Hundreds attend Oktoberfest in downtown DL

Detroit Lakes, Minn. (KDLM) – Am Samstag fand das Oktoberfest in Detroit Lakes Statt.

Oktoberfest took place in Detroit Lakes on Saturday and hundreds gathered along Holmes Street to sample authentic Bavarian delicacies, beer and participate in stein and sausage-based competitions throughout the afternoon.

First up was the yodeling competition that drew a handful of brave competitors, followed by stein racing, which saw participants race steins full of water through a weaving course of side steps and hops.

Derek Pihlaja of Snellman won the competition with the first place time of 13.68 secs.

Next was the stein holding that saw competitors extend their arms with full steins for minutes at a time to see who could hold their arms out the longest.

Then, in a climax of competition, participants paired up for a sausage toss.

Separated by about 10 feet, the partners tossed the cooked sausages back and forth until one team emerged victorious having never let their grilled meat touch the ground.

Austin Anderson of Cromwell, Minn., and Bridger Mathern of Edgeley, N.D., were the winning team and received their winning gift bags following the toss.

The event seemed crowded, which Tricia Geffre, an event organizer for the Detroit Lakes Noon Rotary, was extremely happy about. She also said Mark Knutson, the general manager at Detroit Mountain who was killed in a bicycle accident in July, was looking down on them with a big smile since he was instrumental in the early-planning of the event. 

“It’s been six to eight months of planning, and I really think that Mark Knutson is here with us today,” said Geffre. “Just a legend. He started the whole ball rolling and I just want to thank him. He brought us our community. That’s what he was all about, bringing our community together and there are so many people here that I’ve talked to and know from our town.”

She also said they hope to expand the event next year, but that is going to take a lot more volunteers and organizations to lend a hand once planning starts for 2024.

“We want even more people involved, I think that is the goal,” she said. “It’s always been a community activity and we just want to make it bigger and better. And we’ll see if we can get more people out there to help us.”

Sandy Lia, the master of ceremonies for the event, said she loved how excited some of the kids were competing in the games.

“The kids have been one of my favorite parts of the event,” said Lia. “I’m glad it’s family friendly.”

And while she said she was incredibly happy with the event she also added something that was reiterated by numerous other attendees – they need brats and sauerkraut at next year’s festival.

Montana woman injured in Douglas County crash on I-94 Saturday

A Montana woman was injured in an Interstate 94 single-vehicle rollover crash in Douglas County on Saturday afternoon.

On Sept. 30 at 1:52 p.m., emergency dispatchers received a report of a single-vehicle rollover with possible injuries at mile marker 109 of I-94 in Hudson Township.

A preliminary crash report indicates, a 2022 GMC Savanna, driven by 27-year-old Natasha Rehann Marquis of Billings, Mont., was eastbound on I-94 and towing another vehicle on a car trailer when the rollover occurred. The towed vehicle also left the trailer during the rollover.

Marquis suffered non-life-threatening injuries during the crash and was transported to Alomere Hospital in Alexandria for treatment.

She was wearing her seatbelt at the time of the crash and law enforcement believes alcohol did not factor into the incident.

Bemidji hospital patient steals car from parking lot, leads officers on short pursuit, rolls vehicle, transported back to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries

Authorities say a male patient at a Bemidji hospital stole a vehicle in the parking lot on Thursday morning and was injured when the vehicle crashed following a police pursuit.

On Sept. 28 at around 10:00 a.m., Bemidji police were notified that a “Smart” car was stolen from outside the hospital’s emergency room.

Police located the car about a mile away and tried to initiate a traffic stop, but the car fled on Highway 2 at high speed.

Mechanical tire deflation devices were deployed and successful, but the vehicle continued…until it collided some median barrier cables, which caused a rollover crash.

Police say the driver, a 55-year-old man from Deer River, Minn., suffered non-life threatening injuries during the crash and was transported back to the hospital.

Government averts shutdown; entire MN congressional delegation supported continuing resolution

A government shut down was averted on Saturday when members of the House and Senate voted with overwhelming bipartisan majorities on a continuing resolution to keep the government open for the next 45 days.

