INTERNATIONAL FALLS, Minn. — A massive fire in northern Minnesota has destroyed a heating oil and fuel company near the Canadian border. Rainy Lake Oil Co. near International falls erupted last night in huge plumes of fire, fueled by eight or nine tanks inside the company’s warehouse. The company’s office manager says a warehouse, office and gas station were destroyed….
HALSTAD, Minn. — A Halstad, Minnesota woman has pleaded guilty to fatally shooting her boyfriend in a videotaped stunt they planned to post on YouTube. Monalisa Perez, 20, pleaded guilty last week to second-degree manslaughter in the June death of 22-year-old Pedro Ruiz III. Court records say Perez told investigators that Ruiz wanted to make a video of her shooting…
ST. PAUL, Minn. — Minnesota’s Department of Health commissioner is resigning in the wake of reports of abuse at senior care facilities. Commissioner Ed Ehlinger had been head of the state’s health oversight board since 2011. His resignation follows reporting by the Star Tribune on serious oversight lapses of the state’s senior care facilities. They previously documented that hundreds of…
MINNEAPOLIS — The head of the Minneapolis police union says officers were “heroic” in shooting a man who was slitting his own throat at City Hall. The incident happened last night in an interview room at the Minneapolis Police Department. Union president Bob Kroll says video of the incident will show the officers tried to deescalate the situation, then…
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Congressman Collin Peterson is joining the chorus of people suggesting that Sen. Al Franken acted too quickly when he announced his plans to resign. Franken announced that he plans to leave the Senate after several Democratic colleagues urged him to step down amid accusations of inappropriately touching women. Since then, some of those senators have asked…
MINOT, ND — Two women are accused of ripping off their employers in Minot. Brittany Haynes, 27, of Minot, allegedly stole about $8,700 from TJ Maxx, through a scheme involving fraudulent returns. Thirty-three-year-old Danielle Cooper of Velva is accused of embezzling from the Holiday Inn while working as housekeeping manager, by refunding bogus reservation fees to a personal money…
FARGO, ND — Fargo City Commission voted 3-2 against putting a measure on the June ballot to reform the city’s election process. The changes would have involved increasing the size of the city commission from five to seven, switching to “approval voting” which allows voters to choose as many candidates as they like and creating a primary election. The…
MINNEAPOLIS — Minneapolis police officers have been involved in a shooting inside the department’s investigative unit at City Hall. The shooting happened just before 5 p.m. inside Room 108, which is home to multiple Minneapolis Police Department investigative units. Officers responded to City Hall on an “officer needs help” call. “A person investigators were interviewing was left alone in an…
FARGO, ND — An arraignment for a former Fargo priest who has been extradited from the Philippines to stand trial on child sexual abuse charges has been delayed. Fernando Sayasaya was set to appear in Cass County District Court today but the hearing was moved at the last minute to Tuesday. Sayasaya was removed from the Fargo Diocese in…
FARGO, ND — Fargo is the $5 million dollar winner of a two-year national competition to promote energy efficiency in small to medium-size cities. The announcement was made earlier this afternoon in City Commission chambers. The Georgetown University Energy Prize competition selected Fargo’s energy efficiency initiative, eFargo, as the winner. The 50 communities competing for the prize were judged based…
