State briefs

ST. PAUL (AP) -- At the request of lawmakers concerned about rising health care costs, Attorney General Mike Hatch plans an unprecedented audit of a health maintenance organization.

Hatch said Thursday he wants to discover the industry's ''true administrative cost.''

He plans to start within six weeks and complete the audit by summer, ''depending on whether there is litigation.''

HMOs must treat mentally ill children, even violent ones

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- Children have a legal right to treatment for mental illness under health maintenance organizations, the state Health Department ruled.

Department regulators on Thursday said HealthPartners violated the law when it denied mental health treatment to children of two Minnesota families. Those rights are extended to kids with mental health problems even if their illnesses are accompanied by aggression, defiance and even violence, according to the ruling.

Without admitting wrongdoing, HealthPartners will pay a $15,000 fine.

County petitions to deny teen's right to baby

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- A court petition seeks to strip the parental rights of the 15-year-old mother accused of dumping her newborn baby girl in a neighbor's garbage can.

Filed Thursday in Hennepin County Juvenile Court, the document contains the account of the teen-ager, who says she gave birth last week in the shower. She said the baby slipped from her arm, and she panicked when the child hit its head on a metal track at the base of the shower door and later appeared to stop breathing.

Other family members rescued the baby from the trash can, which was in an alley during 10-degree weather.

Tape of hunters released

to identify poacher

ST. PAUL (AP) -- Rodney Jansen won't turn in his hunting buddy, so the state Department of Natural Resources has turned to the public for help.

A home video released Thursday by the DNR shows Jansen and another man bragging about shooting their 11th deer for 1999 as they show off at least eight dead deer in a pole barn. Some deer were bloated and clearly not going to be used for their meat.

The unidentified man is wearing a red Chicago Bulls sweatshirt, has dark brown hair and a mustache, and appears to be in his 30s. He is shown taking credit for an apparently untagged deer.