Fargo car dealership burglarized early Monday; van stolen from the lot

Detroit Lakes, Minn. (KDLM) – Fargo police are investigating a burglary at a car dealership early Monday morning.

Two men are seen on security surveillance video inside FF Fisher Sales & Leasing at about 2:30 a.m. Monday.

They got into the building at: 500 40th St. South, by breaking a large window. They found the keys to a white 2023 Ram cargo van and stole the van from the parking lot.
The dealership says the van was scheduled to be delivered to a customer and has the Dakota Supply Group logo on the sides.

Early last month, about $60,000 worth of diagnostic equipment and tools were stolen in a burglary at Corey’s Car Care, not far from Fisher. A pickup was also taken in that break-in. 

Fargo Tire on Main Ave. was also burglarized days later.

Other business break-ins have been reported in recent months at car dealerships and repair businesses in Fargo and Moorhead. A landscaping business was among them along with a construction company north of Fargo.

Story by Paul Jurgens / KFGO

Voyageurs Wolf Project disputes calls for wolf culling amid declining deer harvest numbers

On Friday, the Voyageurs Wolf Project, a research group which studies wolves in and around Voyageurs National Park released report on the effect of wolves on the deer population in Minnesota.

The group stated the reason they released their findings was to combat online calls from groups and individuals from around the state that claim increased wolf populations have led to a decline in the state’s number of deer and the total number of deer harvested by hunters.

The project found that prior to wolf hunting and trapping seasons from 2012 to 2014, deer hunter success rates were some of the highest in recent decades. And after three years of annual wolf culling, which averaged a 16% reduction in the total number of wolves each year, hunter success rates plummeted to an all-time low during firearms season in 2014.

The project also pointed out that in 2017 and 2018, when wolf populations returned to higher population levels, deer hunter success in the northeast Minnesota achieved its highest success rate in more than a decade.

The group stated hunter success rates are driven by deer population size, not the wolf population size. And, in fact, wolf populations are tied the deer population.

They concluded that hunters are more successful, by the numbers, when there are more wolves around.

Adding, that the primary drivers of deer population size are long, cold winters and habitat.

The project also pointed out that in 2014, 2022, and 2023, when hunters had some of their lowest success rates, the deer population was also at a low level and each of those winters were especially long and snowy

Since the Voyageurs Wolf Project published their findings on Friday, the post has nearly 1,000 comments and also nearly 1,000 shares on Facebook.

Voters head to the polls in special election to decide the fate of the Fargodome remodel project

Tuesday is special election day in Fargo.

Fargo’s first special, city-run election in decades will give citizens a chance to decide if the Fargodome should be remodeled and a conference center added by way of a quarter-cent sales tax increase and 3% lodging tax.

City leaders say the 31-year-old Fargodome is in “desperate” need of updating.

Charley Johnson, the President and CEO of the Fargo-Moorhead Convention & Visitors Bureau, said he believes periodic maintenance and renovation for a large facility like the Fargodome is healthy because, if it’s neglected, residents could wind up with an unusable space.

Johnson said: “The Fargodome, like any other 30-plus year old building, needs to be rehabbed and kept up or it will decline, a la the Fargo Civic Auditorium. You don’t want the Dome to end up, 10 or 15 years from now, being like the Civic is now, which is basically unusable and unfixable.” 

Fargo City Commissioner Denise Kolpack says the city’s lack of adequate meeting space means the community misses out on tens of millions of dollars in economic benefit every year.

Kolpack said: “Right now, with just the Fargodome, it’s $30 million a year average that it brings into our economy. With the addition of the convention center, now we’re talking maybe between $80 and $100 million total a year, once it’s built and we start bringing in events. That’s a long-term economic impact for the entire region.”

Kolpack also says the tax increases will primarily impact visitors.

Adding: “The way this is structured, it really means that the people utilizing the Dome are the ones paying for it – the people who are coming to the events. The lodging tax only is going to go to the event center and the sales tax to the Fargodome reconstruction and rehab. About 50% of sales tax is paid for by visitors and more than 90-plus percent of lodging is paid for by visitors. So I think it’s equitable.”

