Mark Donald Snyder, 56, of Crookston, Minnesota, passed away with family by his side on Sunday, February 23, 2025. He was born April 1, 1968, to loving parents Donald and Marie Snyder.
A prayer service for Mark’s family and friends will be held at The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Crookston at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, February 27, 2025, with visitation for two hours prior. The funeral service will be on Friday, February 28, 2025, at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception at 2:00 p.m. with visitation one-hour prior. Interment will be on Friday, following the funeral service at Calvary Cemetery in Crookston, Minnesota.
A Missouri woman pleaded guilty on Tuesday to federal charges in connection with what prosecutors called a “brazen” attempt to fraudulently put Elvis Presley’s Graceland estate up for auction.
Lisa Jeanine Findley is accused of concocting a plot to defraud Presley’s family by trying to auction off his Graceland mansion and property, before a judge halted the mysterious foreclosure sale. Findley, 53, initially pleaded not guilty to the charges in the wake of her arrest last year. The trial had been scheduled to start in mid-April before Tuesday’s change of plea hearing.
Findley pleaded guilty to one count of mail fraud in U.S. District Court in Memphis, Tennessee; as part of a plea deal, prosecutors agreed to dismiss one count of aggravated identity theft that was previously filed against her. Prosecutors are recommending Findley receive a 57-month federal prison sentence; she is due back in court for sentencing on June 19.
Federal prosecutors said Findley, of Kimberling City, formed a “brazen scheme to try to extort a settlement from the Presley family.” As part of the scheme, prosecutors said Findley forged the signatures of Elvis Presley’s late daughter Lisa Marie and Florida notary Kimberly Philbrick in order to claim that Lisa Marie (before her death in January 2023) did not pay back a $3.8 million loan from a purported company called Naussany Investments that listed Graceland as collateral for the loan. Findley then threatened to sell Graceland to the highest bidder if Presley’s family didn’t pay a $2.85 million settlement, according to authorities, and posted as three different people allegedly involved with the fake lender, fabricated loan documents, and published a fraudulent foreclosure notice in a Memphis newspaper announcing the auction of Graceland in May 2024.
A judge stopped the sale after Presley’s granddaughter, actress Riley Keough, filed a lawsuit claiming fraud, and a judge halted the proposed auction with an injunction. Keough inherited the trust and ownership of the home after the death of her mother, Lisa Marie Presley.
Elvis bought Graceland in 1957, and died there in 1977; the mansion was opened to the public five years later as a museum and tourist attraction. Hundreds of thousands of tourists visit the 17,552-square-foot mansion each year, which was named to the National Register of Historic Places in 1991. Elvis and other members of the Presley family, including Lisa Marie Presley and her son, Benjamin Keough, are buried on the mansion’s grounds.
Keough said in a 2024 interview with CBS News that she plans to continue running the property and keep it in the Presley family: “I think, like, my instinct with everything is always to do what my mother would have wanted. Which is to keep it a home. It was our family’s home.”
The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered a new trial for Oklahoma death row inmate Richard Glossip, in light of allegations that the state withheld evidence related to its main witness. The ruling is a major win for Glossip, whose conviction in the 1997 murder-for-hire plot of Barry Van Treese has been called into question by the state attorney general after new evidence emerged in recent years. Glossip has been scheduled for execution nine times, and has eaten his ‘last meal’ three times – only to have his execution stayed.
In a 5-3 ruling authored by Justice Sonia Sotomayor, the high court ruled in favor of Glossip and reversed a decision of the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals that upheld his conviction and death sentence. Sotomayor was joined by Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Elena Kagan, Brett Kavanaugh and Ketanji Brown Jackson. Justice Neil Gorsuch did not take part in the court’s consideration of the case.
Glossip, now 62, was convicted of commissioning the murder of Barry Van Treese, owner of the Best Budget Inn motel in Oklahoma City where Glossip was a manager. All parties agree Van Treese was fatally beaten with a baseball bat by maintenance worker Justin Sneed, who eventually became the star witness for the prosecution. Sneed, who was a methamphetamine addict, confessed to the murder but avoided capital punishment by accepting a plea deal that involved testifying that Glossip paid him $10,000 to do it. While Glossip admitted to helping Sneed cover up the murder after it occurred, he denied knowing Sneed planned to kill Van Treese or encouraging him to do so.
Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote for the majority: “We conclude that the prosecution violated its constitutional obligation to correct false testimony .. Had the prosecution corrected Sneed on the stand, his credibility plainly would have suffered. That correction would have revealed to the jury not just that Sneed was untrustworthy (as amicus points out, the jury already knew he repeatedly lied to the police), but also that Sneed was willing to lie to them under oath. Such a revelation would be significant in any case, and was especially so here where Sneed was already ‘nobody’s idea of a strong witness.’”
