NEWS BRIEFS: Heroin overdoses plague Duluth

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Minnesota

Man electrocuted by extension cord

WILLMAR, Minn. — An Eagle Lake, Minn., man was electrocuted Sunday evening while working on a boat lift at his home.

According to the Kandiyohi County Sheriff’s Department, Brian Van Engen, 56, was moving his boat lift when it came into contact with an extension cord that had been rubbed bare of insulation. The cord had been used to supply power to the electric boat lift.

Van Engen went under the water and a neighbor unplugged the extension cord and pulled him from the water. He was transported him to Rice Memorial Hospital in Willmar, where he was pronounced dead.

Girl thrown from car, left waiting

BLACKDUCK, Minn. – A sleeping 15-year-old Baudette, Minn., girl was tossed from a car Sunday morning and then had to wait alongside the highway for the car to return.

Kendall L. Ericksen was sleeping in the backseat of a 2006 Chevrolet Impala at about 10:23 a.m. when the vehicle left state Highway 72 north of Blackduck and went into a ditch, according to a report by the Minnesota State Patrol out of Thief River Falls.

The Impala traveled along the ditch slope and struck a no passing sign on the left rear door area, which broke out a window. Erickson was sleeping in the rear passenger area and was ejected through the window and landed in the ditch, according the report.

The driver, 72-year-old Louise C. Ericksen of Baudette, got back on the highway and continued driving south before she and another passenger realized Ericksen was missing.

They returned to where the Impala had entered the ditch and found Ericksen standing alongside the highway.

Kendall Ericksen suffered minor injuries and was taken to Sanford Bemidji Medical Center.

The vehicle sustained minor damage.

Five weekend heroin overdoses, one fatal

DULUTH -- Five people overdosed on heroin over the weekend — and one of them died, Duluth police said today.

Officers responded to four overdose incidents between Friday and Sunday.

Information obtained at the scenes indicated that the five people involved had used heroin.

“Similar reports of overdoses and increased heroin potency are occurring state and nationwide,” the department said in a news release. “Over the past 12 months, the department has engaged in efforts to combat the trafficking, sale and use of prescription painkillers and heroin through the arrest and prosecution of several persons involved in trafficking these types of drugs.”

Drowning victim identified

BAGLEY, Minn. – The man who drowned in Lake Lemond here and discovered by a boater has officially been identified.

The Clearwater County Sheriff’s Office said Monday the death of Cisco Rolando Johnson, 23, doesn’t appear suspicious.

Johnson was not living in the Bagley area when he died, but it is believed he was staying recently in Crookston, Minn., Spray wrote.

Johnson has relatives who live in the Bagley and surrounding area.

Law enforcement were called at about 3:30 p.m. July 8 after a boater reported finding a body floating in Lake Lemond within Bagley city limits. Bagley police officers then recovered Johnson’s body.

Woman sentenced for fatal crash

WILLMAR, Minn. — A 45-year-old Raymond woman was sentenced Monday to 180 days in the jail, 200 hours of community work service and 10 years of probation on charges stemming from a crash that killed two people.

Ronda Lynn Malvin also was ordered to pay $1,500 in fines and $1,021 in restitution as part of her sentence handed down in Meeker County District Court on two felony convictions of criminal vehicular homicide or operation.

As part of a plea agreement, six additional felony charges, plus two gross misdemeanors, stemming from the crash along Minnesota Highway 22 on Nov. 20, 2010, were dismissed.

A sentence of 58 months in prison was stayed.

Malvin pleaded guilty to the two charges May 8. She was travelling south of Litchfield in icy conditions when she attempted to brake and lost control of her vehicle. The vehicle slid into the oncoming lane of traffic, setting off a three-car collision. Two passengers in her vehicle: Kimberly Mead, 44, of Willmar, died at the scene, and Barbara Wold, 55, of Spicer, Minn., died two days later from her injuries.

Malvin admitted she had used drugs two days before the crash. Urine testing showed both amphetamine and methamphetamine in her system.

North Dakota

False alarm causes traffic stop on I-29

GRAND FORKS, N.D. – U.S. Boder Patrol and other law enforcement vehicles stopped traffic on Interstate 29 in Grand Forks shortly after 11 a.m. Monday to arrest a suspect in an attempted murder in North Carolina.

It turns out the man stopped by police only had same name as an alias used by the man actually wanted in North Carolina, said Brian Pigg, assistant chief patrol agent for the Border Patrol’s sector office in Grand Forks.

The driver of a light blue van with Manitoba plates crossed into North Dakota on Monday morning at Pembina, N.D. As the man headed south, U.S. Customs officers continued their routine checking of his name, which came up matching an alias used by a man wanted for attempted murder in North Carolina, Pigg said.

“It was a delayed response,” he said, part of the routine check of anyone crossing the border, taking longer because of the alias factor.

Officers were waiting for the van and pulled it over about 11:30 a.m.

Dozens of vehicles were backed up in the southbound lanes of I-29 as law enforcement officers took the man into custody. It became clear he is a Canadian resident who had nothing to do with the North Carolina crime and he was sent on his way within 30 minutes, Pigg said.

Was the man angry?

“I don't know, but I would be,” Pigg said.

Man arrested for his 14th DUI

FARGO – Bail was set at $15,000 Monday for a West Fargo man accused of what prosecutors say is his 14th DUI offense.

Kevin Tegtmeier, 60, was arrested about 8:30 p.m. Friday after an officer noticed his vehicle’s license plates were fictitious.

A subsequent breath test found Tegtmeier had a blood alcohol content of 0.251 percent, more than three times the legal limit of 0.08 percent.

Judge Wade Webb said was setting Tegtmeier’s bail at $15,000 based on prior offenses, and also agreed to put him on the 24/7 program. The program requires someone with a prior DUI conviction to submit to alcohol testing twice a day as a condition of pretrial release.

“That’s the highest bail I’ve ever set for a DUI, that I can remember,” Webb said.

“I believe he’s a menace to society,” Assistant Cass County State’s Attorney Cherie Clark said during Tegtmeier’s arraignment hearing Monday. “The only way to stop this gentleman from drinking is to keep him in custody or on the 24/7 program.”

Tegtmeier is charged with one count of felony DUI, which carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $5,000 fine.

In addition to Cass County, Tegtmeier has been convicted of alcohol offenses in the Minnesota counties of Clay Anoka, Stevens and Clearwater.

Governor favors turning natural gas into fertilizer

BISMARCK – Gov. Jack Dalrymple is encouraging investment in processing plants that would convert North Dakota’s abundant supplies of natural gas into fertilizers.

Dalrymple has spoken with industry leaders who are considering investing in processing plants that would convert natural gas into nitrogen-based fertilizers such as anhydrous ammonia and urea. Standard-sized processing plants require an investment of up to $1 billion and can produce about 2,200 tons of nitrogen fertilizer daily.

Converting natural gas to fertilizer reduces flaring of natural gas, diversified the economy and creates a more reliable fertilizer supply for farmers, Dalrymple said.

“While we continue to supply the nation with high-quality natural gas, we can also continue to add value right here in North Dakota,” Dalrymple said.

Thursday, the North Dakota Agricultural Products Utilization Commission will hear consider a request for $150,000 to help finance a business plan to construct an anhydrous ammonia fertilizer manufacturing plant that could use natural gas.

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