McCulley graduates from War College

FAIRMONT – Colonel Rhonda R. McCulley, U.S. Army Active Guard/Reserve, recently graduated from the U.S. Army War College in Carlisle, Pa., with a master’s degree in strategic studies.

McCulley is a former resident of Fairmont and the daughter of Chuck and Dale Hamsmith, and Sue and Bruce Moore, all of Fairmont. She graduated from Fairmont High School in 1986 and from Minnesota State-Mankato in 1997.

McCulley serves as the Chief, Army Reserve Enlisted Division, at the U.S. Army Human Resources Command, Fort Knox, Ky.

The War College’s two-year distance education program develops senior military officers from the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and Coast Guard, as well as for senior foreign military officers and civilian officials from a variety of federal agencies, to serve in strategic level command and staff positions worldwide.

Charges filed in hit-and-run crash

HASTINGS (AP) — Prosecutors in Dakota County say a driver who struck and killed a pedestrian and left the scene said she thought she had hit a deer, even though the victim’s head struck the windshield.

Felony charges were filed against 30-year-old Breyona Cotton Tuesday. She’s accused of leaving the scene of the deadly crash in Inver Grove Heights in early January and failing to notify authorities. Fifty-five-year-old Haimanot Gebremedhin was killed in the crash.

The Star Tribune reports a complaint says Cotton told investigators she heard a collision “out of nowhere” and thought she had struck a deer. She said she pulled over, looked around and went home.

The State Patrol says investigators determined the victim was forced onto the hood of Cotton’s car with her head striking the lower portion of the windshield.

E. coli closes Lake Nokomis beaches

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Minnesota health officials say three children have gotten sick from E. coli bacteria after swimming in a popular Minneapolis lake.

Two beaches at Lake Nokomis have been closed until further notice because of high bacteria levels while the state Department of Health investigates. Minnesota Public Radio News reports Park Board Superintendent Al Bangoura says it’s the first report of people getting sick after swimming in Minneapolis lakes in more than two decades.

The children, all under 10 years old, are not hospitalized. Health officials say young children, the elderly and those with weakened immune systems have a higher chance of developing complications from E. coli infections.