By Shawn Hogendorf, Correspondent 

The Dakota County Attorney’s Office amended the criminal charges that were filed on April 25 in connection with the fatal hit and run that killed Carlos Noriega of Prior Lake in the parking lot of the Event Center in Burnsville on April 5.

By Nancy Huddleston, Editor

Prosecutors allege that handwritten letters from jail penned by Craigslist murder suspect Michael John Anderson of Savage detail that he tried to hire someone to take responsibility for killing Katherine Ann Olson last fall.

By Shawn Hogendorf, Correspondent

A 17-year-old Prior Lake boy was charged by the Scott County Attorney’s Office in association with a burglary and assault of a 74-year-old Prior Lake woman in the 16900 block of Lyons Avenue around 2:32 a.m. on April 27.

The boy was charged with one count of first-degree burglary with assault and one count of third-degree assault, causing substantial bodily harm, both counts are felonies.

By Shannon Fiecke, Correspondent

Drama over the statewide smoking ban spilled into Judge Jerome Abram’s Shakopee courtroom Tuesday with the first court hearing in Minnesota on the issue.

An Elko New Market bar faced the state in Scott County District Court, where attorneys debated whether "theater performance" smoking at Bullseye Saloon violates the state ban.

The following are Scott County District Court felony and gross-misdemeanor dispositions. Defendants either pleaded guilty or were found guilty by the court unless otherwise indicated.

Shane Steven Sams, 39, St. Louis Park, theft, a felony. Serve 20 months in prison, provide DNA sample, restitution, $80 in fines.

The following are Scott County District Court felony and gross-misdemeanor dispositions. Defendants either pleaded guilty or were found guilty by the court unless otherwise indicated.

The following are Scott County District Court felony and gross-misdemeanor dispositions. Defendants either pleaded guilty or were found guilty by the court unless otherwise indicated.

Danny Alan Story Jr., 19, Shakopee, DWI, a gross-misdemeanor. Two years’ probation, $705 in fines.

The St. Paul Pioneer Press is reporting that lewd images of children have been found on the laptop computer of Michael John Anderson, 19, of Savage, the man accused in the Craigslist murder.

According to the story, an unnamed investigator from the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension in St. Paul detailed the image in an affidavit for a search warrant of Anderson's computer, which was filed March 28 in Ramsey County Court. In the affidavit, a BCA agent described it as "a photograph of two pre-teen boys, clearly under the age of 18, in the nude."

The following are Scott County District Court felony and gross-misdemeanor dispositions. Defendants either pleaded guilty or were found guilty by the court unless otherwise indicated.

The following are Scott County District Court felony and gross-misdemeanor dispositions. Defendants either pleaded guilty or were found guilty by the court unless otherwise indicated.

Shane Robert Lund, 36, St. Cloud, check forgery, a felony. Serve 18 months in prison (concurrent to previous sentence), provide DNA sample, restitution, $80 in fines.