Thieves steal priceless Swedish royal jewels, escape by speedboat

If you're having trouble viewing this email, you may [see it online](. [Star Tribune]( Talkers Top stories - Thieves steal priceless Swedish royal jewels, escape by speedboat: Thieves in Sweden walked into a small town's medieval cathedral in broad daylight and [stole priceless crown jewels dating back to the early 1600s]( before escaping by speedboat, police said Wednesday. - Hennepin County Attorney pledges to strengthen sex assault investigations: Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman plans several measures to [improve the way his office and Minneapolis police pursue sexual assault cases]( in the wake of Star Tribune reports that rape investigations are chronically mishandled by Minnesota law enforcement organizations. - Minneapolis firm to investigate leak of draft report on police and ketamine: The city of Minneapolis has [hired an outside firm to investigate the leak of a draft report]( that detailed how police in some cases urged paramedics to sedate people with ketamine. The St. Paul-based firm NeuVest will interview city employees to determine the extent of the breach, which will touch on all the staff members who had access to the draft report. - Officials tracking a wildfire in BWCA: Kris Reichenbach, with the Superior National Forest, says [the 2-acre wildfire is burning north of Grand Marais]( near Seagull Lake. - Trump calls on Sessions to end Mueller's Russia probe: President Donald Trump called Wednesday for Attorney General Jeff Sessions [to put an end to special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia probe](, a day after Trump's former campaign chairman went on trial. Taking to Twitter to complain about the ongoing Russia investigation, Trump said Sessions "should stop this Rigged Witch Hunt right now, before it continues to stain our country any further." Sessions recused himself from the probe last year. So far, the special counsel investigation has led to the indictment of 32 people, including 25 Russians, and three companies. At a rally last night in Tampa, Fla., the president wrongly [claimed that shoppers need to show photo identification to buy groceries]( and accused Democrats of obstructing his agenda and his Supreme Court nominee during a raucous rally aimed at bolstering two Florida Republicans ahead of the state's primary. A White House spokesman did not immediately respond to questions about when the billionaire president last bought groceries for himself. - Mueller refers cases of 3 lobbyists, including Vin Weber, to federal prosecutors: The special counsel [has referred three investigations into possible illicit foreign lobbying]( by Washington insiders to federal prosecutors in New York who are already handling the case against President Trump’s former lawyer, according to multiple people familiar with the investigations. The cases cut across party lines, focusing on powerful Democratic and Republican players in Washington, including Democratic superlobbyist Tony Podesta and former Minnesota GOP congressman Vin Weber. Prosecutors laid out their case against former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort at the opening of his trial Tuesday. Manafort is [accused of orchestrating a multimillion-dollar conspiracy]( to evade U.S. tax and banking laws, leaving behind a trail of lies as he lived a lavish lifestyle. - DFL in bitter clash with Senate candidate Richard Painter: Minnesota DFL Party Chair Ken Martin called Painter, a former Republican and ethics lawyer in the George W. Bush White House, “a wolf in sheep’s clothing” who refuses to say he is a Democrat. Painter said that he “won’t swear allegiance to a party” but [would caucus with Senate Democrats if he’s elected]( and would vote for Sen. Tina Smith if she beats him in the Aug. 14 primary. In other campaign news, State Rep. Ilhan Omar, a DFL candidate for Congress, said [she would return $2,500 in speaking fees that violated Minnesota House rules]( from two Minnesota community colleges after a GOP colleague criticized the payments. - Investigators baffled by disappearance of Iowa college student: Mollie Tibbetts, a 20-year-old University of Iowa student, [hasn't been seen since going for an evening jog on July 18]( in Brooklyn, a community of about 1,400 people where she was living this summer with the her boyfriend and his brother in a farmhouse. At a news conference Tuesday, Kevin Winker, director of investigative operations for the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, said investigators haven't drawn any conclusions about what happened to Tibbetts other than that disappearing on her own "is not consistent with her past." - Wisconsin man's hands, legs amputated after contact with dog's saliva: Greg Manteufel suffered a rare blood infection after [harmful bacteria from a dog's saliva seeped into his bloodstream](, causing sepsis, or blood poisoning from bacteria.  