Audubon man charge with felony perjury

Detroit Lakes, Minn. (KDLM) – An Audubon man has been charged with felony perjury after telling a Becker County District Court judge they did not possess any firearms during an order-for-protection hearing.

During the hearing on Feb. 6, 55-year-old Michael William Kurkowski of Audubon was told he was not allowed possess firearms as part of the conditions from the hearing and testified under oath that he did not possess any firearms. He also told the judge any firearms that were in his possession were with a family member in Michigan.

He told the judge, quote: “They are not in my possession. Not at all.”

However, during a June 30 search of his home, officers found an AR-15 rifle, magazines and ammunition in an upstairs closet of a residence he lived at by himself.

He would later tell investigators that during the Feb. 6 hearing, he had told the judge that he had a firearm and a BB gun. He added he had the gun for a couple years and didn’t take it to Michigan because his father didn’t want to store it.

Kurkowski also said he built the gun from parts and the weapon had no serial number.

His next court appearance is scheduled for Oct. 12.

Becker County purchases election tablets to replace paper voter rolls and sign-in sheets

The Becker County Board approved the purchase of 36 electronic poll books for use during the 2024 election.

The new tablets will be used in Becker County cities and townships with more than 500 registered voters and will replace the paper roster sign-in sheet with an electronic sign-in prompt, which will make it easier for poll workers to verify and record voter history.

Mary Hendrickson, auditor-treasurer for Becker County, said the tablets are not connected to the internet and it is only used for voter registration at the polling location to issue a receipt for a ballot.

“It’s an iPad that is not connected to the internet,” said Hendrickson. “It’s only used for voter registration, so when you get into your poll, you tell them your name, it would pull up your name and you would sign your name on that poll book. The only thing it’s used for is the signature. This is not used for the marking of the ballots or the counting of the ballots. It’s just when you register to vote.”

She also said the new tablets will dramatically reduce the time it takes for staff to enter and scan the voter rosters, which is something that currently takes weeks to complete.

“It will correct an amount of errors because you can’t sign the wrong line,” she said. “And in the processing, the paper rosters used to be brought to the courthouse and the staff would have to hand-scan each (sheet) and it took us weeks to enter all of the voter history. And now when we come back, we’ll be able to download that. Currently, 70% of the counties in Minnesota converted to this by 2022.”

Barry Nelson, chair of the Becker County Board, said the tablets will help election staff and provide easier cross-referencing of Becker County voters with their votes.

“I think this will be a benefit, not only for staff here, but for the security of those votes,” said Nelson. “And it’ll be a lot easier to check and cross-reference things too.”

The new tablets are expected to cost up to $75,000.

Two Becker County railroad crossings to close Oct. 10-12

Two railroad crossings in Becker County will be closed beginning Tuesday, Oct. 10 for repair work.

The affected rail crossings will be at County Road 14 and County Road 144 and, according to a news release from Canadian Pacific Railroad, drivers should use alternate routes during the repairs since no traffic will be allowed to cross the tracks.

Canadian Pacific stated the repairs are scheduled to be completed by the end of the day on Thursday, Oct. 12.

The company also advises anyone travelling to the Becker County landfill should pass through Audubon and approach on County Road 144 from the west.

2 injured, including a 12-year-old Dent boy, during two-vehicle crash on Highway 78 in Otter Tail County

Two people were injured, included a 12-year-old boy from Dent, during Tuesday afternoon, two vehicle crash on Highway 78 in Otter Tail County.

On Oct. 3 at 1:24 p.m., a 2015 Chevrolet Equinox, driven by 28-year-old Sophie Nancy Sylvie Kirby of Dent, was southbound on Highway 78 when it collided with a northbound 2016 Ford Transit Van, driven by 64-year-old David John Cox of Lake Park, at mile marker 43 in Rush Lake Township.

Airbags deployed in both vehicles.

Kirby and her passenger, 12-year-old Kaiden James Steffen of Dent, both suffered non-life-threatening injuries during the crash and were transported to Perham Hospital for treatment.

Cox did not report any injuries at the scene.

All three vehicle occupants were wearing their seatbelts at the time of the collision and law enforcement believes alcohol did not factor into the incident.

Detroit Lakes area leads state in seatbelt violations during the Click-it-or-Ticket campaign

The Minnesota Department of Public Safety released their citation numbers from the one-week Click-it-or-Ticket campaign in September, which aims at reinforcing the importance of using seatbelts every time a person rides in a vehicle.

Across the state, 278 different agencies participated in the public safety campaign and wrote 1,125 citations for seatbelts and issued 39 violations improper child restraints.

The state public safety department stated a proper child restraint can reduce a child’s risk of serious injury. From 2018-2022, nearly 14,000 children were involved in car crashes while being restrained properly and 88% of those children were uninjured while an additional 9% only suffered minor injuries.

Minnesota’s car seat law states: “All children must be in a child safety seat until they are 4 feet, 9 inches tall or at least 8 years old, whichever comes first.”

The Minnesota State Patrol District in Detroit Lakes logged the most seatbelt citations for non-restrained drivers and passengers in the entire state with 87. The next closest district was Duluth with 71 citations.

The St. Paul police department issued 57 tickets; the same number as the Rochester state patrol district.

The Clay County Sheriff’s Office issued 17 citations during the week-long campaign.

The state agency said a 2022 observational seat belt survey showed a 93% compliance rate for front-seat vehicle occupants.

Unbelted car crash deaths are expected to decline slightly in 2023, however, 57 unrestrained deaths have occurred on Minnesota roadways since January, which, the state patrol argues, is 57 more deaths than there should have been.

Minnesota law requires all drivers and passengers to wear seat belts or be in the correct child restraint. Belts should be tight across the hips or thighs and should never be tucked under the arm or behind the back

Detroit Lakes man suffers serious injuries during motorcycle crash on I-94 in Wright County

A Detroit Lakes man suffered serious injuries during a motorcycle crash on Interstate 94 in Wright County on Monday evening.

On Oct. 2 at 5:44 p.m., a 2002 Harley-Davidson Cruiser, ridden by 35-year-old Brook Alan Puskarich of Detroit Lakes, was westbound on I-94 when the bike left the roadway and collided with a sign near the Highway 25 intersection in Monticello.

Puskarich suffered life-threatening injuries during the crash and was transported to North Memorial Hospital in Robbinsdale. His condition is currently unknown.

Puskarich was wearing a helmet at the time of the crash and law enforcement believes alcohol did not factor into the incident.

Murder suspect arrested in ND wanted for supermarket killing in Washington

A murder suspect who was arrested by the State Patrol near Mapleton, North Dakota last week was wanted for a July shooting in Des Moines, Washington.

20-year-old Joseph Morrison was one of three suspects in the shooting death of a man who was in a car in the parking lot of a supermarket. Des Moines Police say the two other suspects were arrested not long after the shooting. Morrison was identified as the third suspect, but was not located. He was stopped on I-94 last Tuesday afternoon for an equipment violation and the trooper discovered that he was wanted for murder. Investigators have not released a possible motive for the shooting.

Morrison remains in the Cass County Jail.

Story by Paul Jurgens / KFGO

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