Polls will be open from 7:00 am to 7:00 pm Tuesday, December 5 at three sites – the Ramada on 13th Ave S., the Fargo Civic Center downtown, and the Fargodome itself.

Story by Tasha Carvell / KFGO

ND Gov. Doug Burgum suspends presidential campaign ahead of fourth GOP primary debate

North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum announced Monday that he is suspending his campaign for President, blaming the Republican National Committee’s (RNC) debate requirements for stifling competition in the GOP primary.

In his campaign suspension statement, he said the primary process has shaken his trust in media organizations and political party institutions.

Burgum wrote, quote: “The RNC’s clubhouse debate requirements are nationalizing the primary process and taking the power of democracy away from the engaged, thoughtful citizens of Iowa and New Hampshire. The RNC’s mission is to win elections. It is not their mission to reduce competition and restrict fresh ideas by ‘narrowing the field’ months before the Iowa caucuses or the first in the nation New Hampshire primary…this effort to nationalize the primary system is unhealthy for the future of the party, especially for a party that proclaims to value leadership from outside of Washington.” 

Burgum qualified for the first two GOP debates. He did not meet the polling criteria for the third debate and was not on track to make the stage for the fourth debate on Wednesday.

Burgum injected millions of his own money into the race, accounting for $12.2 million of the $15.1 million raised by his campaign from March through September, according to Federal Election Commission filings. 

A super PAC supporting his bid raised over $11 million in the first six months of this year, according to public filings.

His was a stronger-than-expected showing fueled by a gift card-for-campaign donation gimmick that helped get him on the debate stage. 

Burgum was little known nationally when he launched his campaign. He participated in the first two Republican debates, meeting donor requirements of the Republican National Committee by offering $20 “Biden Relief Cards” — a jab at rising inflation rates during President Joe Biden’s term — in exchange for $1 donations.

The tactic drew skepticism over its legality, though Burgum’s campaign said its legal advisers had reviewed and approved the method.

Story by Tasha Carvell / KFGO

1 injured in St. Cloud fire Monday morning

Several people were displaced after an early morning fire in St. Cloud on Monday.

According to the Fire Department’s Critical Incident Report, crews were called about 3:45 a.m., to the 400 block of Highway 10 South after a fire started on the second floor of a building. 

The blaze was mostly controlled by the automatic sprinkler system inside the building, and fire damage was limited to the room where it started. 

However, water damaged parts of both the first and second floors.

One person was injured during the incident and transported to the hospital. Their condition is currently unknown.

The cause of the fire remains under an active investigation.

Story by Jennifer Lewerenz / KNSI

Chauvin back in Arizona prison for continued medical treatment after being stabbed 22 times

The condition of former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin is improving after he was stabbed 22 times last month while in a federal prison in Arizona.

Chauvin is serving concurrent sentences of more than 20 years for a state conviction for murdering George Floyd and federal charges of violating Floyd’s civil rights.

His attorney says Chauvin was treated at a trauma facility in Tucson after the stabbing, but has since been returned to prison custody for continued medical care.

Chauvin’s attorney says Chauvin’s family is concerned the prison won’t be able to protect him from further harm.

Court documents allege Chauvin was stabbed in the law library by fellow inmate John Turscak, who now faces attempted murder and assault charges. Turscak has been moved to a high security prison nearby.

Prosecutors said Turscak later told FBI agents that he’d been thinking about assaulting Chauvin for about a month because he is a high-profile inmate, but denied wanting to kill him.

‘Rizz’ chosen as Oxford University Press’ 2023 Word of the Year

Oxford University Press has named “rizz″ as its word of the year, highlighting the popularity of a term used by Generation Z to describe someone’s ability to attract or seduce another person.

It topped “Swiftie” (an enthusiastic fan of Taylor Swift), “situationship” (an informal romantic or sexual relationship) and “prompt” (an instruction given to an artificial intelligence program) in the annual decision by experts at the publisher of the multivolume Oxford English Dictionary.

The four finalists were selected by a public vote and the winner was announced on Monday.

Rizz is believed to come from the middle of the word charisma, and can be used as a verb, as in to “rizz up,” or chat someone up, the publisher said.

Story by AP

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