State briefs: Grants help students in 12 Minn. school districts to bring broadband home

The broadband funding that the state announced last week will allow outstate districts to provide wireless hot spots, data cards and other mobile broadband devices that students can check out for use at home.

The grants also will help equip school buses with wireless hot spots so students can complete homework as they ride — a big deal in rural districts where some students spend two hours a day on the bus, or longer if they have extracurricular activities.

The grants, which range from $30,000 to $50,000, will go to the following school districts: Deer River, Fertile-Beltrami, Lake of the Woods, Lake Superior, McGregor, Pine City, Princeton, Rothsay, Shakopee, St. Cloud, Thief River Falls and Tracy.

Jennifer Brooks

Online shopping giant Amazon.com has been fined $91,000 by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for allegedly shipping diesel fuel — considered an undeclared hazardous material — by air without the required documentation.

The FAA claims that on May 7, Amazon tried to ship the fuel on a FedEx flight traveling from Hebron, Ky., to Marshall. The shipment contained a 2.5-gallon plastic container of a concentrated formula of toxic clear diesel fuel and tank cleaner. Employees at FedEx's sort facility in Sioux Falls discovered the shipment was leaking.

The shipment was not accompanied by a declaration for dangerous goods, was not properly marked, labeled or packaged and was not in proper condition for transport, the FAA said. In addition, Amazon did not provide emergency response information with the shipment and failed to ensure that employees had received hazardous materials training.

Janet Moore

About a year after opening a brewery in central Minnesota, Aaron Rieland of Bad Habit Brewing Co. decided he wanted to give back to the community. When loyal customer John Ludwig — a retired teacher and home brewer — brought in a sample of his brew to share, the idea for a "Bad Does Good" promotion was born.

The brewery worked with Ludwig's recipe to produce large quantities of what it has named "Lud's Robust Porter," a dark brew with a light, malty flavor, Rieland said.

The brewery is donating $1 for each pint sold toward defense training mats for the St. Joseph Police Department.

Bad Habit started pouring the beer just before Christmas and will continue until it's gone, Rieland said, estimating they will raise about $1,200.