REGIONAL BRIEFS: Afton Alps being sold to Vail operator

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From the Forum Communications News Bureau

North Dakota

Energy company donates to housing fund

BISMARCK -- WPX Energy is making a $100,000 contribution to help build affordable housing on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation.

Gov. Jack Dalrymple and representatives from WPX Energy announced the contribution to the North Dakota Housing Incentive Fund on Tuesday.

WPX Energy’s contribution was designated for use on the Fort Berthold IReservation, with half of the contribution targeted specifically for The Highlands of Parshall, a large development that will provide rental units near a school and playground for lower-income households. Housing Incentive Fund contributions can be targeted to a specific project or designated for general use in a community or region.

Individuals, businesses and financial institutions that give to the fund receive a dollar-for-dollar state income tax credit.

(FCC)

NDDOT to launch drug recognition program

FARGO – The North Dakota Department of Transportation and the North Dakota Highway Patrol have launched a new campaign for their Drug Recognition Expert Program.

The program trains police officers to recognize impairment in drivers other than or in addition to alcohol.

The goal is to inform the public that even prescription medication can result in DUI charges.

(FF)

Minnesota

Mother pleads guilty to child endangerment

BEMIDJI, Minn. – The mother accused of leaving four children in a hot car last summer while she shopped for swimwear has pleaded guilty to child endangerment.

Bianca Jean Hazelrigg, 21, pleaded guilty Tuesday in Beltrami County District to a gross misdemeanor charge of child endangerment by putting a child in a situation that could cause harm or death.

Sentencing has been set for Jan. 14.

Hazelrigg, who previously lived in Bagley but lists her address as St. Cloud on her Facebook page, is accused of leaving four children unattended in a car in 88-degree temperatures on June 9 as she shopped inside the Bemidji Target for 29 minutes, trying on swimsuits, according to the criminal complaint.

Afton Alps being sold to Vail operator

WOODBURY, Minn. -- The Twin Cities-area Afton Alps ski resort is being purchased by the operators of one of North America’s most popular skiing destinations, officials have announced.

According to a news release, Vail Resorts, Inc., has entered into agreements to buy Afton Alps and Mount Brighton ski resort in Michigan for a combined $20 million.

According to the release, Vail Resorts plans to redesign Afton’s terrain park, enhance coaching and instruction, as well as improving racing programs and on-site amenities.

Afton Alps co-owner and communications manager Amy Reents said the local ski area will be taking part next spring in a companywide system allowing customers to buy season passes that would be valid at Afton Alps and every other Vail-managed ski area.

The release states that Afton Alps is the largest ski area near a major metropolitan area in the Midwest. The ski area along the St. Croix River includes 48 trails on 300 acres.

(WB)

Burglar, accused peeper, found unfit for trial

MOORHEAD, Minn. – A Moorhead man who was convicted in a string of burglaries and then arrested Sept. 10 for allegedly peeping into a young girl’s bedroom window has been found unfit to proceed in the peeping case.

A civil commitment hearing will be held within the next week or so in Clay County District Court for 28-year-old Juan Quevedo, said his public defender, Joe Parise.

Parise said he sought a mental evaluation of Quevedo after his Sept. 10 arrest. Test results found him unfit to proceed, Parise said.

Judge Steven Cahill suspended the criminal proceedings against Quevedo Tuesday morning. Parise said the goal is for Quevedo to get the help he needs and eventually be found fit to proceed again.

Quevedo was sentenced Aug. 30 to time served in jail, restitution and five years of supervised probation for burglarizing two Moorhead insurance agencies and trying to break into a third.

He’s now accused of looking into the window of a Moorhead home on Sept. 10. He was arrested on a probation violation and charged with interference with privacy.

(FF)

Red Lake man gets 30 years for sexually abusing 2 girls

MINNEAPOLIS -- A federal judge Monday in Minneapolis sentenced Dean Earl Wilkens, Red Lake, Minn., to 30 years in prison for sexually abusing two girls over several years on the Red Lake Indian Reservation.

According to the FBI office in Minneapolis, Wilkens, 60, was convicted July 24 of four counts of aggravated sexual abuse of two girls from December 2008 to December 2011 on the reservation.

A year ago, the FBI learned of the abuse when one of the victims told a school official about it.

(GFH)

Man sentenced in sexual contact case

WILLMAR, Minn. — A Willmar sex offender will avoid significant jail time if he does not violate the terms of a sentence handed down this week.

Jesus Cisneros Trevino, 63, of Willmar, was sentenced in Kandiyohi County District Court on Monday to 12 years in prison, which was stayed, a 10-year conditional release period, 30 years of probation, 270 days in the county jail and a $250 fine on a first-degree criminal sexual conduct charge for sexual contact with two young girls.

As part of his sentence, Trevino was also ordered to have no contact with the victims or children under age 18, ordered to submit to a psychological-sexual evaluation and ordered to register as a predatory offender.

The stayed prison term and local jail time were part of a plea agreement.

Willmar police began investigating a sexual assault case in January that involved two girls, ages 11 and 16. The younger girl said the contact, involving sexual touching and indecent exposure, happened at an apartment in Willmar. The older girl said Trevino had done similar things to her when she was about the same age.

(WCT)

Man pleads guilty to selling cocaine

WILLMAR, Minn. — A Willmar man has pleaded guilty to selling cocaine to an undercover agent.

Sammy Sandoval Jr., 24, pleaded guilty Monday to a first-degree drug sale charge for selling 15.3 grams of cocaine to a Brown-Lyon-Redwood County Drug Task Force agent and a task force informant on June 29, 2011, in southern Kandiyohi County.

Sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 14.

The charge was filed after the informant and agent met Sandoval at Harry’s Corner, south of Willmar, and completed the drug deal in a vehicle with Sandoval weighing the drugs and giving the cocaine to the agent in return for $600.

The drugs were field-tested and found to be cocaine. The task force has also filed an affidavit for restitution for $600.

(WCT)

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