REGIONAL BRIEFS: N.J. planes take shelter at GFAFB

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North Dakota

N.J. planes take shelter at GFAFB

GRAND FORKS AIR FORCE BASE, N.D. --- Seven aerial refueling aircraft from New Jersey are waiting out superstorm Sandy at Grand Forks Air Force Base.

The KC-10 Extenders, part of the 305th Air Mobility Wing at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J., were evacuated Sunday in advance of the storm, which began battering the East Coast Monday.

More than 60 airmen, including pilots, crew and maintenance personnel arrived with the tankers.

“We’ve maxed out base lodging,” said Maj. Chad Bowden, director of operations with the 319th Operations Support Squadron based in Grand Forks.

McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst personnel began damage assessment and recovery Tuesday.

(GFH)

Driver arrested after chase into S.D.

WAHPETON, N.D. – An 18-year-old Hillsboro man is in jail after he allegedly led authorities on a chase through Richland County and eluded them by fleeing into South Dakota, only to be arrested several hours later when he returned to Wahpeton.

The chase began when a Richland County sheriff’s deputy tried to stop a reported reckless driver in a black pickup truck about 9 p.m. Sunday on N.D. Highway 13 west of Wahpeton.

The driver of the pickup led the deputy on a pursuit on county and township roads at speeds nearing 80 mph, Sheriff Larry Leshovsky stated in a news release.

The chase was called off when the suspect drove into South Dakota near Dakota Magic Casino.

Several hours later, Wahpeton police spotted the suspect’s vehicle at a gas station in the city and arrested the driver, Derek Paulsrud, on suspicion of fleeing law enforcement.

Paulsrud was taken to the Richland County Jail.

The North Dakota Highway Patrol also assisted in the incident.

(FF)

Suspect in pursuit arrested near Colfax

COLFAX, N.D. – The suspected driver in an Oct. 1 pursuit that started in Minnesota, went through North Dakota and ended in South Dakota was arrested last weekend near Colfax in rural Richland County.

According to a news release from Richland County Sheriff Larry Leshovsky:

Michael Gene Johnson, 42, of Hankinson, was arrested Saturday on outstanding warrants stemming from the pursuit.

During the arrest, officers also seized a 2003 BMW that had been reported stolen from Canby, Minn., with plates reported stolen from Moorhead.

The Oct. 1 pursuit began when police in Breckenridge, Minn., tried to stop a vehicle believed to be stolen. The chase continued through Wahpeton into Richland County and eventually ended in Roberts County, S.D., with the stolen vehicle being recovered but the suspect still at large.

Johnson is charged in Richland County District Court with theft, fleeing police and reckless endangerment, all felonies. He could face further charges for possession of stolen property, Leshovsky stated in the release.

(FF)

Minnesota

Scratch-off pays $1 million

WOODBURY, Minn. -- One Woodbury man had a very successful trip to the gas station.

According to a news release, Justin Passaro of Woodbury won $1 million in a scratch-off lottery game he purchased at Super America on Woodlane Drive in Woodbury.

Passaro claimed the prize Oct. 24, according to a Minnesota State Lottery release.

He played the Million Dollar Jackpot scratch game.

(WB)

Sheriff investigating death at party

GRAND RAPIDS, Minn. -- The Itasca County Sheriff’s Office has released the name of a man who died during a large weekend party as authorities try to determine how he died.

Steven Shields-Moreno, 18, of Nashwauk, was found unresponsive about 3 a.m. Sunday outside a cabin at a hunting camp in rural Balsam Township. The 911 caller said that CPR was in progress. He was taken by ambulance to Grand Itasca Clinic and Hospital in Grand Rapids, where he was pronounced dead.

Sheriff’s Office Investigators are continuing to conduct interviews with several people that were at the party where the victim was found. There were nearly 100 people present at the party.

Investigators also are awaiting autopsy results from the Ramsey County Medical Examiner’s Office.

(DNT)

Informational meetings set on UCare plans

MOORHEAD, Minn. – UCare will offer free information meetings about its UCare for Seniors Medicare Advantage health plan throughout Minnesota in November. At the meetings, representatives will discuss the 2012 UCare for Seniors Classic, Value Plus, Standard D and Value plans.