Watch this Killer whale drags boat around by its anchor: Ara Stevenson posted this video to Facebook of [a playful orca taking a sailboat for a brief joyride]( over the weekend.  Talk to us! Send feedback on this newsletter, questions, story tips, ideas or anything else to [talkers@startribune.com](.  Trending - Indoor ax-throwing is all the rage in the Twin Cities: [City folk who don’t really need to split wood are picking up axes]( (actually more like hatchets) and hurling them at targets as part of corporate team-building activities, bachelorette parties or guys’ night out. - Target phasing out C9 by Champion line: [Target is phasing out the C9 by Champion activewear line]( as the Minneapolis-based retailer continues to retool its brands. HanesBrands and Target both announced Wednesday they will not renew their contract, which expires at the end of January 2020. - Alaska Airlines under fire after gay couple had to give up seats: Alaska Airlines is facing outrage on social media after [a gay couple had to give up seats on a New York City-Los Angeles flight]( to make room for a straight couple. The Seattle Times reports the couple accepted an apology Tuesday from the airline, which said there was a seating mistake not reflective of disrespect in Sunday's incident.  Sports roundup - Dozier was drafted by the Twins, developed by the Twins, traded by the Twins: With an expiring contract on a team with a losing record, veteran second baseman Brian Dozier knew his time in Minnesota was coming to an end. [The Twins sent Dozier to the Los Angeles Dodgers]( less than an hour before the trade deadline Tuesday, capping a whirlwind five days in which Twins Chief Baseball Officer Derek Falvey and General Manager Thad Levine traded five key players. [Dozier arrived in the Dodgers dugout]( — hugging new manager Dave Roberts and shaking hands with the team batboy and others — during Tuesday night's game against Milwaukee at Dodger Stadium. And as emotional as it may have been to leave the Twins, Dozier was telling people he was ready to get to work right away to help his team in the National League's Western Division race. - Big Diggs deal another nimble salary cap move by Vikings: The five-year, $72 million deal wide receiver Stefon Diggs signed on Tuesday will go into effect next year, making him the ninth player on the 2019 Vikings with a contract that carries a yearly average over $10 million in each of its first three seasons. Of those nine big contracts, [eight have been signed since March 2017.]( - Southern Minnesota couple busted for poaching 253 crappies: A timely Turn In Poachers (TIP) call from an angler in southern Minnesota has resulted in charges against [a Mountain Lake couple who were caught with 273 crappies]( in their possession after exploiting a hot bite on Fairmont’s Lake Sisseton.  Did someone forward this newsletter to you? You can [sign up for Talkers here](.  Quote of the day “If you go out and you want to buy groceries, you need a picture on a card, you need ID.” -- [President Donald Trump](, at a rally Tuesday night in Tampa, Fla.  Worth a click How a Kansas politician got rich from a string of courtroom defeats: [Quite a story here from ProPublica and the Kansas City Star]( on how Kris Kobach, Kansas secretary of state and former point man for President Trump's defunct voter fraud commission, pitched his anti-immigration ordinances to a number of small towns around the country and then made a whole lot of money defending them in court, sometimes with disastrous effects for the municipalities. One legal ethics professor compared it to fictional con man Harold Hill's scheme in "the Music Man." Kobach is currently running for governor of Kansas.  From the archives Aug. 1, 1991: West Coast gangsta rap pioneer (and future co-star of "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit") Ice-T performs at the inaugural Lollapalooza traveling music festival's stop at Harriet Island in St. Paul. The concert was headlined by Jane's Addiction, with performances by Siouxsie and the Banshees, Living Colour and Nine Inch Nails, among others. (Photo: Tim Ivy/Star Tribune) Connect with Star Tribune [facebook]([twitter]([google+]([pinterest]([instagram]([tumblr]( [Manage email preferences]( • [Subscribe to Star Tribune]( • [Privacy Policy]( • [Unsubscribe]( This email was sent by: StarTribune, 650 3rd Ave S, Suite #1300, Minneapolis, MN, 55488 © 2018 StarTribune. All rights reserved. We value your opinion! [Give us your feedback.](