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Minn. Tour Bus Crash Victims Identified AUSTIN, Minn. - A tour bus crashed and rolled over on Interstate 90 near Austin, Minnesota late Wednesday afternoon, killing at least two people and injuring others. According to the Minnesota State Patrol, about 23 people were onboard the Strain Bus Line Motorcoach Tours bus, when it crashed and rolled in the westbound lane of I-90, about two miles west of Austin. The State Patrol confirmed two deaths in the crash. Pamela S. Holmquist, 56, of Kasson, Minn. and Rhonda R. Hill, 52 , of Plainview, Minn., died in the crash. According to a spokesperson for Strain Bus Line Motorcoach Tours, driver Edwin W. Erickson , 52 , of Elgin Minn., had an aneurysm in his chest which caused the bus to crash. The Minnesota State Patrol wouldn’t confirm the aneurysm, but said one factor being considered is whether the driver suffered a medical episode while behind the wheel. Captain Matt Langer of the State Patrol said the focus of the investigation Thursday was to speak with everyone on board the bus and any witnesses to the crash. The State Patrol I also beginning the commercial vehicle inspection effort on both the bus and the bus company. “Investigations like this case take a great deal of time to complete given the number of people involved, and the intricate nature of conducting a thorough post-crash commercial vehicle inspection of the motor coach involved in this crash,” Langer said. The bus was a weekly Wednesday casino coach that picks up passengers from Rochester, Byron, Kasson and Blooming Prairie. The bus was returning from Diamond Jo Casino in Northwood, Iowa. 18 passengers were signed up to ride. I-90 was shut down in both directions, with traffic significantly backed up follwoign the crash. According to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, Strain Bus Line Motorcoach Tours out of Rochester, Minnesota has not had a fatal crash for the past two years. The company did have a higher than average number of buses taken out of service after inspections. The national average is 22.27 percent, and Strain had an out of service percentage of 60 percent. Five years ago, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration ordered the bus company to cease operating because of safety concerns. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- President Hu Jintao November 15, 2009 China will move when it's ready Posted: 1004 GMT SINGAPORE – The talk was about global rebalancing. U.S. President Barack Obama arrived in Asia on his first official tour, talking about a "rare inflection point in history". A time where "we have the opportunity to take a different path." A chance to rebalance the model where Asia consumers consume more and US exporters export more. Chinese President Hu Jintao was among world leaders at the APEC summit in Singapore. APEC leaders fully endorsed the strategy; virtually every economy in the world does. But look inside the APEC meeting in Singapore, and see the problems of turning this into reality. One of the biggest may be China. More than two years ago, China began to allow its currency to appreciate against the dollar. By the time the financial crisis exploded, it had risen in value by about 20 percent. The crisis was the signal for China to freeze the exchange rate there at about 6.83 to the US dollar. That was a year ago. Even China's Asian trade partners are now worried that the Chinese yuan is undervalued against the sinking dollar. So one of the key issues in Singapore was to put subtle pressure on China to unfreeze its currency. Finance ministers talked about flexible exchange rates, the APEC leaders were expected to talk to about "market oriented" exchange rates - all aimed at prodding China to become a little more "market oriented" in its own exchange rates. But by the end of the gathering, all reference to market-oriented exchange rates in the final statement from leaders had been erased. There had been debate behind closed doors between the U.S. and China about the statement. In the end China appears to have won out. The message seem to be China will move only when its ready. And for all its newfound goodwill and push for re-engagement, there's not much the U.S. can do about that. Posted by: Andrew Stevens, CNN Anchor ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MIssing US-Hmong Citizen Laos not giving information on missing Minnesotans Courtesy: Star Tribune By KARE 11 Staff Writer Updated: 2 years ago Lao's government has not responded to repeated requests for information about three Hmong-American men from Minnesota who are missing in the country after reportedly being taken into custody by security forces, a U.S. Embassy official said Thursday. The three men from St. Paul, Minn., were arrested Aug. 25 by Laotian military and security forces, according to Philip Smith, the Washington director of Lao Veterans of America. He said it wasn't clear why the men were arrested, and that they had no known political or family ties to dissident groups. Smith said the men were traveling in Laos sightseeing and looking to start businesses. Amy Archibald, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Embassy in Laos, said embassy officials were aware of reports that the three were being detained in Laos but so far were not able to confirm it. "Officials in our embassy are working to confirm these reports, gain consular access to any detained Americans and provide appropriate consular assistance," Archibald said. "The central government of Laos has not yet responded to U.S. officials' request for an official confirmation." Laotian authorities have said in recent days they had no information about the men, identified as Hakit Yang, Conghineng Yang and Trillion Yunhaison. Sheng Xiong, Hakit Yang's wife, has said the families of the men last heard from them on Aug. 25, when Yunhaison borrowed a cell phone from a security guard and called his family to say he had been arrested. Smith said that based on his sources in Laos, the men were taken on Aug. 30 from Ponthong Prison in shackles and hoods and loaded into a government truck. They were then taken to an unknown location, he said. Members of Laos' Hmong minority served in a CIA-backed guerrilla army that fought against Lao communists in the 1960s and 1970s. Afterward, thousands fled retribution in communist Laos and settled in the United States. Smith is also the executive director for the Center for Public Policy Analysis, a group advocating democracy in Laos. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hmong Repartriation -12-29-2009 For this government, 2009 ended on a low point with the forced repatriation of 4,000 Hmong refugees to Laos, where they will face persecution and even death. Why would the PM, who was educated in the UK, agree to such a thing? The UN High Commission on Refugees lists Laos in its "Worst of the Worst 2009". It states: "Laos is not an electoral democracy. Government regulation of virtually every facet of life provides corrupt officials with many opportunities to demand bribes ... Security forces often illegally detain suspects, and hundreds of political activists have been held for months or years without trial. Poor prison conditions and the use of torture remain serious problems. Discrimination against minority tribes is common. The government's continued attempts to destroy the remnant Hmong guerrilla army and alleged rebel elements have created significant hardships for these mountain people, and thousands have been forced off their land to make way for exploitation of timber and other natural resources." Thailand made a serious political and moral mistake in repatriating these people. Laos needs Thailand; Thailand does not need Laos. Egat's power purchases from the loathsome Lao government are only part of a misguided effort to promote cooperation with a neighbour, and are not needed by Thailand. Rather than the government telling foreigners knowledgeable about the situation to mind their own business, it should have been saying this to the Lao government, telling it in no uncertain terms that the Hmong would be resettled in other, welcoming countries other than Laos. Yet another tragic example of how little use the government is, but how much damage it can cause. M SILK ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |