Month: December 2021

On Wednesday, December 29th, at approximately 12:57 p.m. officers from the Grand Forks Police Department were dispatched to Hugo’s Family Marketplace in Grand Forks, to the report of a woman bleeding from the head. Altru paramedics and personnel from the Grand Forks Fire Department also responded. The woman was transported to Altru via ambulance for further medical attention.

During an investigation, the woman reported that she had been assaulted by a male acquaintance in a nearby apartment complex located at 204 North 6th Street. Contact with the male was attempted at the apartment and by phone, but officers received no response. A search warrant was ultimately obtained for the apartment where the reported assault occurred. Grand Forks Regional SWAT, Bomb, UAS, and a K9 team were activated and responded to the scene. The male was located inside the apartment and was later interviewed.

Based upon evidence at the scene and interviews that were completed with both parties, no arrests were made. Identifying information for the involved parties will not be released at this time due to the investigation remaining active and ongoing.

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Crookston Police Chief Paul Biermaier will be retiring on February 28, 2022, after 32 years of service. At a City Council meeting earlier this week, the council voted to appoint Lietunant Darin Selzler to take his place effective March 1, 2022.

Biermaier and Selzler have worked closely over the past few years and even closer as the time for Biermaier to retire has drawn near. Selzler says he is honored for the opportunity and has been blessed to learn from someone like Biermaier. “I’m very appreciative of this opportunity, and I’ve been blessed to work with Chief Biermaier over the years,” said Selzler. “We’ve been working closely over the years together and even closer with the transition coming up. I’m excited about the chance, and I’m looking forward to serving the City of Crookston.”

As for Biermaier, he couldn’t be happier knowing he is leaving his job to someone like Selzler. “I’m honestly relieved that someone like him is taking over,” said Biermaier. “He’s going to have his ideas, and I’m excited to see what those will be. One of the biggest challenges he’ll face is recruitment. He’s already been working on that hard and been more of the operational guy while I’ve dealt with more of the paperwork. It’s a new day and age in law enforcement, and with the department we have, I think Darin will build on that, and I’m excited to work with him the next two months.”

Selzler noted that they both have their niches and jobs they currently do, but he is excited to assume the role and learn more about what the job entails. He discussed some of the challenges he’s anticipating and work that will need to be done in the next two months to make the transition as smooth as possible. “We each have our unique jobs that we currently do, so for me, I think a challenge will be learning more of the budget and how that works,” said Selzler. “It’s more about the ins and outs of his position and just staff relations and different things like that.”

For Biermaier, he said he’s looking forward to retirement and spending more time with family. “When I started in 1990, the old-timers would talk about “back in the day,” and now I’m the old-timer,” said Biermaier. “It’s been a great run, and I’ve been grateful to be able to work every position that I have. There have certainly been a lot of tough situations and calls, but all things considered, I’m happy with it and glad I had the opportunity. Law enforcement can take a lot of time away from family, so I’m looking forward to spending time with my family. My daughters have a list of projects for me to work on, so I’ll be doing that, I guess, until I collect social security someday.”

As for the city, City Administrator Amy Finch is pleased to know Selzler will be the one replacing Biermaier. “I felt that Mr. Selzler would be a great candidate for the Chief of Police position for the City of Crookston,” said Finch. “I got Chief Biermaier’s opinion on that as well, and he was very excited and agreed. They’ve worked closely over the years together and can now work very closely together in the next couple of months to make this transition smooth. Lieutenant Selzler has respect from our community in Crookston and with the officers at the Police Station.”

Finch was pleased to recommend an internal candidate for the position, as that is not always the case. Selzler will begin to attend internal staff meetings over the next couple of months and continue to train closely with Biermaier as they make the transition.

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Violet Bengtson and Delta Hodgson held their “Best Friends” lemonade stand during Ox Cart Days and the Chalk It Up art event this summer and raised money for community families in need. They raised $400 from the events for the Crookston Care and Share.

Below is a picture of Violet Bengtson and Delta Hodgson giving the donation to Crookston Care and Share social worker Tracy Smith.

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The Crookston Visitors Bureau announced earlier this week that Cathy LaJesse has been hired as the new Tourism Coordinator with a start time of January 2022. LaJesse is originally from Crookston and has been back in the area for the past 13 years.

Lajesse stated “My hobbies include biking, whether it’s gravel bike, road bike, fat tire bike, anything with biking. I also love to kayak down the river and, as somebody that does like to kayak, I have some ideas for how we can bring more people into Crookston with that as well.”

LaJesse already has a few ideas for how to make some events in Crookston bigger and looks forward to attracting more overnight visitors.

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