Babaamaajimowinan (Telling of news in different places)
Babaamaajimowinan (Telling of news in different places)
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HUOT — Fabian Strong couldn’t join the others. His 82-year-old legs wouldn’t allow it. So, he pulled his walker backward as fellow veterans representing all branches of the armed forces and decades of service danced around a freshly raised Red Lake Nation Flag on Wednesday, commemorating a new tribal holiday. "Come on. Let’s go," Earl Fairbanks said as he led the others in a circle, their feet bending blades and flattening the grass. One hundred fifty years ago on Oct. 2, the Pembina and Red Lak...
BEMIDJI — Andrew Willard Reed never saw his picture in Sunday’s edition of the Pioneer, and he apparently didn’t see the car that struck him on a Bemidji street that morning, killing the 54-year-old homeless man. Reed, of Bemidji, was pronounced dead just before 5 a.m. Sunday in the 800 block of Paul Bunyan Drive. He died as a result of multiple head injuries, police said, after being struck by a vehicle driven by Floyd LaDuke. Reed was one of several homeless men and women featured in a series...
EDITOR'S NOTE: In part two of our series, “Homeless in Bemidji,” the costs of incarceration for one homeless man were discussed, as were the unknown costs of dealing with a group of men and women identified as “persistently homeless.” In the final story, one homeless woman tells of her attempts to stay sober, and solutions to the sometimes intertwined issues of homelessness and alcoholism are discussed by the Rev. Bob Kelly and others. BEMIDJI -- Sherry Iceman wanted to talk. It was the night b...
EDITOR’S NOTE: In part one of our series, “Homeless in Bemidji,” we introduced a group of four homeless who live on the streets, and seek shelter wherever they can. They drank together July 5 as downtown teemed with tourists and visitors for the holiday weekend. In part two, the costs of incarceration for one homeless man are discussed, as are the unknown costs of dealing with a group of men and women identified as “persistently homeless.” On the second floor of the Beltrami County Jail, fiv...
In response to the large amount of feedback the Pioneer has received as a result of the first story in our series “Homeless in Bemidji,” Editor Matt Cory suggested I write an explanation of my motives for pursuing and reporting on this issue. Since moving here in late December I’ve been seeing the same faces around town. They’re the faces of people I’ve identified as being in a group I’ll call “visibly homeless.” No, they do not represent the entirety of Bemidji’s homeless population; no, not all homeless people are Native American; and, no...
BEMIDJI -- A traffic stop resulted in the discovery of 70 marijuana cigarettes -- a total of about 30 grams of the drug -- Saturday afternoon. Two were arrested on low-level felony drug charges as a result of stop. Alvin Robert Johnson, 23, was arraigned on one count of fifth-degree drug possession Monday and was released from the Beltrami County Jail on a $2,500 bond. The passenger in the vehicle Johnson was driving, 31-year-old Shanna Rose Kingbird, remains in custody on a $5,000 bond. She was booked on one charge of fourth-degree drug...
MINNEAPOLIS -- A Red Lake man is headed to prison for more than three years for an assault that took place on the reservation in November 2011. Roderick Arlyn Sayers, 44, was sentenced Monday to three years and seven months in prison for the crime, according to a press released from the U.S. Attorney's Office. Sayers assaulted a woman on Nov. 22, 2011, resulting in serious bodily harm to the victim....
BEMIDJI -- A juvenile male said by police to be responsible for shooting a man near a home in Frohn Township on Tuesday was riding in a truck with the victim when police arrived on scene. Devin Craig Spears-Thomas was shot more than once by the juvenile, according to police, and was taken to a hospital in Duluth to be treated for non life-threatening gunshot wounds. Beltrami County Sheriff Phil Hodapp said Spears-Thomas had been shot in an appendage. The ages of the juvenile suspect and...
