2 killed, 1 seriously injured in Stearns County I-94 crash 

Detroit Lakes, Minn. (KDLM) – Two people were killed and another was injured in a two-vehicle crash on Interstate 94 Monday evening.

On Sept. 4 at 6:56 p.m., a 2016 Honda Accord, driven by 36-year-old Said Mohamed of Pelican Rapids, was westbound near mile marker 142 in Oak Township, a part of Stearns County, when it collided with another westbound vehicle, a 2016 Chevrolet Silverado, driven by 23-year-old Scott Michael Bunger of Albany, Minn.

Mohamed and one of his passengers, 69-year-old Abdalla Mohamed Gudad of Grand Island, Neb., were killed during the collision and the third vehicle occupant, 48-year-old Adan Ahmed Hosh of Pelican Rapids, was transported to St. Cloud hospital for treatment of life threatening injuries.

Bunger, the driver of the Silverado suffered no reported injuries during the crash.

Airbags deployed in both vehicles during the collision and the incident remains under an active investigation.

Becker County releases recent wage study and new pay scale for 2024

The preliminary findings of Becker County’s most recent wage study was presented to the county board on Tuesday.

The study was completed by a third-party, DDA Human Resources Inc., and will affect the pay scale of new county employees going forward. The study was presented to the board members by Becker County Human Resource Director Carrie Smith.

“We’re hoping for implementation in January and this was in the budget,” said Smith.

Some of the county positions will include increases in pay next year while others will include a reduction in minimum and maximum wages.

Barry Nelson, chair of the Becker County Board, said he doesn’t expect any county employee to lose any wages when the new pay scale goes into effect.

“At most it would be a freeze,” said Nelson. “There would be no reduction. And it won’t be too long before it catches up. And that’s something we’ll have to discuss further down the road. But, my opinion, and I’m sure the opinion of the rest of the board, we’re not going to cut pay for anyone.”

The biggest wage increases of the new pay scale are:

County Administrator, whose minimum base pay will increase nearly $8 per hour, from $48.22 to $56.09 per hour.

County Engineer, whose minimum base pay will increase more than $6 per hour, from $39.05 to $45.37 per hour.

The combined position of Human Resources Director and Assistant County Administrator, whose base pay will increase nearly $14 per hour, from $31.44 to $45.37 per hour.

The positions with the largest decreases in pay are:

Accountant, whose minimum base pay will decrease more than $3 per hour, from $31.87 to $28.44.

Becker County supervisors for adult services, behavioral health, child and family services, public health and social services will all see a more than $3 per hour reduction in minimum pay, from $36.58 to $33.17 per hour.

The new wage chart is still preliminary and is expected to be tweaked in coming weeks as employees raise concerns with the new wage scale.

The final wage table is expected to be voted on by the board in coming months.

Fergus Falls apartment garage fire causes $100K in damages

Fergus Falls Fire Department responded to a garage fire at an apartment building on Labor Day

On Monday at 5:35 p.m., dispatchers received a report of a structure fire on 400 block of Second Ave.

Upon arrival, firefighters discovered heavy smoke emanating from the exterior of an 8-stall garage, with flames visible through an open garage door.

The area where the fire started suffered significant fire damage, and the entire garage sustained moderate roof damage.

Additionally, two vehicles were damaged, and personal property belonging to multiple tenants was also affected by the incident.

Preliminary estimates place the damage at $100,000.

There were no reported injuries at the scene and the cause of the fire remains under investigation by the MN State Fire Marshal’s Office.

Peachey’s Baking Company donuts steal the show at the 2023 MN State Fair

Peachey’s Baking Company has been selling their Amish-style baked goods since 1985, but this year their booth met the ravenous appetites of Minnesota State Fair attendees for the first time.

By 10 a.m. on Sept. 3, the line for these hand rolled, fried and glaze dipped delicacies stretched nearly three blocks long and the wait was about 2 hours before eagerly awaiting patrons could sink their teeth into the delicious hand food.

Cally Hienrichs of Albertville, Minn., said she heard about the donut stand on TikTok and had to check it out for herself because she is such a glazed donut fan.

“Everybody said the line is totally worth it, you just have to get it,” said Hienrichs. “And I’m a huge glazed donut person. It’s my number one choice of donut, so I can’t not do this or I’d have the worse FOMO (fear of missing out).”

On the first day of the fair, Celebrity Chef Andrew Zimmern tweeted out his praise of the new donut stand to his 1.2 million followers and called it one of his favorites of the best new foods at the fair this year.

Peachey’s Baking Company Owner Nate Peachey said he noticed the donut traffic pick up steam after Zimmern’s tweet went out and added he’s never seen a line like this in more than 12 years.

“We’ve never been at a fair this busy in my 12 years,” said Peachey. “It’s pretty crazy and it’s stunning to see it happen. We’re going to have to build a bigger trailer … but the Minnesota (State Fair) is the grandaddy of them all. I’ve never seen a line like this in my life.“

Peachey’s Baking Company is based out of Sarasota, Florida and Nate said he hopes to expand his stand for next year’s fair and possibly add another stand in the years to come. 

Several ill from raw milk at Morrison County Farm

The Minnesota Department of Health says several people have been sickened by raw milk from a Morrison County farm.

Officials say eight cryptosporidiosis cases and one E. coli case were traced to Healthy Harvest Farm and Kitchen in Hillman. Four of the cases are in children under the age of ten, and one has been hospitalized. The milk may be labeled natural A2 milk, and consumers may be unaware that the milk has not been pasteurized.

The pasteurization process heats the raw milk to a high temperature for a short period of time to kill harmful fecal germs that can cause contamination.

Anyone who bought the milk from the farm is encouraged not to drink or use it.

The MDH is working to identify all people who may have purchased milk from Healthy Harvest Farm and Kitchen to inform them of the risks to prevent additional illnesses. 

Officials are asking anyone who has become sick or knows someone who became sick after drinking raw milk to contact the state department of health.

Story by Jennifer Lewerenz / KNSI

Becker County haunted house moving to old county jail this year

The Becker County Haunted House will be scaring area residents at a new location this year.

Becky Mitchell, executive director of the Becker County Historical Society, said the 4-H event building they had been using the last few years at the Becker County Fair Grounds has been giving them some challenges with setup and their museum space is also occupied during that time.

“We were hoping to move it into our own building this year, but with Di Vinci rolling in next week to setup, that’s posed some problems,” said Mitchell.

So she asked the Becker County commissioners if they could use a space owned by the county.

“The old (Becker County) jail came up,” she said. “And we’ve met with Sheriff (Glander) and one of his staff, and walked through. We think we could do a flow.” 

The sheriff’s office also requested the haunted house only run across one weekend, so this year’s screams will run from Thursday, Oct. 26 to Sunday, Oct. 29.

Members of the Becker County Board unanimously approved the haunted house request.

Mitchell also hinted the haunted house may have an alien theme this year.

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