Area meetings include:

Monday at 11 a.m. at Campbell Library in East Grand Forks;

Tuesday at 11 a.m. at the Crookston Regional Library;

Nov. 7, 10 a.m. at Dekko Community Center in Ada, and 1 p.m. at Shooting Star Casino in Mahnomen;

Nov. 9,11 a.m. at Breckenridge Senior Center, and 2 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. at Bigwood Event Center in Fergus Falls;

Nov. 14, 10:30 a.m. at the Hjemkomst Center, 202 1st Ave. N., Moorhead;

Nov. 19, 10:30 a.m. at Bigwood Event Center in Fergus Falls and 2 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. at Thumper Pond in Ottertail;

Nov. 20, 10:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. at Holiday Inn in Detroit Lakes, and at 4 p.m. at the Perham Library;

Nov. 27, 10:30 a.m. at Shooting Star Casino in Mahnomen, and 2:30 p.m. and 5 p.m. at the Hjemkomst Center in Moorhead; and

Nov. 29, 1:30 p.m. at the Fosston Library.

To register for a meeting or for more information, call (877) 523-1518.

(FF)

Wisconsin

Biden to visit Superior

SUPERIOR, Wis. -- Vice President Joe Biden is planning to campaign in Superior on Friday, according to the Obama presidential campaign.

Biden will be at Superior Middle School in the afternoon. The doors will open at 1 p.m. at the school, which is at 3626 Hammond Ave.

Tickets are required for the event and are being distributed at Obama campaign offices in Superior, Ashland, Wis., and Duluth, Minn. One ticket will be available for each person who stops at the offices beginning at 9 a.m. Wednesday.

The offices are located at 1810 Belknap St. in Superior, 210 W. Superior St. in Duluth, and 316 W. Main St. in Ashland.

The campaign trip is subject to changing weather conditions and responses to the storm on the East Coast.

(DNT)

Man pleads guilty in motorcylce death

ELLSWORTH, Wis. -- A Beldenville man pleaded guilty Tuesday in Pierce County Circuit Court to vehicular homicide in the death of a Hammond woman who was thrown from a motorcycle.

George D. Budd, 54, will be sentenced Dec. 19, on that charge, along with reckless driving stemming from a March 17 incident in the Town of Martell. Both charges are felonies.

The criminal complaint alleged that Budd caused the death of Julie Nelson, 47, Hammond, when he struck a motorcycle driven by her husband Glen. Budd told Pierce County Sheriff’s deputies that as he was starting to make a turn into his driveway, Nelson’s motorcycle came over the hill at a high rate of speed and struck his car.

Both Nelsons were thrown from the motorcycle, as Glen went approximately 7 feet over the top of Budd’s truck hood and Julie 60 feet.

After initially denying anything to drink, Budd later said he had. Deputies got the results back from the state on Budd’s legal blood draw in April, which showed a blood alcohol content of 0.11, which is above the legal limit.

(PCH)

Man sentenced for ninth OWI

SUPERIOR, Wis. -- A Superior man will spend three years in prison for driving drunk a

ninth time.

Theodore John Kimmes, 48, pleaded guilty in Douglas County Circuit Court last week to one count of ninth offense operating while intoxicated, a class G felony. One count of ninth offense operating with a prohibited alcohol concentration was dismissed.

Kimmes was sentenced to seven years -- three years confinement and four years extended

supervision, consecutive to any other sentence.

He was also ordered to maintain sobriety, submit to random urinalysis, undergo

chemical dependency evaluation, provide a DNA sample, install an ignition interlock and pay $2,480 in fines and court costs.

His driver’s license was revoked for three years.

According to the criminal complaint: Kimmes was driving a Jeep when he was stopped by a

Douglas County Sheriff’s Department deputy early on the morning of Aug. 10. According to

court records, a blood draw showed he had a blood alcohol concentration of 0.163, more than twice the legal limit to drive.

Kimmes has eight previous convictions for operating while intoxicated, including offenses in Illinois and Minnesota.

(ST)

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