Staff report

The sands of time have passed, and now The Times looks back on the top news stories of 2018. These stories are listed in no particular order.

Justice Center
Work continued on the $18.3 million Pennington County Justice Center in 2018. In July, inmates were moved from the old jail to the Justice Center. Months later, Court Administration, the Pennington County Attorney’s Office and probation moved to the courthouse. The Pennington County Board had its first meeting in the Justice Center on Nov. 13. Remodeling work continues at the former jail.

L & M Fleet Supply
Kmart closed for the final time in early 2018; however, the building wasn’t empty for long. L & M Fleet Supply purchased the building in February and opened eight months later.

Thief River Falls City Council
Council member Josh Hagen resigned in July after he and fellow council member Jerald Brown allegedly got into a physical altercation during a committee meeting. Brown has since been sentenced for his role in the fight. Hagen’s misdemeanor fifth degree assault case is scheduled to go to trial in April.

Hagen’s seat remained vacant until Nov. 20, when Mike Lorenson was administered the oath of office. Ward 3 voters had elected Lorenson to the seat. The council decided to administer the oath early, so the election winner could fill the vacancy. Lorenson will begin serving as the Ward 3 council member in his own right this month.

In October, the council learned about maintenance needs at Ralph Engelstad Arena. At that time, CIMCO Refrigeration presented a five-year capital budget plan estimated to cost $6,119,110.

Since that time, city leaders have whittled down the list to those of greatest importance that need to be completed within the next year. The following month, the council awarded the sale of $4.01 million in bonds for an improvement project and some equipment purchases. The bonds include $2.87 million in bonds to cover a portion of the costs related to the 2018 Street and Utilities Improvement Project. They also include $1.17 million in bonds for equipment purchases at REA.

Also in November, City Administrator Rod Otterness announced his retirement, effective Jan. 29. Otterness was hired in March 2016.

In 2018, the council also heard from members of the Thief River Falls Splash Park Committee. The group wishes to raise $297,000 to open the Splash Park at Bill LaFave Park. At least $30,000 has been committed thus far.

Pennington County Board
In August, the Pennington County Board instituted a temporary watercraft “no-wake” ordinance on the Thief River from Long’s bridge to the countyline. The ordinance was instituted to combat the spread of blue-green algae in that area.
In November, Commissioner Darryl Tveitbakk resigned from the County Board. Minnesota Public Employee Retirement Association rules led to Tveitbakk’s resignation from County Board and his retirement as general manager of the Northern Municipal Power Agency on the same day.

Tveitbakk had been a paying member of the Coordinated PERA fund as both an NMPA employee and county commissioner. However, after he had begun participating as a county commissioner, the rules were changed and he was never notified that elected, governing county officials were no longer allowed to participate in the plan. Tveitbakk learned of the change when he began the formal process of retiring in April.

The 30 days passed, and Tveitbakk has since been administered the oath of office to fill out the remainder of this term as the District 4 commissioner. His next term begins this month.

Crime
Four people were charged after Samuel DeJesus Cabrales, 23, Thief River Falls, died of a drug overdose Feb. 8. Robert Louis Bellanger-Fohrenkam and Nathan Charles Mock have since been sentenced in connection with the case. Cases involving Nicole Lee Baker and Aaron Daniel Zimmerman continue to progress through the court system.

Sarah Leah Kortan was charged in July after the death of a 2-month-old girl in Red Lake Falls. Kortan had been caring for the girl, who was the daughter of one of Kortan’s relatives. She has been charged with felony second degree murder, and her case continues to proceed through the court system.

Dr. Steven Richard Wiseth, who formerly worked as a chiropractor in Thief River Falls, was federally indicted in August. He allegedly billed insurance companies more than $3.1 million, including bills for hundreds of treatments that weren’t provided or were overbilled, over a two-year period. His case continues to proceed through the court system.

Digi-Key
Work continues on Digi-Key Electronics’ new product distribution center. In March 2017, it began construction on the center. It will create an additional 2.2 million square feet of usable space at the company’s existing Thief River Falls facility. The initial construction costs for the site that has a footprint of over 1 million square feet were estimated at more than $300 million.

With this construction, the company said it would generate 100 new jobs in Thief River Falls each year for the next 10 years, but during this first year, Digi-Key created over 350 new jobs.

Digi-Key has stated that it is pleased with the pace of construction. It already soars above the occupied facilities at the location.
The expansion is estimated to contribute an additional $500 million in economic output, and will bring 250 to 300 construction employees to Thief River Falls to construct and operationalize the new facility over three years.

Other construction
projects
Motorists breathed a sigh of relief months ago after the Eighth Street and Third Street construction projects were completed. Two separate detours were in place for the Eighth Street project.

Paces Lodging began construction on phase 1 of a building project near Walmart. The firm is building two 45-unit apartment buildings.

The city of Thief River Falls finished its new Electric Department building near Westside Motors. The department moved, and that area is Digi-Key’s new western parking lot.