Detroit Lakes residents concerned about safety on South Shore Drive
Detroit Lakes, Minn. (KDLM) – Some Detroit Lakes residents voiced their concerns about the safety of drivers, bikers and pedestrians on South Shore Drive to members of the Detroit Lakes public works committee on Monday.
The calls for safer conditions along the main roadway on the south side of Detroit Lake come following the death of community leader and cyclist Mark Knutson, who was killed by a passing truck and trailer last month while riding near Muir Lane.
Some residents wanted the installation of a dedicated bike path on the roadway, but Detroit Lakes City Engineer Jon Pratt said it would be extremely difficult to comply with state road regulations if they needed to expanded the street to include bi-directional bike lanes.
Residents also said they wanted the members of the Detroit Lakes city council to look at lowering the speed limit to 30 mph or less, permanently installing radar notification signs and maybe even installing a type of speed hump along the roadway.
Brad Onsgard, a South Shore Drive resident, said he sees too much truck traffic along a roadway that should be a quiet neighborhood street. He also thinks something needs to be done about the constant speeding by motorists.
“The other thing is speeding,” said Onsgard. “All the time, flying by. Forty, fifty, sixty miles per hour. I think they stopped someone the other night doing 119 mph on that road. Somebody told me that. I don’t know if it’s true or not.”
He also wants police to take a more active role in combating the speeders on the roadway.
“Law enforcement could be there a little more than just driving by,” he said. “I think a speed trap setup in the morning when people are going to work, and then in the evening when they are coming home from work, a sporadically during the day. I appreciate them showing up, and they do a great job at being around, but I never see speed traps. They probably do it. I just never see them.”
Dan Josephson, alderman third ward, said he thinks a possible solution can be a combination of some expanded traffic enforcement from city police and some of the less intrusive suggestions made by the residents.
“I think, in general, a little bit does need to be looked at down there,” said Josephson. “Whether it’s a combination of (obstructive-view) parking issues, or traffic, and slowing people down … it also takes a little bit of, you see those red lights on the side of the road and you’ve got your neighbor being pulled over three times, your other neighbor been pulled over two times, it gets the word out. It’s like Verndale. You don’t speed through Verndale because you are going to get lit up if you are going faster than 42 miles per hour, so I think it’s a combination of things.”
The issue is expected to be addressed again in coming months by both the Detroit Lakes public works and public safety committees before making any recommendations to the whole city council.
Randall man killed following explosion while driving tractor
A Randall man was killed when the tractor he was riding struck a propane tank valve and caused an explosion on Saturday.
According to the Morrison County Sheriff’s, on Aug. 5 at 11:47 a.m., emergency dispatchers received a report of possible explosion at a residence on Lakewood Drive, located about 11 miles northwest of Little Falls.
65-year-old Joesph Then of Randall suffered serious burn injuries and was transported to Hennepin County Medical Center via LifeLink helicopter where he was later pronounced dead.
No other information is available at this time.
Hibbing man pleads guilty to killing his girlfriend
A Hibbing man pled guilty to first-degree manslaughter on Monday in the June 2022 killing of his girlfriend, 43-year-old Kari Jo Petrich.
In a St. Louis County courtroom, 47-year-old Eric James Jarvis was allowed to enter a Norgaard guilty plea, in which Jarvis acknowledged that prosecutors had sufficient evidence to obtain a conviction while maintaining he was too intoxicated to recall events surrounding the killing.
According to court records, prosecutors said Petrich was struck with a blunt object and left for up to 24 hours on their apartment floor while Jarvis cleaned the crime scene.
Petrich was a mother of four and grandmother of two.
Court records also state a medical examiner said Petrich would have survived, if she had received immediate medical attention after the assault.
Law enforcement was called to the apartment on two separate occasions on June 26 to reports of a domestic disturbance, but without signs of injuries, they cleared the scene.
The next call to police was made by Jarvis at 12:55 a.m. on June 28 when he reported that he found Petrich on the living room floor and that she was cold to the touch.
Police observed a “significant blood stain” on the carpet, next to Petrich’s head and also found a small glass shard nearby.
In a search of the apartment trash, police discovered bloody wet wipes, a bloody vodka bottle and shattered pieces of a vase and broken plate.
An autopsy report indicated that Petrich died from a blunt force head trauma, likely caused by being struck by an object or fist.
Jarvis is expected to be sentenced to maximum allowable prison time under the state guidelines, 8 ½ years.
His sentencing hearing is scheduled for Sept. 14.
Detroit Lakes to apply for federal grant to build regional fire trainer
Detroit Lakes will be applying for a federal grant to cover construction costs of a new regional firefighter training facility for west-central Minnesota fire departments.
The fire training building would provide customizable, live-flame experiences for firefighters from across the lakes area and create a possible revenue stream through rentals from nearby departments to offset some of the costs of maintaining the facility.
