Briefs: Newport woman sentenced in husband's drug overdose death

Jennifer Marie Johnson, 44, of Newport, was sentenced recently to six years and two months in prison in connection with the drug overdose death of her husband, Dennis Parmuat, 32. The third-degree murder case was prosecuted by Assistant Washington County Attorney Thomas Wedes.

According to the criminal complaint filed in the case, Newport police and medical personnel were summoned to the couple's residence early the morning of March 30 and found Parmuat unresponsive. He was taken to Regions Hospital in St. Paul where he was pronounced dead at 3 a.m.

The complaint cites Johnson telling police that her husband drank about a dozen beers after arriving home at 11 p.m. and had asked for some of her methadone to help him sleep. It also said she had filled a syringe and had given him 30-40 milligrams of her methadone, which he ingested. The Ramsey County Medical Examiner ruled the cause of death as "mixed drug" toxicity.

"Drug dealers need to get the message," said County Attorney Pete Orput. "When people die as a result of the poisons the dealers sell or give or otherwise deliver, they are going to be held responsible. My office is bound and determined to go after those bona fide drug dealers as aggressively as we can.

"We know this brings little solace to those families who have lost loved ones. However, if by aggressively prosecuting these offenses, we can save but one life in the future, we will have been successful."

The case was prosecuted before Washington County District Judge Gary Schurrer.

Two parcels of Washington County parkland will be rented by farmers for the 2015 growing season. Agreements with the farmers were approved at the Dec. 16 County Board meeting.

The land in the Lake Elmo Park Reserve will be leased for $201.70 an acre, and the land in St. Croix Bluffs Regional Park will be leased for $227 an acre.

The $66,805 from the leases is used for rental property expenses, restoration of natural resources, and development of park and trail master plans.

Washington County will receive $88,000 from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security under the 2014 Port Security Grant Program.

This grant will fund two projects — $25,000 will go for new radiological/nuclear detector equipment and training and $63,000 will be spent on dive team and sonar training.

Washington County will continue to use the parking lot of Salem Lutheran Church, across 62nd Street from the county Government Center on the border of Stillwater and Oak Park Heights, for overflow parking until June. In exchange for use of the lot, the county plows snow from it.

The county has been using the parking lot for overflow parking since 1998. With the renovation of the Government Center, additional parking was added to the county campus.

Gateway Corridor Commission members at their December meeting voted unanimously to seek $3 million from the Legislature for the next phase of work on the proposed bus rapid transit project along Interstate 94 and Hudson Road between St. Paul and Woodbury.

The money would fund engineering and environmental work in the development phase of the project.

The Gateway commission wants the state to contribute 10 percent of the proposed project's costs, which commission chairwoman Lisa Weik said is a wise investment.

"We believe continued funding support from the state makes sense," said Weik, who's also a Washington County commissioner. "Gateway bus rapid transit is a cost effective, flexible transit alternative that provides residents all along the corridor access to job opportunities — today and in the future as we attract more Fortune 500 companies to relocate or expand here."