Detroit Lakes unveils options for Detroit Mountain multi-use trail connection

Detroit Lakes , MN (KDLM) – The city of Detroit Lakes unveiled their preliminary plans on Tuesday to connect Detroit Mountain to the Heartland Trail system near East Shore Drive.

During a Aug. 29 public information open house, dozens of area residents showed up to voice their approval and concerns with the path connections.

Charles Chadbourne, a Detroit Lakes resident, said he thought the proposed trail was a waste of money and said, if bicyclists and trail enthusiasts want a trail to the mountain, they should pay for it themselves.

“The bikers don’t pay a dime,” said Chadbourne. “All they do is stick their hand out. They should raise their own money to help pay because, when you get around to maintenance, who’s going to pay for that. You and I and tax payer Joe. And for the amount of traffic that I’ve seen on it, I think it’s a waste of time.”

Jon Pratt, city engineer for Detroit Lakes, said the plans are in their infancy and the purpose of the open house was to talk with area residents to show them different designs and route options.

“This is the next step in trying to flush out preferred options, hurdles and stumbling blocks, things we’re going to have to get through,” said Pratt. “Can we build it? And then what is the planning level cost with this, so then you can start to develop some kind of a funding program, chasing grant dollars or state dollars, things of that nature.”

During the meeting, Pratt said he received a mix of positive and negative comments from residents about the proposed multi-use trail route, but he considers any feedback from residents at this stage valuable in crafting a design that will be supported by the community.

Dan Josephson, alderman third ward, said the proposed trail is still early in the process, but it is in keeping with plans laid by Becker County officials about 10 years ago.

“I think the route out to (Detroit Mountain) is still up in the air,” said Josephson. “I think it’s trying to find where that might be. The county had a plan back in 2012-13, somewhere in there, where they tried to indentify some place up Tower Road … to Detroit Mountain here, and this is kind of that next phase. I think any way you can get more people onto recreation trails is a good thing.”

The trail design team plans to incorporate some of the comments into the next phase of design and a preliminary project proposal is expected to be presented to the Detroit Lakes City Council in coming months.

Man arrested for threatening ND middle school

Law enforcement in Cass County, N.D., have arrested a man for making a shooting threat at Heritage Middle School in Horace.

On Tuesday, Aug. 29 at 7:53 a.m., the sheriff’s office received a tip from the FBI about a shooting threat at the middle school. 

A deputy who was in Horace at the time of the tip contacted the West Fargo School Resource Officer assigned to the middle school and informed them of the threat.

Deputies in the Horace area and the school resource officer immediately responded to the school to provide security. 

In addition to Horace Middle School, the Cass County Sheriff’s Office sent deputies to the other rural Cass County Schools as a precaution until the suspect was taken into custody.

Acting on the tip, 35-year-old James Donnelly was identified as the suspect.

The Cass County Sheriff’s Office, working with area law enforcement, located Donnelly at a Fargo hotel and arrested him around 9:15 a.m. on an outstanding warrant not related to the threat. 

Donnelly was later charged with felony terrorizing. At the time of his arrest, he didn’t have any weapons with or on him.

Authorities also said Donnelly has no permanent address.

Story by Don Haney / KFGO

Westrum retires after 41 years working in DL Public Schools

She came to the Detroit Lakes school district in 1982 as a student teacher and ended up teaching physical education, health and driver’s education for the next six years.

But in 1988, she accepted a new role, a role and program that would be hers to help guide and supervise young students after school hours.

Sandi Westrum, the long-tenured coordinator of the Detroit Lakes latchkey program, celebrated her retirement with family, friends and co-workers at Rossman Elementary on Tuesday evening.

Across a long lunch table, hundreds of photographs were on display that covered the 35 years that the program and Westrum have served the community.

Westrum said the day was happy, but also a sad time because she’s been helping with the program for so long.

“I’m going to miss the kids,” said Westrum. “It’s kind of going to be a real happy, sad time because I’ve been doing it for so long. I’ve been doing it since they started the program in 1988 …  and it’s carried on until now.”

Westrum said she’s always enjoyed the outdoors and plans on being outside a lot more as she begins to enjoy her retirement, but the first project she wants to tackle is her lawn.

“My yard desperately needs help after this summer,” she said. “So I’m going to do a lot of work on my lawn this fall to get it ready for spring. And I’ve got a whole list of projects to do at home, but I don’t have any major plans.“

She also said she was blessed with great employees over the years and she wouldn’t have been able to have made the same impact in the lives of those kids without her great team, which included some family members.

“I just want to thank all of the people that have worked for me over the years,” said Westrum. “And I’ve had many, many family members that have worked for the program. They’d come in when I’d be in a bind for a sub, or something, I’d call, but I’ve had great employees over the years. And I’m going to miss all of them.”

Over her 35 years in the program, she said she was also fortunate enough to have a handful of second-generation latchkey kids. The kids of kids she used to supervise after school.

Otter Tail County Sheriff’s Office removing school resource officer from Underwood School

The Otter Tail County Sheriff’s Office will be removing their school resource officer from Underwood School.

The announcement came in a Wednesday social media post, which cited the change in use-of-force techniques and student removal conditions placed on officers stemming from new regulations pass by the Minnesota legislature.

The sheriff’s office is following other law enforcement agencies from across the state who are also pulling their school resource officers until the law is clarified by the legislature or modified.

In the post, Otter Tail County Sheriff Barry Fitzgibbons writes: “The Otter Tail County Sheriff’s Office remains committed to the safety of our schools and the School Resource Officer Program, and will remain to have a patrol presence in or near the school. My goal is to have the SRO Program resume at the Underwood School as soon as possible.”

He also stated the new laws only effect designated school resource officers, so Otter Tail County deputies who may respond to the school in the event of an incident are not restricted by the same regulations.

MN BCA warns of new phone scam involving imposter state and federal agents

The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension is warning of a new phone scam.

The caller is impersonating an agent from the BCA, claiming to be working a case from out of state. The person may have certain personal details about whoever they’re calling, and the number from which they are calling may match a BCA phone number, but the caller is not connected to the agency.

“These people are taking advantage of Minnesotans and stealing their identities, while pretending to be someone who can help. It can be devastating for Minnesota families,” BCA Superintendent Drew Evans said. “We are spreading the word in the hopes that forewarning can help Minnesotans stop these scams in their tracks.”

Scammers exploit phone number spoofing technology to make calls while posing as FBI and BCA agents. By manipulating the caller ID to match the official numbers of these law enforcement agencies, the scammers have successfully deceived unsuspecting targets.

“A legitimate BCA agent will encourage you to call the main phone number and confirm their identity. If the person who called doesn’t want you to do that, hang up the phone. It’s a scammer,” Evans said.

For more information on how to protect yourself against phone and online scams, check out the Minnesota Department of Public Safety website.

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