Wildlife officials have captured hundreds of invasive carp from the Mississippi River near Trempealeau, Wis.

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources announced Friday that officials caught 296 silver carp, 23 grass carp and four bighead carp Nov. 30 in what the agency called the largest single capture of invasive carp in Minnesota to date.

Agency officials said the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources tracked six tagged invasive carp in that area of the river that led officials to larger schools moving upstream. Observations from commercial anglers also helped officials pinpoint the fish.

“Asian” carp were imported to the U.S. in the 1960s and 1970s to help rid Southern aquaculture farms of algae, weeds and parasites. They escaped through flooding and accidental releases, found their way into the Mississippi River and have used it as a superhighway to spread north into rivers and streams in the nation’s midsection.

The carp are voracious eaters — adult bigheads and silvers can consume up to 40% of their body weight in a day — and easily out-compete native species, wreaking havoc on aquatic ecosystems. There is no hard estimates of invasive carp populations in the U.S., but they are believed to number in the millions.

Wildlife officials are battling to keep them out of the Great Lakes and protect the region’s $7 billion fishing industry.

— Associated Press

College student ID’d in fatal park landslide

The young man who died in a landslide at the bottom of a southern Minnesota state park’s waterfall has been identified.

Jack R. Loso, 19, of Robbinsdale, was visiting Minneopa State Park with some family members at the time of the accident shortly before 5 p.m. Saturday.

A Minnesota State University spokesman said Loso was a student at the university.

The accident happened at the base of Minneopa Falls, which is located at the bottom of a wooded gorge.

Minneopa State Park said on its website that the trail that goes to the base of the falls is closed until further notice. The park put up fencing at the top of the stairs that lead down to Minneopa Creek and a trail that people use to get to the base of the falls.

The incident remains under investigation, said Chief Deputy Jeremy Brennan of the Blue Earth County Sheriff’s Department.

Brennan said he couldn’t remember a situation when someone was trapped by a landslide but said that over the years there have been some people who wade into the water and get trapped under the falls who had to be rescued.

When rescuers located the teen amid the debris, he was deceased.

“The Blue Earth County Sheriff’s Office offers its condolences to the family and friends of Mr. Loso,” a press release said.

Landslides in the many steep ravines in the Minnesota River Valley are not uncommon.

— Free Press of Mankato

Motorist killed in I-35W rollover

A 55-year-old woman was killed Sunday night when the Toyota Highlander she was driving veered off Interstate 35W in Burnsville and rolled over, State Patrol said.

According to the State Patrol, shortly after 7 p.m. Sunday, Leslie Ann Fitzgerald Doll’s Highlander went off southbound I-35W at Southcross Drive in Burnsville. The SUV rolled down an embankment and came to a stop upside down.

Doll was pronounced dead at the scene.

Her hometown wasn’t immediately reported by the State Patrol. The crash remains under investigation.

— Kristi Miller

Motorist’s death deemed a drowning

No law enforcement officers will face criminal charges in the death of a man who fled a traffic stop in Robbinsdale. The death was ruled an accidental drowning, prosecutors said Monday.

Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said in a statement that her office found no evidence of inappropriate behavior by law enforcement in the death of 24-year-old Khalil Azad, whose body was found last July on the shore of Crystal Lake. His body was discovered two days after he fled on foot from police who stopped him near the lake on suspicion of drunken driving. He eluded a ground and air search.

Black Lives Matter of Minnesota released a statement in February saying Azad’s family believed he was bitten by police dogs and beaten by officers. The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension then reviewed the case at the request of the Robbinsdale Police Department.

Moriarty said the BCA investigation established that Azad’s death was a “tragic accidental drowning.”

“The BCA uncovered no evidence that any member of law enforcement had any physical contact with Khalil after the initial traffic stop,” Moriarty said. “The investigation also did not reveal evidence that any member of law enforcement did anything other than seek in earnest to locate Khalil, utilizing multiple officers from multiple agencies, multiple K9s, a State Patrol helicopter, and thermal imaging, and trying to acquire information from the two others who had been in the same vehicle.”

— Associated Press

Vos, LeMahieu at odds over UW pay raises

The Republican head of the Wisconsin Senate said Monday he wants to see pay raises approved for Universities of Wisconsin employees, pitting himself against the state Assembly speaker who has vowed to withhold UW funding until it cuts its spending on diversity, equity and inclusion.

Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos refused to approve pay raises for UW employees in October when the Legislature’s employment relations committee, which Vos co-chairs, OK’d them for other state employees.

Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu said Monday that he opposes withholding the money

— Associated Press