BEMIDJI -- A Bemidji woman accused of causing the death of a passenger on a motorcycle in a collision Sunday was released from custody on $20,000 bail Monday afternoon. Victoria Blakeley Whitefeather, 23, either worked with a bail bondsman or paid $2,000 to be released from the Hubbard County Jail. Whitefeather was arraigned Monday on six counts of criminal vehicular homicide and two counts of DWI after admitting to police she fell asleep at the wheel of her sport utility vehicle, crossing the center and striking a motorcycle driven by Robert...
PARK RAPIDS — Police say a Bemidji woman fell asleep while intoxicated behind the wheel of her sport utility vehicle before she crossed the centerline and killed a passenger on a motorcycle. Victoria Blakely Whitefeather, 23, was charged in Hubbard County District Court with several counts of criminal vehicular homicide for striking a motorcycle driven by Robert Childs, of Proctor. Childs’ passenger, 51-year-old Tracy Childs, was airlifted to North Memorial Hospital in Robbinsdale, where she was pronounced dead as a result of injuries from the...
BEMIDJI -- Any chance of punishment or exoneration for John Wangberg, a former longtime Bemidji teacher accused of sexually abusing three 5- and 6-year-old children between 2008 and 2011, ended when he was found dead in his home Jan. 30. But Bemidji School District 31, Wangberg's employer from 1986 until his resignation in 2011, may pay a price for his alleged crimes. Named as the defendant in three lawsuits filed Wednesday in Beltrami District Court, the School District is being targeted by a...
BEMIDJI -- A 55-mile chase that saw speeds in excess of 100 mph ended with the abandonment of the stolen vehicle pursued by police, and its driver fleeing on foot into a wooded area north of Ponemah. Edwin Lee Johnson, 41, of Bemidji, is being sought by Red Lake Tribal Police after he fled from police in Bemidji Wednesday afternoon. He is described as being 5-foot 7-inches tall and weighing 200 lbs. Johnson has closely shaven hair, according to a press release from Beltrami County emergency mana...
BEMIDJI -- For pulling a pistol from his waistband as a Bemidji police officer approached in early July, a Redby man is headed to prison for five years. Bruce Lee Armstrong, 22, was sentenced Tuesday by Beltrami District Judge Shari Schlucter for being a felon in possession of a pistol and terroristic threats. Armstrong, who has credit for 38 days time served, will serve his sentence at the St. Cloud Correctional Facility. Additionally, Armstrong was sentenced to one year in jail, with credit fo...
BEMIDJI -- A Cass Lake man with an extensive decade-long criminal history was sentenced Tuesday for being in possession of a stolen handgun. Joseph Allen Jones, 30, must serve two years and four months at the St. Cloud Correctional Facility, with credit for 146 days served. Beltrami District Judge Paul Benshoof sentenced Jones. A report of a stolen pistol to the Hubbard County Sheriff's Office on March 10 eventually led investigators to a home of a relative of Jones. There, Jones admitted to...
BEMIDJI -- A little more than three years after a smash-and-grab burglary to a Bemidji sporting goods store in which about a dozen guns were stolen, one of the perpetrators was sentenced for the crime. Dustin Reginald Barrett, 21, was sentenced Monday to 180 days in jail by Beltrami District Judge Paul Benshoof. Barrett, who was arrested following another alleged burglary in February, has already served 113 days of his sentence. Benshoof also placed the Redby man on 20 years probation. Barrett was with Lee Sean Fier, 22, and two other men on...
BEMIDJI -- A 48-year-old Red Lake man was sentenced in federal court Monday for beating another man with an axe handle in January, resulting in the victim losing an eye. Joseph William Howard will serve eight years and nine months in prison, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office. The punishment was handed down by U.S. District Judge John Tunheim. On January 13, Howard assaulted the victim at a Redby home, the release stated. Police found the victim in the home with a badly beaten and lacerated face. On the bed and walls...