Don Knight, an attorney for Glossip, called the ruling “a victory for justice and fairness in our judicial system. We are thankful that a clear majority of the court supports long-standing precedent that prosecutors cannot hide critical evidence from defense lawyers and cannot stand by while their witnesses knowingly lie to the jury. Rich Glossip, who has maintained his innocence for 27 years, will now be given the chance to have the fair trial that he has always been denied.”
Gentner Drummond, Oklahoma’s attorney general, said his office will review the decision and “determine the most appropriate course of action to ensure justice is secured for all involved. Our justice system is greatly diminished when an individual is convicted without a fair trial, but today we can celebrate that a great injustice has been swept away. I am pleased the high court has validated my grave concerns with how this prosecution was handled, and I am thankful we now have a fresh opportunity to see that justice is done.”
Marvel Studios dropped the first trailer for Fantastic Four: The First Steps, celebrating the film with an event at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center.
The countdown began on YouTube about an hour prior to the “launch” in Huntsville, Ala., which was hosted by Angelique Roche, who shared as the event began: “We are here live at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center, home of Space Camp, preparing to launch, that’s right, the first official trailer for Marvel Studios’ Fantastic Four: First Steps.” Cast members Pedro Pascal (Mr. Fantastic), Vanessa Kirby (Invisible Woman), Ebon Moss-Bachrach (Thing) and Joseph Quinn (Human Torch) then joined Roche on the stage.
Directed by Matt Shakman, The Fantastic Four: First Steps is set in a retro-futuristic version of the 1960s during the space race. The film is the second reboot of the ‘Fantastic Four’ film series; the original 2005 adaptation starred Ioan Gruffudd, Jessica Alba, Chris Evans and Michael Chiklis, while a 2015 reboot featured Miles Teller, Michael B. Jordan, Kate Mara and Jamie Bell.
Fantastic Four: The First Steps opens in theaters July 25; see the trailer – HERE.
Rihanna makes her official debut as Smurfette in the trailer for the upcoming Smurfs film. Rihanna, 36, not only lends her voice to the new Smurfs film, she is writing music and serves a producer on the film.
Rihanna introduced the first official trailer, stating: “I can’t wait for you all to see it this summer.” Rihanna’s track “Don’t Stop the Music” (which appeared on her 2007 Good Girl Gone Bad album), plays as she introduces Smurf Village, where “every day is a party.”
An official synopsis reads: “With the help of new friends, the Smurfs must discover what defines their destiny to save the universe.” James Corden, Nick Offerman, Natasha Lyonne, JP Karliak, Daniel Levy, Amy Sedaris, Nick Kroll, James Corden, Octavia Spencer, Hannah Waddingham, Sandra Oh, Alex Winter, Billie Lourd, Xolo Mariduena, Kurt Russell and John Goodman will also voice characters in the film, which opens in theaters July 18.
The #3 Red Lake County boy’s basketball team capped off their regular season with an exclamation point, as Connor Duden became the Rebels’ all-time career scoring leader en route to a 97-60 win over the Win-E-Mac Patriots on Tuesday in Oklee.
FIRST HALF – The Rebels got off to a soaring start to open up the game, as Owen Chervestad and Connor Duden were taking over the offense early. Those two, along with Ethan Majeres, helped the Rebels open the half on a 15-3 run. The Patriots didn’t seem to have any answers, as the Rebel full-court press continued to disrupt, causing turnovers which led to easy layups the other way. Win-E-Mac did have a cool moment, however, as Joe Courneya recorded his 1000th point of his career as a sophomore with a 3-pointer, and the game stopped and a standing ovation from the Rebel fans celebrated the accomplishment. Unfortunately for the Patriots, that would be their last sense of joy for the half. Nine different Rebels scored in the half, and the team made 11 3-pointers en route to a dominant 62-32 lead at the half.
SECOND HALF – As the second half started, both teams played relatively sloppy basketball in the first few minutes. But then, Connor Duden hit a layup, which broke the Rebels’ career scoring record, initially set at 1,791 points. As the half went on, the Rebels continued to empty their bench, getting all 16 players on their varsity roster into the game. Before that, however, Duden hit a 3-pointer to reach 1,799 career points, breaking the Plummer scoring record of 1,796, set 40 years ago before the merger by his mom, Jodi Duden. The Rebels coasted to a 97-60 win, with 12 different players scoring in the game. After the game ended, Rebel head coach Steve Philion announced that Owen Chervestad has been selected to play in the Minnesota High School All-Star Basketball Game on March 29th, and that he also signed a letter of intent hours before the game to play basketball at the University of Minnesota Crookston.
