Andrew Hazzard
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BISMARCK—The North Dakota Supreme Court will hear an appeal Monday, Oct. 23, from a family who believes the owner of the Grand Forks home where their son consumed the drugs that led to his death should be held accountable. Debra and Keith Bjerk filed suit against Kenton G. Anderson in 2015 alleging his liability in the death of their son, Christian Bjerk, who died of a synthetic drug overdose in June 2012 at age 18.
BAUDETTE, Minn.—A northern Minnesota woman who was convicted of stealing money from a fundraising account for three men killed in a 2015 Lake of the Woods boating accident has been sentenced to serve time in prison after being convicted for writing bad checks while on probation. Retina Rayellen LaValla, 30, was sentenced to serve 42 months in prison last week after being found guilty of writing a bad check-- a violation of her parole from a conviction for stealing money from a GoFundMe account she set up for three victims of a October 2015 boating accident.
BISMARCK—The North Dakota Supreme Court will hear an appeal Monday, Oct. 23, from a family who believes the owner of the Grand Forks home where their son consumed the drugs that led to his death should be held accountable. Debra and Keith Bjerk filed suit against Kenton G. Anderson in 2015 alleging his liability in the death of their son, Christian Bjerk, who died of a synthetic drug overdose in June 2012 at age 18.
The vast majority of gun deaths recorded in North Dakota and Minnesota are suicides, a national trend that has public health officials calling for the community to be alert to people in their lives who are showing suicidal tendencies and to temporarily disarm them if necessary. Gun deaths rose slightly in 2016 for both Minnesota and North Dakota, according to data from the states' departments of health. There were 87 firearm deaths in North Dakota in 2016, 73 of which were suicides. In Minnesota, 432 people were killed by firearms, 332 of whom took their own lives.
Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D., discussed policy changes that could help prevent trafficking and sexual exploitation at panel hosted by the UND Law School Friday. The panel, moderated by former National Center for Missing and Exploited Children President John Clark, gave law students and members of the public an idea of the scope of child trafficking and offered potential solutions.
Grand Forks County sheriff's deputies and police officers used their four-legged partners to help find a man arrested on suspicion of domestic assault Thursday night. Preston Brice Hamilton, 26, has been arrested on suspicion of simple domestic assault, according to a Sheriff's Office press release. His initial court appearance has yet to be scheduled.
CROOKSTON—An East Grand Forks man who was arrested and charged with drug distribution in the wake of an investigation into fentanyl pills in the Red River Valley was sentenced to more than five years in prison Thursday. Benjamin David Gottberg, 20, was sentenced to 65 months in prison Thursday by Judge Jeffrey S. Remick, after pleading guilty to one count of felony first-degree drug sale.
A longtime ranking deputy became the latest to announce his candidacy for Grand Forks County Sheriff. Lt. B.J. Maxson on Tuesday formally announced his campaign to be the county's top cop in 2018. Maxson, one of two ranking lieutenants in the sheriff's department, has been on the force for 23 years. He was named Deputy of the Year in 2016.
CROOKSTON—An East Grand Forks man charged in connection with a group accused of trafficking fentanyl and other narcotics in the region was sentenced to serve more than five years in prison Tuesday. Robert John-Benson Powell, 20, pleaded guilty to felony first-degree drug sale for his role in a drug operation uncovered after an overdose in Grand Forks on March 22 led to an investigation into pills marked to look like OxyContin but containing fentanyl, a powerful opioid. He was among five men charged in Minnesota, North Dakota and in U.S. District Court related to the case.
BISMARCK—The North Dakota Supreme Court will review for the second time whether the Northeast Central District Court erred in procedural rulings in a 2014 Grand Forks murder case.