BEMIDJI -- A Cass Lake man who kicked in the door of a Beltrami County home while wielding a hatchet and issuing threats in late April was sent to prison for his actions that day. David Lee Kingbird, 23, also threatened police officers after being taken into custody on April 28, according to a criminal complaint filed by the Beltrami County Attorney's Office. Kingbird was sentenced on Aug. 2 to two years at the St. Cloud Correctional Facility by Beltrami District Judge John Melbye. About 3:20...
BEMIDJI -- Christopher Lee Strong was lying in the road when he was struck and killed by Martin Erwin Ubert’s Chevy Monte Carlo, according to investigators. Ubert, 58, of Bemidji, was arraigned Thursday on one count of criminal vehicular homicide and is being held in the Beltrami County Jail on $100,000 bail. He turned the car around after running over Strong and drove past his body, as indicated by engine fluids found at the scene the next day, according to a criminal complaint filed by the B...
Editor's note: The original version of this story incorrectly reported Ubert's booking charges. Ubert was booked into the Beltrami County Jail on a charge of felony criminal vehicular homicide, and a warrant for violating terms of probation on a refusing to submit to chemical testing conviction from 2010 in Clearwater County. BEMIDJI -- Martin Erwin Ubert, arrested Tuesday for the July 31 hit-and-run death of Christopher Lee Strong, fatally struck a horse with his vehicle in February and fled...
BEMIDJI -- A 58-year-old man was arrested Tuesday night as the lone suspect in the fatal hit and run that killed Christopher Lee Strong last week. Martin Erwin Ubert was booked into the Beltrami County Jail at 7:08 p.m. on charges of felony criminal vehicular homicide and a Hubbard County warrant for second-degree DWI, according to the jail's website. Sheriff Phil Hodapp confirmed Ubert was arrested for the fatal collision that occurred in Eckles Township some time before 4:30 a.m. July 31. The...
BEMIDJI -- According to Bemidji police, Lance Francise Day broke into a woman’s home early Saturday, broke a towel rack in the bathroom of the master bedroom and urinated in the toilet. Day, 24, of Bemidji, was arrested not far from the home, in the 1200 block of Minnesota Avenue Northwest, just after 5 a.m. Saturday. He was arraigned Tuesday in Beltrami District Court on one count of second-degree burglary, and is being held on $10,000 bail, an official at the Beltrami County Jail said. A...
BEMIDJI -- Police are looking for a red Chevrolet Monte Carlo they believe is the car involved in the Wednesday morning hit and run death 25-year-old Christopher Lee Strong. Beltrami County Sheriff Phil Hodapp said the vehicle, identified by parts found at the scene of the accident, has front-end damage. The color swatch at left represents the color of the vehicle, according to a press release from Beltrami County emergency management director Beryl Wernberg. Police also learned more Thursday...
BEMIDJI -- While investigating the death of Christopher Lee Strong, killed in an apparent hit and run Wednesday morning, police arrested a man who became combative with officers. Richard Edward Strong, 39, was arraigned Thursday on one count of obstructing the legal process and is being held at the Beltrami County Jail on $4,000 bail. It is unclear what, if any, the relationship between the two men is, Beltrami County Sheriff Phil Hodapp said Thursday night. Police were inspecting a vehicle at...
BEMIDJI -- Police are investigating the death of a 25-year-old Bemidji man after a newspaper carrier found what authorities said was Christopher Lee Strong's dead body on an Eckles Township road early Wednesday. Leona Steele, who has been delivering The Pioneer for more than a year, made the gruesome discovery just before 4:30 a.m. She immediately called police. "He was laying on his right side with his back toward me," she said of Strong. "All I saw was -- I thought it was a red t-shirt but it...
MINNEAPOLIS -- A Redby man was indicted last week on several felony assault charges after prosecutors say he beat two victims in their heads with a tire iron. Ryan Devin Ravensborg, 20, was briefly held in Beltrami County Jail before he was transferred to Minneapolis. He faces two counts of assault with a dangerous weapon and two counts of assault resulting in serious bodily injury, according to a federal indictment unsealed Tuesday. On May 26, Ravensborg allegedly assaulted two victims with the...