Detroit Lakes Fire Chief Mike Hanson described how the new trainer would be used.
“We can design it so we can light most of this building on fire over and over, over two or three decades, so long as we keep up with maintenance on it,” said Hanson. “Also, we can design it for repelling, for roof operations, for confined space training, for man hole training. It comes with moveable doors, moveable hallways … and obviously, we’re going to light it on fire so it’d be very easy for the police department to come in and do some room clearing drills or anything with some munitions, it’s easy to set that kind of thing up as well. So it’s not just a fire department use building, that’s obviously the main use, but it can be used by other city departments as well.”
Hanson told members of the city’s public safety committee that, currently, city firefighters would have to travel to Brainerd or Bismarck for the same type of training and it isn’t very cost effective because they would have to take their trucks and all their gear to the training as well.
He also said by making the grant application regionally focused it would increase their chances of receiving the funding.
“We’d do it as a regional grant so we’d pull in all the surrounding fire departments, not just from Becker County, but we’d try to pull in some of the closer departments in Otter Tail County as well,” said Hanson. “The reason we’d do that as a regional grant instead just a city grant is that the more firefighters you have a your grant application, the better you score.”
The three fire training facility quotes presented by Hanson range in total costs between $700,000 to $1.35 million. However, he added, the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Assistance to Firefighters grant program would cover 95% of the total costs for the building with local entities covering the remaining 5% of the cost.
Hanson also said fire trainers are becoming more necessary because of the state and federal regulations involving the burning of derelict structures.
“Another proponent of this is that it’s getting more difficult to burn old structures,” he said. “The MPCA and EPA are really cracking down on how those need to be burned and what needs to be taken out of them, which is essentially everything at this point.”
Hanson told the committee members the grant application portal only opens for one month over the winter, so he wanted to receive the city council’s preliminary approval to start putting the application materials together.
He also added the national grant has a lot of competition for its funds from across the country, but he’s hopeful a selection committee would see the area’s need for their own regional fire trainer.
One suspect arrested, one at-large stemming from Aug. 1 robbery in Fargo
One suspect has been arrested and another is currently at-large stemming from a robbery in the Tailgators Sports Cafe parking lot in Fargo last week.
Fargo Police say the early morning robbery on Aug. 1 is still under investigation and an arrest warrant has been issued for 31-year-old Julian Pickett of Moorhead, while another man, 37-year-old Cody Littleghost, has been charged with four counts of robbery, theft, and criminal mischief.
According to court records, the victim said he encountered the two men at the Empire Tavern near closing time last Tuesday.
The victim said he drove the men to a convenience store to buy cigarettes and then was taking them to a local motel when one of the men punched the windshield of the victim’s Jeep, cracking it.
The victim then pulled into the Tailgators parking lot and ordered the men to get out of his car, but Pickett, who was in the back seat, restrained him while Littleghost began punching him.
The men then demanded to know how much money the victim had, so he gave them his wallet before managing to get out of the Jeep.
The suspects then drove away in the Jeep with the victim’s phone inside.
Using video surveillance from a Fargo business, police were able to identify the two suspects as Littleghost and Pickett.
Just after midnight on Aug. 2, Fargo officers located Littleghost and arrested him. The victim’s wallet, including debit cards in the victim’s name, were found in Littleghost’s possession at the time of the arrest.
Fargo Police said the incident is still under an active investigation.
Motley man killed in motorcycle crash
Authorities say that a man from central Minnesota is dead following a motorcycle crash. According to the report, law enforcement responded to a report of a crash just south of Motley on Sunday morning.
According to the report, Curtis Sievert, 61, of Motley, was driving westbound on 320th Street when he left the roadway while going around a curve. He was reportedly ejected from the motorcycle and was pronounced dead at the scene. Officials say he was not wearing a helmet.
The crash remains under investigation.
ND Rep. Armstrong says farm bill likely headed for extension
North Dakota Congressman Kelly Armstrong said the current federal farm bill will likely be extended, as discussions continue on a new five year bill.
Armstrong met with livestock producers in McKenzie, N.D. to discuss the status of the farm bill and said, with more than a dozen appropriations bills to reconcile in the Senate, it’s going to be difficult to get a new bill through both chambers.
Armstrong also told the producers that any attempt toward major changes in the farm bill are probably off the table.
During the discussion, Armstrong said: “The short version is, we’re trying to keep what works. I do think the reality of DC right now, with the one vote majority for Democrats in the Senate, and the five-vote majority for Republicans in the House — I think the first reality is you are going to see an extension of the current farm bill.”
Armstrong said he doesn’t think Congress is capable of “big, huge, bold, dynamic change” right now.
However, he also added the good news is that the leaders of the discussions in both parties are working together on the farm bill.
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