In the House, the resolution passed on a 335-91 vote with all eight members of Minnesota’s congressional delegation voting to keep the government open.

Following the vote, Rep. Pete Stauber, R-Minn., who represents Minnesota’s 8th District posted a statement to social media stating it was “not right for our troops and border agents to not get paid while congress works out its problems.”

Stauber also stated: “What the House and Senate passed today was the best remaining option. I supported this bill so the government will remain open … while providing congress with more time to finish our work and pass fiscally responsible government funding bills.”

Rep. Tom Emmer, R-Minn., Republican Majority Whip in the House and, according to the Washington Post, a contender to replace Speaker Kevin McCarthy in a potential no confidence vote, echoed Stauber’s comments on social media. He also said he has “no interest” in becoming Speaker of the House.

Rep. Michelle Fischbach, R-Minn., did not post, or release any statement to the public.

The continuing resolution omitted funding for the War in Ukraine that Democrats wanted included in the final text, but they ended up still supporting the bill in overwhelming numbers.

The vote passed the Senate on an 88-9 vote with Minnesota Senators Tina Smith and Amy Klobachur supporting the continuing resolution.

Government funding will expire on Nov. 17 unless additional government funding bills are passed.

Stearns County resident loses tens of thousands in online scam

A Stearns County resident was taken for tens of thousands of dollars in a computer scam involving cryptocurrency.

The sheriff’s office responded to a fraud call in August after a man went to his bank for the second time to withdraw a large amount of cash. 

A bank employee told the victim they were being scammed and to call the police.

Deputies learned that the victim was on their computer when two windows popped up. One stated they had been “caught” looking at something they shouldn’t have, and another said there had been a security breach and listed a number to call. 

When the victim dialed the number, they were told their computer had been hacked and their bank information and other private data had been stolen.

The victim was told to secure their money and they needed to pull out all their cash from their financial institutions and turn it into Bitcoin to thwart the hack. 

The victim went to four locations because they could only convert $10,000 per transaction into Bitcoin. 

After each withdrawal, the victim received a QR code and they passed along the codes to the scammers under the pretense that they secure the money in a federal repository program to keep hackers from getting it.

Police say if you are ever told that your banking information has been compromised, contact the bank immediately.

Story by Jake Judd / KNSI

Menahga woman sentenced to 20 months following police pursuit while 9-months pregnant

A Menahga woman was sentenced 20 months in prison for felony receiving stolen property stemming from a high speed chase in a stolen vehicle when she was nine-months pregnant.

According to court records, in June 2021, 35-year-old Tiffany Rivette Gross of Menahga was driving a Subaru Legacy near County Road 48 and Highway 34, east of Osage, when a deputy tried to initiate a traffic stop for speeding and running a stop sign.

Gross did not stop and sped up to speeds greater than 100 mph at led law enforcement on a 31-mile officer involved pursuit.

During the pursuit, a male party from inside the Legacy called the Wadena County emergency dispatch and told them to stop pursuing the vehicle because they were going 120 mph and law enforcement was not supposed to pursue a suspect at speeds greater than 100 mph.

Multiple attempts by dispatch to persuade the man to have the driver pull over to the side of the road failed.

A deputy then attempted a precision immobilization technique on the vehicle that also failed and a passenger began throwing items out the window in the path of the pursuing officers.

Tire deflation devices were deployed at the Highway 34 and Highway 71 intersection in Park Rapids that successfully deflated the two, driver-side tires.

After the vehicle came to a stop in a nearby alley, Gross and 30-year-old William Edward Burke fled the vehicle on foot and were apprehended a short distance away.

Gross was wanted on an active felony warrant and arrested, however, due to her late-stage pregnancy, she was transported to a nearby medical clinic. A glass pipe was found on her person and she admitted to using methamphetamine a few days before the incident.

In a plea agreement with prosecutors, felony theft and fleeing charges were dropped and she was sentenced in Becker County District Court on Sept. 6 to 20 months in prison with credit for 14 and a half months already served.

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