REGIONAL BRIEFS: Man charged in beer thefts

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Credit: Forum Communications

Number of Minnesota STIs up 8 percent in 2011

FARGO – In observance of National Condom Week, Planned Parenthood Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota is urging sexually active individuals to talk to their partners about the importance of using condoms to protect against sexually transmitted infections and unintended pregnancy.

In Minnesota, STIs are the most commonly reported communicable diseases and account for almost 70 percent of all diseases reported to the Minnesota Department of Health.

In 2011, the number of reported bacterial STIs increased to 19,547 cases in Minnesota, representing an overall increase of 8 percent from the previous year.

For more information, call (800) 230-1526 or log on to www.plannedparenthood.org.

(FF)

Minnesota

Man charged in beer thefts

WILLMAR, Minn.— A Willmar man faces a felony charge of third-degree burglary for allegedly stealing beer from a neighbor’s garage.

Kevin Gene Sorenson, 50, was arrested after a surveillance camera was installed in the garage. The residents of the house recognized Sorenson from pictures by the camera.

He later admitted to taking beer from the refrigerator in the garage, according to Willmar police reports.

The camera was installed after the residents reported alcohol being taken from the garage fridge on more than one occasion last fall.

Sorenson made his first appearance Wednesday.

(WCT)

Sanford official heading to S.D.

BEMIDJI, Minn. – Paul Hanson is leaving his position as president of Sanford Health of Northern Minnesota to become the president of Sanford USD Medical Center in Sioux Falls, S.D.

Hanson will remain in his current role until he assumes his new position this summer.

“I have high expectations for Bemidji,” Hanson said in an interview Wednesday. “I wish this community and our organization (Sanford Health of Northern Minnesota) the best. They both have been so good to me.”

Hanson was named president of North Country Health Services in October 2009, coming to Bemidji from a similar position with Prairie Lakes Healthcare System in Watertown, S.D.

“We were looking for proven leadership in service expansion,” recalled Pete Aube, who then was the chairman of the NCHS board. “I think if you look at what has happened in the last three years, with Sanford’s help as well, we’ve greatly expanded our medical services in Bemidji. It’s exciting.”

A year after he was hired, Sanford Health merged with NCHS and Hanson became the top executive for Sanford Health of Northern Minnesota. That merger followed the 2009 merger between Sanford Health and MeritCare Health System.

(BP, from Wednesday)

Three arrested with crack

ALEXANDRIA, Minn. -- Three suspects were charged with first-degree controlled substance crimes after their vehicle was stopped on Interstate 94 near Alexandria on Monday night.

In addition to stolen property, the men were found in possession of more than 28 grams of crack cocaine concealed in the vehicle’s door, according to the Douglas County Attorney’s Office.

The suspects are Brandon Marcel Thomas (the driver and owner of the vehicle), 25, of Columbia Heights, Daron Asaad Johnson, 22, of Brooklyn Center, and Anthony Frederick Shannon, 22, of Robbinsdale.

The vehicle, a Dodge Charger, was stopped east of Alexandria at 6:48 p.m. after a woman called the State Patrol to report the theft and said the suspect were traveling to the Minneapolis area with cocaine.

(AEP)

Two plead guilty to murder

ROSEAU, Minn. -- A man and woman pleaded guilty this week in a Roseau courtroom to murdering their neighbor in a Badger apartment building.

Jeremy Lemen, 34, and Desiree Shinholser, 25, pleaded guilty to two different forms of second-degree murder in an agreement with prosecutors Wednesday in state district court in Roseau, forestalling a trial.

They admitted murdering John William Currier, 31, on Oct. 5 in the eight-unit apartment building where they lived in Badger, a town of 370 people 12 miles southwest of Roseau.

The two are scheduled to be sentenced March 18 and have been in jail since their arrests in October under $1 million bail.

Currier, originally from International Falls, lived alone and worked at Polaris Industries in Roseau, where Lemen previously had worked.

(GFH)

North Dakota

Minot man claims to be ‘sovereign’ in arrest

FARGO – A Minot man is facing charges of obstruction of justice after a traffic stop Tuesday in which he told a police officer he “was a member of the sovereign nation” and that the officer was not allowed to detain or harass him.

Court documents state James Allen Siegrist, 32, was stopped by a police officer about 12:08 p.m. Tuesday in the 3200 block of Fiechtner Drive on suspicion of reckless driving.

When the officer asked to see his license, Siegrist refused, saying he was a member of the sovereign nation and putting his hands in his lap as if he was reaching for something.

The officer then drew his pistol, and Siegrist locked himself in the car. He was arrested when the woman in the car unlocked it after officers ordered her out.

Siegrist continued to tell officers they were not allowed to harass or detain him, and refused to identify himself. Authorities allege they found a small bag of methamphetamine during a search of Siegrist at the jail, according to documents.

Siegrist was charged in Cass County District Court on Wednesday with possession of methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia, both Class C felonies. Bail was set at $10,000.

He also faces in Fargo Municipal Court of charges of obstructing a peace officer, reckless driving, and driving under suspension, all misdemeanors.

(FF)

Sex ed program back on

FARGO – After a monthlong hold, a new sex education program established by two North Dakota State University faculty members will “go forward immediately,” university officials said Thursday.

The announcement followed a formal legal opinion issued by Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem that the state law behind NDSU administrators’ decision to freeze a $1.2 million federal grant for the program was “completely invalidated” more than 30 years ago and wouldn’t prohibit the program’s partnership with Planned Parenthood.

“We’re just really pleased about the victory that this is for adolescents in the state of North Dakota,” said Molly Secor-Turner, one of the grant recipients.

(FF)

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