Minnesota's once stellar bill of health is slipping. That's the message from Ed Ehlinger, the state's health commissioner, who spoke Tuesday at St. Peter's River's Edge Hospital.
In national health rankings, for years the state was ranked No. 1 or No. 2, but it has fallen to No. 6 in rankings that compare overall health across dozens of measures, according to the Mankato Free Press. "I'm taking this personally," said Ehlinger, addressing a group of doctors, nurses and staff members at the hospital, as well as public health officials. "We're going in the wrong direction." State expenditures for public health, are 46th in the nation, the paper reported. In the category of getting rid of binge drinking, the state ranks 44th. In the vaunted Kids Count annual survey, Minnesota slipped from No. 1 to No. 5. For Ehlinger's explanations of why the state is slipping, go here. ________________________ Air Canada is bringing big business to Duluth, signing a contract that essentially fills AAR Aircraft Services' new maintenance base there. Maintaining the airline's fleet of 89 Airbus A320 jets will bring the base to full capacity within a year, using four lines of maintenance and employing up to 225 workers. The contract is good through Sept. 2017. AAR — a leading provider of aircraft maintenance services to airlines — already is servicing Air Canada's Airbus planes at its Miami maintenance, repair and overhaul base, the Duluth News Tribune reports. But the work will be transitioned to the new Duluth base during the next year, with the first line up and running by December. ________________________ An Albert Lea woman credits her children, 10 and 12 years old, with saving their father's life in a chemical explosion in their home Sunday night. Ronald Rofshus, 48, is in serious condition at Hennepin County Medical Center after the Sunday explosion where Rofshus was apparently working with chemicals in a room under the family's concrete driveway, according to a report in the Albert Lea Tribune. He made his way to the house, yelling for the kids to call 911. The dispatcher then walked them through how to apply towels and blankets to his wounds until paramedics arrived. ________________________ News tip? Email us at DatelineMN@startribune.com Follow us on Twitter: @DatelineMN
