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From the Forum Communications News Bureau

North Dakota

Alleged party bus stabber charged with assault

WEST FARGO, N.D. – A Moorhead, Minn., man accused of stabbing another man in the head on a party bus here has been charged with aggravated assault, according to charges filed in Cass County District court.

Police say Jason Robert Shonblom, 24, sat down next to a man on a party bus just before 6 a.m. Saturday, pulled out a folding knife and tried to stab him in the head, according to charges filed Monday.

Other passengers then tried to contain Shonblom, and the knife eventually was taken away from him, the police report states.

Court records show the victim, 25-year-old Nils Lerfald, received a cut to his chin and some bumps to his head, and police said he was treated in an ambulance.

Aggravated assault is a Class C felony with a minimum mandatory sentence of two years in prison.

(FF)

Eide Bailly acquires Williston company

WILLISTON, N.D. – Eide Bailly, a Fargo-based accounting and consulting firm, is acquiring Voller, Lee, Suess & Associates of Williston.

Eide Bailly said the move was aimed at bringing more resources and services to clients in the Bakken oil region of western North Dakota.

Voller, Lee, Suess will add three partners, 12 staff members and $2.6 million in revenue to Eide Bailly.

(FF)

West Fargo man injured in car-motorcycle crash

WEST FARGO, N.D. – A West Fargo man was injured Sunday evening when the motorcycle he was riding collided with a car north of West Fargo.

James C. Ekren, 59, was airlifted to Hennepin County (Minn.) Medical Center, where he was listed in critical condition Monday.

According to the Cass County Sheriff’s Office, the incident happened about 5 p.m. Sunday at the intersection of County Road 17 and 32nd Avenue Northwest in rural West Fargo.

The driver of the car, Trentten J. Keplin, Belcourt, was cited for turning in front of a vehicle, the Sheriff’s Office said.

(FF)

Minnesota

Hunters kill 147 wolves

DULUTH -- Hunters took 147 wolves during Minnesota’s early wolf season, which ended Sunday.

That total was 53 less than the maximum quota of 200 for the early season, although hunters in the Northeast Zone actually exceeded their quota by three wolves. The hunt in the Northeast Zone was closed at the end of the day Thursday as the harvest approached the quota set by the Department of Natural Resources.

Hunters were required to register their wolves by 10 p.m. each day, and remaining hunters were required to check each day before hunting to make sure the quota had not been taken in their zone. In the Northeast Zone, with a quota of 58 wolves, hunters took a total of 61. Two of those wolves were registered Friday, after the season was closed, said Dan Stark, DNR large carnivore specialist at Grand Rapids. It isn’t known yet when those wolves were taken. DNR enforcement officers are investigating, he said.

“The season closed Thursday, and no wolves should have been taken Friday,” Stark said.

(DNT)

Hibbing man charged in fatal scooter crash

GRAND RAPIDS, Minn. -- A Hibbing man is being charged with criminal vehicular homicide for a September crash in Itasca County in which his pickup truck hit a motorized mobility scooter, killing its driver.

A complaint charging Lyle Elmer White, 71, with two felony counts of criminal vehicular homicide was filed in State District Court in Itasca County on Monday. White is scheduled to make his first court appearance Wednesday.

Law enforcement authorities were notified of a fatal motor-vehicle crash on Itasca County Road 29 near U.S. Forest Service Road 3342 shortly after noon on Sept. 29. The first deputy on the scene found White, his pickup in the eastbound lane, parts of the motor scooter scattered along the road, and the body of its operator — Eugene Paul Zeroth, 78, of Princeton, Minn. — on the road.

(DNT)

Ada sex offender given jail time, probation

MOORHEAD, Minn. – A 25-year-old Ada man who pleaded guilty to having sex with a 15-year-old Moorhead girl has been sentenced to jail time and 15 years of supervised probation, the prosecuting attorney on the case said.

Randall Ray Pallum Jr. was sentenced Monday to two years in prison, stayed by his probation time, and 180 days in jail, Assistant Clay County Attorney Pamela Harris said.

Pallum also was given a $1,000 fine. He pleaded guilty last month to the third-degree criminal sexual conduct charge, a felony.

Court records show that Pallum already was a registered sex offender in Minnesota when he had sex with the Moorhead girl in her home in June 2010.

Pallum was required to register as a sex offender in December 2008 after he pleaded guilty to fifth-degree criminal sexual conduct, a gross misdemeanor. He was sentenced to 30 days in jail and two years of unsupervised probation.

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