
YOUR GUIDE TO THE TWIN CITIES

Editor's note: This story contains graphic descriptions that may not be suitable for children and might be disturbing for some... Updated Mar. 23, 2012
Laurel Edinburgh is a St. Paul pediatric nurse practitione who works with young Hmong girls that have been traumatized by rapes and exploitation. She's pictured talking with colleagues in a 2005 file photo.
Quietly, she listens to their stories of horror.
A St. Paul pediatric nurse practitioner who examines child sexual-assault victims, Edinburgh, 36, has heard countless stories about brutal rapes. But when police started sending more Hmong girls her way in 2003, she noticed a difference.
)The life of a St. Paul 12-year-old turned into a nightmare after she met two men called JB and Taz. After giving the girls crystal methamphetamine, the men made her pay for the drugs by prostituting her, police say. A Hmong teenager who lived in the house where the first rape took place was charged with soliciting a minor to commit prostitution. Age 15 at the time of the attacks, he entered a plea agreement, but because he was a juvenile, his case is not public.
Becoming well-known in the Hmong community is one way law enforcement officials can help encourage rape victims to step forward. In this file photo, St. Paul police Sgt. Richard Straka is pictured at a Hmong New Year's festival.
Editor's note: This story contains graphic descriptions that may not be suitable for children and might be disturbing for some readers.
Ilean Her's concern about young Hmong girls getting raped in St. Paul started in church.
Kevin Navara walked into the tiny St. Paul apartment, his tall frame and booming voice commanding attention.
On a Friday morning in September, St. Paul police officer Craig Nelson was driving through Frogtown when he noticed a boy strolling along eating a sweet roll.
Chue Lee hung up the phone and wept. Her eldest daughter had run away again, and Lee couldn't get the police to find her and bring her home.
Editor's note: This story contains graphic descriptions that may not be suitable for children and might be disturbing for some readers.
A Lethal Dose: The war on synthetic drugs
They carry names like Bliss and TranQuility, but don't be fooled: Synthetic drugs can be deadly. From a small town in Oklahoma to suburban Minnesota, these products have generated unusual violence and physical suffering. Efforts to control these substances remains a losing battlle.
State regulators have failed to protect some of Minnesota's most vulnerable citizens from being victimized by their care givers. Even known criminals have obtained state permission to work in nursing homes and other care settings.
Home builders are routinely allowed to break the rules on shoreline development. Polluters are allowed to keep polluting. And clean-up efforts are falling short. While public officials are trying to save Minnesota's iconic lakes, their efforts are undercut by a lack of federal mandates.
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