The U.S. Postal Inspection Service is offering a $500 cash reward for information regarding a U.S. Post Office mailbox that was burned over the weekend.

According to a press release, the incident occurred around 8 p.m. on Saturday outside of the Chaska Post Office at the corner of Third and Pine streets.

Three out of every four child restraints are used incorrectly — meaning children are riding in the wrong restraint or the restraint it is not properly secured, according to a Minnesota Department of Public Safety press release.

In the last five years, 2003–2007, 48 vehicle occupants under age 10 were killed on Minnesota roads and more than two-thirds of the victims were not in child restraints, or the restraint was used improperly.

Minnesota’s year-to-date traffic fatalities topped 300, 14 percent below the 350 death count from the same time last year, according to a Department of Public Safety press release.

As of Sept. 16, the state has recorded 301 traffic deaths. At this rate, the Department of Public Safety (DPS) projects 450 deaths for the year, or an average of nine traffic fatalities per week. In 2007, 510 people were killed in traffic crashes in Minnesota.

County Road 40 south of Carver is an idyllic country road. Heading through Dahlgren and San Francisco townships, it is dotted with picturesque farm houses and fields filled with rows of corn and soy beans.

The city of Chaska and the Chaska Police Department were recently given national recognition, and an award, for establishing Minnesota’s first Social Host ordinance.The ordinance makes it illegal to provide a venue for underage drinking.

The award was given by the “Enforcing Underage Drinking Laws Program,” operated by the Underage Drinking Enforcement Training Center.

The center is a nationally based organization, funded by grants from the federal Office of Juvenile Justice Programs, according to a Chaska Police Department press release.

A Chaska teen charged with second- and third-degree murder earlier this month has been released on a home monitoring system.

Carver County Attorney James Keeler confirmed that 16-year-old Brody (Bermel) Roehlke was released to his Chaska home on Sept. 8.

Brody (Bermel) Roehlke will face charges of second and third degree murder. According to a press release from Carver County Attorney Jim Keeler, amended charges were filed in Carver County District Court on Tuesday.

At 12:08 a.m., Friday, Aug. 29, emergency crews responded to a one-car fatal crash in Watertown Township.

Luke Allen Schultz, 16, son of Jeffery and Karen Schultz of Watertown, died in the accident. Two other occupants were hospitalized.

The vehicle was westbound on Mill Avenue, one-fifth mile east of Ironwood Avenue, when it lost control on the gravel road surface, left the road and struck a tree, according to a Carver County Sheriff’s Office press release.

At 2:51 p.m., Aug. 28, Carver County Sheriff’s deputies responded to a motorcycle crash near Watertown.

The single-vehicle crash, on Highway 25 north of Highway 7, resulted in the death of a 40-year-old New Germany man. His name is being withheld, pending notification of family.

According to the Minnesota State Patrol report, the driver lost control of his Kawasaki in a curve, veering left off the road. The crash ejected the driver, who was dead at the scene.

The state’s annual summary of traffic crashes, Minnesota Motor Vehicle Crash Facts 2007, reports 510 people were killed on state roads in 2007, up from 494 in 2006.

Contributing to the 3.5 percent death increase was the 35W bridge collapse — 12 of the 13 bridge fatalities were classified as traffic deaths.