Latest North Dakota news, sports, business and entertainment Apr 8, 2022

Legislators have dropped revisions to state cosmetology rules that would have allowed animals in salons.

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — North Dakota legislators have dropped revisions to state cosmetology rules that would have allowed animals in salons. The Bismarck Tribune reports that the Legislature’s rules committee halted the proposed revisions from the state cosmetology board last month. Currently no animals, birds or pets except assistance animals for the disabled and aquarium fish are allowed in salons. The revisions would have clarified only service or companion animals and aquarium fish are permitted and the animals must be under the handler’s control at all times. Republican Rep. Bernie Satrom said he was concerned about people misrepresenting their pets as service animals, cleanliness, animal hair and dander.

A state audit of a rural fire department in eastern North Dakota found that it used public money to purchase items

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — A state audit of a rural fire department in eastern North Dakota found that it used public money to purchase booze, food and golf outings for its volunteers and staff. State Auditor Josh Gallion said Friday that the Gwinner Rural Fire Protection District spent more than $28,000 of public funds on alcohol, meals and golf trips from 2015 to 2020. Fire officials in the town of about 1,100 say the funds used for the purchases came from raffle ticket sales, and money was kept in a separate bank account than its general fund account derived from tax dollars. Gallion says any money received by such an entity is considered public money.

 

A Ward County Jail inmate is charged with felony terrorizing

MINOT, N.D. (AP) — A Ward County Jail inmate is charged with felony terrorizing after he was accused of calling in a bomb and assassination threat to prosecutors and judges. Authorities say the 38-year-old man called from the jail Thursday and threatened the Ward County State’s Attorney Office and judges. The courthouse and the administration building were evacuated and temporarily closed. The Minot Area Bomb Team and Minot Air Force Base Explosives Ordinance Disposal responded and searched the buildings, but no explosives were found. The inmate has been held in custody at the jail since Feb. 7 and has been charged with multiple felonies in unrelated cases.

FARGO, N.D. (AP) — A Fargo man accused of killing his girlfriend by causing her to tumble down a flight of the stairs has been acquitted of murder and two others charges. A jury on Thursday found 27-year-old Cody Plumlee not guilty of murder, aggravated assault and reckless endangerment in the December death of Kristen Knaus, of Fargo. Plumlee was convicted of reckless driving, theft of property and giving false information to law enforcement. Court documents show the altercation happened during an argument in early December that included the whereabouts of keys to a car they were sharing. Plumlee allegedly pushed Knaus down the stairs after she struck him in the head with a frying pan. Knaus was hospitalized with serious injuries and died in late December.

(Photo, Forum News Service, media pool)

North Dakota oil exec gets 3-year sentence for fraud scheme

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — A former North Dakota oilfield executive whose false claims about his company’s value resulted in more than $886 million in shareholder losses has been sentenced to three years in federal prison and ordered to pay back $406 million. The government had asked for a 20-year sentence for 61-year-old Joseph Kostelecky before Tuesday’s sentencing hearing in North Dakota. Kostelecky, of Dickinson, was the highest ranking U.S. executive for Poseidon Concepts Corp., a fluid storage tank supplier based in Calgary, Alberta. Investigators say he made misleading claims about the company’s finances in order to inflate its stock price. The company’s stock plunged after the fraud was uncovered and it was forced into bankruptcy in 2013.

SUSPECT DEATH-POLICE CLEARED

Police cleared in case of man who died during altercation

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — Burleigh County prosecutors say no charges will be filed in the August death of a man who instigated a fight with officers and then suffered a medical emergency. An autopsy shows that 43-year-old Ryan Pederson had potentially lethal amounts of amphetamine and methamphetamine in his system that played a factor in his death. It was determined that the conduct by officers, including one shock with a Taser, did not cause Pederson’s death. The incident happened after police responded to a report of someone acting erratically and screaming outside of a residence. Police say Pederson became aggressive and threatened to kill them, then advanced toward the officers and began fighting with them while they attempted to arrest him. He then suffered a medical issue.

 

UNITED STATES-UKRAINE-JAILED FARMER

Hoeven: North Dakotan jailed in Ukraine moved out of Kyiv

A North Dakota farmer jailed in Ukraine has been moved to a new facility away from the capital city of Kyiv. Sen. John Hoeven told KX News that Kurt Groszhans was moved to Lviv. Groszhans, of Ashley, has been jailed since November on charges that he plotted to assassinate Ukraine’s then-agriculture minister, Roman Leschenko. Groszhans’ family has said the charges are false and aimed at silencing his claims of corruption in Ukraine. He is among a handful of Americans jailed in Ukraine or Russia whose paths home have been complicated by the war.