REGIONAL NEWS: North Fargo traffic jams? ... 'Professional' robber pleads .... Three brothers shot dead ... more

North Fargo traffic jams?

Traffic in north Fargo is about to get hectic, and officials are working on control plans.

Next weekend, there is the Fargo AirSho, a couple of Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks baseball games and a car show. They’ll happen as North Dakota State University students are arriving on campus and work is being done on two major roads.

City Administrator Pat Zavoral called it “sort of a perfect storm coming up here.”

Officials from Fargo, Cass County, NDSU and the air show recently met to review traffic control plans.

They said the situation will require drivers to plan their trips, pay attention to police and volunteers and be patient.

‘Professional’ robber pleads

A Rapid City, S.D., man arrested in western Nebraska has pleaded guilty to robbing $3,000 from a Rapid City bank.

Lonnie Pannell, 60, who also goes by the last name King, pleaded guilty in federal court to bank robbery for the Feb. 5 holdup of Dakotah Bank.

A Nebraska State Patrol trooper arrested him that evening near Chadron, Neb.

A court document states that hours before Pannell was picked up, he used false documents to seek treatment at the Veterans Affairs hospital in Hot Springs, S.D., where a police officer spotted the money.

The document said that when Pannell was booked into jail, he listed “robbery” as his occupation.

Three brothers shot dead

A gunman opened fire on a group of people outside a trailer home in western Wisconsin, killing three brothers before critically wounding himself, police said Sunday.

Menomonie Police Sgt. Andrew Crouse said a 23-year-old man from St. Paul shot and killed the brothers late Saturday and wounded another man in the western Wisconsin trailer park.

The three brothers, all from the Menomonie area, were identified as Toua Kong, 32; Siong Kong, 25; and Seng Kong, 13.

The shooting took place in front of the trailer where Siong lived. The two other brothers lived in a different trailer, Crouse said.

Police said the fourth man — identified as Toua Xiong, 25, Menomonie — was taken to an area hospital with non-life-threatening wounds. Xiong is not related to the brothers, police said.

Crouse said the gunman was in critical condition at an area hospital. Police believe he shot the four before turning the gun on himself.

Police recovered a 9 mm semiautomatic handgun believed to be the weapon used in the shooting.

Investigators believe the suspect knew the victims but was not related to them.

Authorities do not believe the shooting was gang- or drug-related, although police said they are investigating possible gang affiliations.

Coal plant zoning change?

Stark County, N.D., commissioners said it’s simpler. Opponents said it’s an attempt to ignore their views.

At issue is a proposal to eliminate a requirement that surrounding landowners approve zoning changes. A public hearing on the proposal is scheduled today at the county courthouse in Dickinson, N.D.

The requirement was discovered after opponents of a coal-drying plant near South Heart, N.D., filed a lawsuit to stop it. Judge Zane

Anderson ruled in their favor, saying the county failed to submit the proper paperwork.

He also said county officials should take a close look at the ordinance requiring written approval from all landowners within 200 feet of the property.

The changes drafted by county officials earlier this month would require the zoning administrator to notify those residents but not get their approval.

Stark County State’s Attorney Tom Henning believes the original requirement was a mistake.

Stark County commissioner Jay Elkin, a county Zoning and Planning Committee member, said the rewritten language is proper.

“It’s difficult to find or to even get hold of those people because so many of those landowners live out of state,” Elkin said. “So, what we’ve done is we’re making it simpler.”

Dakota Resource Council member Gordon Krance thinks what they’ve done is ignore landowners’ views.

Mountrail rumble stripes

Mountrail County, N.D., is getting rumble stripes on two major highways.

Rumble stripes are pavement grooves with reflective paint that alert drivers when they start to leave the driving lane.

They’re being installed on N.D. Highway 23 from New Town to Plaza and also from the intersection of N.D. Highways 23 and 8 to U.S. Highway 2 at Stanley.

County commissioners a year ago asked the state Transportation Department to reduce the speed limit in the area and implement other safety measures because of the heavy oil field truck traffic and recent fatalities. Transportation officials studied the areas last year and said a speed reduction was not recommended, but that other changes could be made.

Police to review stop video

The Minneapolis police chief said he will review a video showing six of his officers punching and kicking a 42-year-old man during a traffic stop.

Chief Tim Dolan said he will review the video of Derryl Jenkins’ arrest last week.

Jenkins was stopped Feb. 19 in north Minneapolis. He said he had a late-night dinner and three beers at Rudolph’s Bar-B-Que and was headed to a friend’s house when he was stopped for allegedly speeding.

Jenkins had to have seven stitches above his eye after the six officers punched and kicked him during the incident.

Jenkins was charged with assault and refusing to submit to alcohol tests, but those charges have been dropped.

According to police reports, Jenkins resisted arrest. But Jenkins said the video shows he was the victim of an unprovoked attack.

Council mulls ex-con’s job

The director of public utilities in Waconia could find out today whether he will be able to keep his job after a rape conviction from 17 years ago was revealed.

Drew Anderson was convicted of raping a 14-year-old girl a year before he was hired by the city of Waconia in 1993.

The local newspaper in Waconia recently published a story about Anderson’s past, prompting calls for his firing.

Anderson served his sentence after he was hired by the city and served in the Carver County jail where he could continue his job on work release.

But current city officials said they knew nothing about the case.

In response to public uproar, the City Council will meet today to consider Anderson’s fate, even though city officials said Anderson has been an exemplary employee.

Holocaust survivor film

A fundraising campaign has been launched to help pay for a film based on the experiences of a Holocaust survivor who now lives in Minnesota.

Production company Launch Flix is working with a synagogue in Phoenix on a campaign called “$6 million for 6 million.”

The campaign will raise money for a film based on the experiences of Holocaust survivor Henry Oertelt.

Oertelt lives in St. Paul and has spoken at St. Cloud State University and many other places about his experiences.

Launch Flix has bought the rights to his book, “An Unbroken Chain: My Journey Through the Nazi Holocaust.”

It describes Oertelt’s experiences in surviving five concentration camps during the Holocaust. On the Net: http://6mfor6m.org/

Klobuchar airs elder care

Sen. Amy Klobuchar will host a roundtable discussion today for those who care for the elderly.

Klobuchar is pushing legislation in Congress aimed at supporting family caregivers and protecting consumers from abuses in long-term care insurance.

Klobuchar’s office points out that the number of people older than age 65 in Minnesota will more than double from 2005 to 2035.

The number of people age 85 and older living in Minnesota is also expected to double in the same period.

Former state Sen. Tracy Beckman, who cares for his wife with Alzheimer’s disease, will be among the discussion’s participants.

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