Barnesville
9-year-old turns in parents and their pot operation
A 9-year-old girl walked into the Barnesville Police Station and calmly informed officers that her parents were growing marijuana under the house and selling it to others. She was hoping police would take care of the problem because the smell of all that pot smoke made her feel ill and she worried it was going to make her dogs sick as well.
"She was a very brave, very smart, very articulate little girl," officer Ryan Beattie said. "It was almost like interviewing an adult. She appeared to have intelligence far above a normal little girl … [and] she gave some pretty specific information about things, like types of drug paraphernalia, that no young person ought to have knowledge about."
When police searched the girl's home last week, they found seven marijuana plants growing under the house, a quantity of drug paraphernalia and a substance that field-tested positive for meth. Charges have not yet been filed, pending the results of lab analysis of the plants and chemicals found in the home, Beattie said.
The child, who told police that her parents were selling as well as smoking the drugs, is now out of the house and staying with her grandparents.
Jennifer Brooks @stribrooks
RED WING
Pottery center's new owners show off expanded line
The new owners of Red Wing Pottery are wrapping up what they call a grand reopening weekend Sunday at 1920 Old West Main St. The pottery company, which dates back to salt-glazed storage crocks farmers used in the 1860s, had been split up into two distinct firms, Red Wing Stoneware and Red Wing Pottery Co.
Bruce and Irene Johnson reunited the two brands under one family late last year. This weekend, they are introducing a new partnership with Minneapolis entrepreneur Eric Darling, who has designed nine sizes of mugs and glassware in the shape of the state of Minnesota. Red Wing Pottery will be the exclusive seller of the line that ranges from shot glasses to pitchers.
Also open Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.: a pottery classroom, a Loons & Ladyslippers store of Minnesota products, a candy store, a photography studio and an art gallery all housed in a strip mall in the southeastern Minnesota hamlet that grew up around its fabled pottery.