooper arrived at the crash, Schneider told him that the Explorer Scout was her only passenger.

Charge made to corrections chief OFFENDERS continueson B4MNDOT continueson B9 Olympic file photo, 1960 Herb Brooks was the last player cut from the 1960 gold-medal team, but he made the squad in 1964 and 1968. was nothing about it. He was the hard-charging coach who stunned everyone by winning the 1980 Olympic hockey gold medal at Lake Placid, beating the Russians (and then Finland) with a band of college kids united in their desire to achieve immortality almost as much as they wanted the hectoring Herbie off their backs. Brooks was 66 when he died in August in a one-car rollover, a tragedy that was felt from Moscow to Manhattan. But it was felt most deeply on the humble, hard-working East Side of St.

Paul, the molder of those values of loyalty, sacrifice and team that beat the Russians. This sweeps period has TV news stations set for a battle royal By Deborah Caulfield Rybak Star Tribune Staff Writer Local TV stations are poised today to begin one of the most competitive ratings periods of the past decade, ending a long period of relative calm in the Twin Cities market. During this February sweeps period, which runs through March 3, most efforts will focus on one target: luring former Paul Magers fans from the KARE, Channel 11, mothership and into their orbits, using the same friendly approach that made the KARE bear a ratings king. The only exception is KSTP, Channel 5, which hopes to attract viewers using a no-frills hard-news format. departure in De- cember, coupled with the weakening of once- dominant programming schedule and the resurgence of CBS, could alter the TV landscape.

a particularly interesting and important ratings said John Rash, director of broadcast negotiations for the Minneapolis ad agency Campbell Mithun. After a decade of stability in station rankings, chinks in the rankings began to appear during the November sweeps. No. 2-ranked WCCO took a bigger bite of the desirable 25-54 demographic group. No.

1 KARE lost some points among viewers 18-34. COLEMAN continueson B7 TROOPER continues onB2: She joined patrol in 2000. SWEEPS continues onB7: WCCO is station to watch, expert says. 0COLUMNIST0 0HEADS UP0 Acquisition prices backed.