REGIONAL BRIEFS: Fergus Falls band plays Obama inauguration

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Credit: Forum Communications

North Dakota

Forbes calls N.D. No. 3 for business

FARGO – North Dakota has been named the third-best state for career and business by Forbes Magazine.

The state moved up one spot from last year when it ranked fourth.

Utah was ranked No.1 for the third consecutive year, and Virginia was second.

South Dakota was ranked 12th and Minnesota 20th.

The business magazine also ranked North Dakota as the second-best state economic climate and the third best in business costs.

Forbes bases its career and business rankings on six factors: regulatory environment, business costs, labor supply, economic climate, growth prospects and quality of life.

Business costs, including labor, taxes and energy, are weighted the most heavily.

(FF)

2 new TB cases found in GF County

GRAND FORKS, N.D. -- Two new cases of active tuberculosis have been identified in the Grand Forks area, bringing the number of active cases to 15, the North Dakota Department of Health reported Thursday.

The infected are both women 20 to 29 years old who are tied to the previous cases, said John Bernstrom, a spokesman for Grand Forks Public Health.

“These aren’t random cases,” he said.

Public Health officials are continuing to work in the area, trying to identify people who may have been exposed to those infected. People considered at risk will be contacted and given guidance about testing procedures, officials said.

Several hundred Grand Forks County residents have been tested since the outbreak initially was reported in late October.

(GFH)

More mental health treatment for accused killer

FARGO – A judge has extended the mental health treatment for a Fargo man accused of murdering his wife last March.

Henry Leo Deniger has been at the State Hospital in Jamestown since September, after Judge Steven McCullough ordered that he spend up to 90 days there until he’s fit to proceed with the case.

Wednesday marked the end of the 90-day period. After receiving information from the State Hospital, prosecutor Reid Brady and Deniger’s public defenders jointly asked the court to extend his treatment for up to 90 days.

The case will resume if Deniger regains fitness to proceed in the opinion of the hospital’s evaluator. If he doesn’t, a hearing will take place within 15 days of the end of the extended treatment period.

Deniger, 50, faces a potential life sentence if convicted of fatally stabbing his 52-year-old wife, Kathye Deniger, whose body was found in the couple’s south Fargo apartment March 6.

(FF)

Minnesota

Woman sentenced for child abuse

BEMIDJI, Minn. – A 24-year-old Pennington woman will serve more than 30 days in jail on a charge of abusing a young girl.

Deanna Antonia Beaudreau was sentenced Monday for felony third-degree assault, past pattern of child abuse. She was given a stay of adjudication; successful completion of her probation will result in a misdemeanor conviction.

Beaudreau must serve 33 days in jail, pay or work off a $1,000 fine, pay $160 in fees and serve five years on supervised probation. A condition of her sentence includes that she have no unsupervised contact with minors. She was sentenced by Beltrami County District Judge Shari Schluchter.

In August, Beaudreau entered an Alford plea to the charge. An Alford plea means she did not admit guilt, but conceded prosecutors had enough evidence to convict her.

She is accused of repeatedly injuring a 10-year-old girl.

According to the criminal complaint, the child reported that Beaudreau repeatedly slapped, kicked and punched her and would spit in her face. She also reported that Beaudreau would drag her around by her hair and wrap it around her finger, pulling it out from her scalp.

(BP)

Teens sentenced for van theft, police chase, gas leak

WILLMAR, Minn. — The two teenagers who pleaded guilty to their roles in the theft of a motor vehicle, chase and crash that caused a gas leak forcing the partial evacuation a mobile home park were sentenced Wednesday in Kandiyohi County District Court.

Darien Cole Frank, 19, of New London, was sentenced to 13 months in prison, which was stayed, 120 days in jail, five years of probation and a $1,000 fine on a felony charge of theft. Frank was also ordered to complete chemical dependency treatment, obtain and keep a job and have no contact with the victim of the theft.

Luis Gerardo Nieves, 16, of Willmar, was sentenced to six months of probation, 112 hours of community work service and 12 days of detention at Prairie Lakes. The teen was also ordered to pay $1,560.18 in restitution, obtain his GED and follow the recommendations of a chemical assessment.

On Oct. 25, Willmar police officers attempted to stop a van driven by Nieves. Nieves instead raced off and the van, which he had stolen, struck a gas meter in an empty lot at the trailer park, causing a leak. The van later spun out of control, striking a police car, and they were apprehended.

(WCT)

Fergus Falls band plays Obama inauguration

FERGUS FALLS, Minn. – The high school marching band here is headed back to Washington in January.

The Fergus Falls High School marching band performed in President Barack Obama’s first inauguration parade in 2009, and they’ve been invited to appear in Obama’s second inauguration parade.

“We’re pretty excited,” Superintendent Jerry Ness said.

The 57th Inaugural Parade will be held on Jan. 21, the day after Obama and Vice President Joe Biden are officially sworn in.

The Fergus Falls band will be one of 42 groups marching down Pennsylvania Avenue, with many states represented, from Hawaii to New York, according to the inauguration’s official website.

According to the website, a total of 2,807 groups applied for the gig, and the choices were slimmed by a Presidential Inaugural Committee. No groups from North Dakota are slated to perform, and Fergus Falls is the only Minnesota band.

“The Fergus Falls High School Marching Band is honored to have been selected to perform in this parade,” band director Scott Kummrow said in a news release.

(FF)

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