Star Tribune from Minneapolis, Minnesota • Page B1

hhhhh twincities region STARTRIBUNE.COM/LOCALFRIDAY, MAY 26, 2006 SECTION Photos by DAVID JOLES I was barkandcircumstance Thursdayas four ofthe fivedogsandtheirhandlersin the Minneapolis Police 12-week K-9 training program graduated. They are, above from left, Rocky, with officer Matt Blade; Shadow, with officer Joe Fuller; Midnight, with Sgt. Chuck McCree, and Deuce, with Sgt. Ricky Altonen. Dogs must be competent in apprehension, detection, article search, narcotics and bomb selection, as well as protecting their handlers.

In St. Paul, 12 canine teams from across the metro area and as far away as Moorhead, also graduated. St. Paul Police Chief John Harrington hailed canine teams as a force multiplier. do the work that it could take 10 officers said.

spiritdemanded anadventurouslife Meghan backpack was placed at the front of St. Episcopal CathedralinMinne- apolis. What a powerful symbol. As parents, most of us have hugged our kids and sent them off into the world, packsontheir backs. Their eyes are filled with excite- ment.Ourheartsare filledwithlove andprideandanxiety.

Live, learn, study, dance, see the world, we tell them. And be safe, we prayunderourbreaths. By all accounts, Meghan Sennott was one of those wonderful people who foundand gavejoy wherever she went. And in her 20 years, she went almost everywhere. Meghan was the daughter of Richard and Laura Sennott.

(Her dad is a photographer for the Star Tribune. She was the sister of Erin. She wasthelove ofthelife ofanEng- lishman, Richard Gebbie. And the friend of people from Wayzata High to Boston University, where she was a junior, toOxford University, toabio- diversitystationinEcuador. Meghan was an athlete.

A musi- cian.An artist. Anenvironmentalist. And an adventurer, whose backpack wasneverout ofsight. Thismonth, followingherstudies in Ecuador, she and her boyfriend decided totravelin Peru. They boarded an old bus in the mountain city of Arequipa, planning to travel to Juliaca.

On a twisting, remote road on May 14, the bus flipped and crashed into a ravine. Thirteen people died. Meghan was one ofthem. douggrow columnist Grow continues: would tell you go out and seize B5 Meghan Sennott KAREinTVnewsratings By DEBORAH CAULFIELD no doubt anymore: WCCO, Channel 4, has supplanted long- reigning KARE, Channel 11, as the leading television news station in town. The May Nielsen ratings sweeps ended Wednesday night with a dramatic reverse in ranking for the all-important 10 p.m.

news. WCCO jumped from an 11.6 rating last May to 14.3, while KARE fell from 14.5 to 11.4 in the percentage of regional households with TV sets. newscasts also top the ratings at 5 and 6 p.m., but KARE still ranks No. 1 in morning news. KAREoptimisticthatanotherslicingofthenumberswilltiltitsway.

Ratings continues: helps KMSP pull in viewers. B3 Minneapolis-St. Paul is one of four finalists fortheDemocratic National Convention in 2008 and merits visits from party leaders for further consideration, Twin Cities officials said Thursday. At a splashy Minneapolis news conference fromanoutdoorareahighupontheGuthrie new Mississippi Riverfront home, St. PaulMayorChris ColemanandMinneap- olis Mayor R.T.

Rybak announced that the cities had made the cut. They also said the cities were in the running for the Republican National Convention. Denver, New Orleans and New York are the other finalists for the Democratic convention. The GOP is expected to announce its finalists July party officialsbelieve the Twin Citiesisamongthe final with Tampa, New Yorkand Cleveland. TheDemocratic National Committeewill visitMinneapolisand St.

Paul June 26-28. Either convention would fill nearly all of thehotel roomsintheentire Twin Citiesar- ea and have an economic impact of about 2004Democratic National Conventiondidin Boston. The Republicansare expected tovisitthe Twin Cities in early August to evaluate the sites. ROCHELLEOLSON Partyleadersheadingtotown onconventionscoutingtrip SupremeCourt warnsofboguscalls forjury dutyB5 Bondingbill doles out for threeartsprojects B3 Ramseymansentenced to70yearsin2killings By Amber Plessel, 15, recalled how her grandfather called her almost every day, until he was shot todeath whilemakinga sandwichinhisRamsey kitchenin 2004. took away a good person that was really close to my heart and my the teenag- erwroteinaletter read Thursday byher grandmother as Amber sobbed quietly in an Anoka County courtroom.

there is a black space thatcanneverbe Then she and the packed court heard the judge sentence Joshua Krueth to 40 years for killing Larry Plessel, 60. The sentence start until Krueth finishes at least 30 years for the random killing of another Ramsey resident in her home. Even with good behavior, Krueth, 24, be re- leaseduntilheis atleast80. Krueth, who lived about a mile from his victims, shocked the Ramsey community with the randomshootingsinSeptember 2004. He wascaughtthedayheshot Suzanne Fischer, 59, in her bedroom two weeks after Plessel was killed.

He pleaded guilty tomurderinherdeath. Joshua Krueth The crimes: Random killings of a man, 60, and a woman, 59, in their homes two weeks apart. The sentence: At least 30 years, followed by 40 years. Krueth continues: Threats against lawyers caused a mistrial to be declared in January. Novel for teens stirs up an age-old debate By SARAH T.WILLIAMS David LaRochelle, a prolific and popular author from White Bear Lake, is in demand at Young conferences across thestate.Butlast weekhe wasasked to leave his award-winning book for young people, Positively Not 2005 athome.

The book, whose teenage protagonist is struggling with his sexu- alidentity, play tables ata Young event at Northland Community and Technical College in Thief River Falls, 18. The event is geared toward fifth- through eighth-graders. Minneapolis author John Coy, keynote speaker at the Thief River Falls event, was so upset over the decision that he ditched his prepared remarks and issued a protest to the 400 or so young attendees. At a Young conference, David book on a struggle with his sexual identity was deemed not age-appropriate. Book continues: book was not says an organizer of the Thief River Falls event.

B4 so or400thetoprotestaissuedand.