Red Lake County improves to 24-2 on the season, and Win-E-Mac drops to 9-17 on the year. C-Squad – Win-E-Mac won 36-26. JV – RLC won 57-27.
The Crookston Housing & Economic Development Authority Board met on Tuesday, February 25 at Valley Technology Park. The meeting started with Wendy Ault reading her Oath to become an official member of the CHEDA board. It then continued with the approval of the agenda and the January 28, 2025, Board Meeting Minutes.
The consent agenda for Tuesday’s meeting included two routine items: the Crookston Housing & EDA Payables and the Financial Report. The board unanimously approved the consent agenda. Next, the board approved the Crookston Housing & EDA Payables and turned to Housing Supervisor Theresa Tahran for the Housing Report. Tahran told the board that Oak Court is currently at a 97% occupancy rate and continues to pull from the waiting list as units are vacated. Tahran also reported that the security camera project at Oak Court should be wrapped up in the next couple of weeks. For Section Eight, Tahran says there are currently 128 vouchers and five project-based vouchers.
CROOKSTON EDA AND ECI FORM CHILDCARE ALLIANCE Karie Kirschbaum and Taylor Wyum gave the EDA/Community Development Report. One of the topics Kirschbaum covered at Tuesday’s meeting was Childcare in Crookston. An alliance is being formed between the EDA and the ECI to realize what is needed for our area children and how important it is for the community to do what is best for its youngest residents. Board member Morgan Hibma has been following these developments closely. “The ECI has decided to put together and start back up the Early Childhood Summit,” says Hibma. “Last fall, the EDA and Karie had put together and brought up The Masonic Institute for the Developing Brain and Presented.”
Hibma says the EDA met with many people in the Early Childhood Initiative arena. When the ECI decided to start the Summit back up, Karie and Gina Gunderson, ECFE Director, connected. “They discussed maybe having a speaker from the Masonic Institute for the Developing Brain come up, and we were able to get Dr. Michael Georgieff to agree to come up and speak,” says Hibma. “That’s really exciting, and it’s just really great to see different groups within our community working together.” Dr. Georgieff is the Co-Director of the Masonic Institute for the Developing Brain. Karie Kirschbaum, Crookston Community Development Director, says that the EDA is working with the ECI to find innovative solutions to childcare. The Early Childhood Initiative Summit will take place in Crookston on April 24, and invites will be sent out to those who work with young children in our area, such as teachers, daycare facilitators, and healthcare professionals.
STOREFRONT REVITALIZATION PROGRAM Taylor Wyum updated the board that the Storefront Revitalization program has been accepting applications. Some have come back incomplete, and some folks who have shown interest have not submitted applications. Kirschbaum also explained to the board that all projects are somewhat slow going as the EDA waits for things to even out at the Federal level.
REVOLVING LOAN REQUEST On the Main agenda, the board approved applying for the RFP Local Housing Trust Fund and the RFP 2025 POPH Grant. The third item on the main agenda was the approval of a Revolving Loan Request. The board tabled this item until the board holds a special session next week, as some members did not have time to review the request.
POSSIBLE HOUSING DEVELOPMENT BY CASEY’S GAS STATION The last item on Tuesday’s agenda discussed the lot behind Casey’s gas station on Fisher Ave. and Broadway in Crookston. “There are some opportunities through various programs in Minnesota that can help us develop funding,” says Kirschbaum. “We are looking at developing this little like three and a half acres, a little over that, behind Casey’s to look at some townhomes, looking for some single levels for some of our seniors looking for single level houses. We are just getting into it. There are probably four or five different pools of finances out there through the state to bring it all together.”
Kirschbaum says the EDA is excited about this project and has even had some planning done with an architect to show ideas of what will fit into that space. “We did have an architect put together a FIT Plan of what possibly could be built there,” says Kirschbaum. “We are just getting started on it, and like I said at the meeting, 80% of the things we do fail because different things fall apart, or state funding dries up or things like that, but we are moving forward on that, and it’s an exciting thing.”
Kirschbaum says that these properties would be open to families with 115% AMI (Average Median Income), which averages about $128,000 per household or below. Kirschbaum says to stay tuned for more information about this project as it is just in the beginning stages right now.
The 2025 University of Minnesota Crookston Campus and Community Curling League wrapped up its season this month at the Crookston Sports Center, and the league winners have been announced. In 1st place was Team Syrup, 2nd place Team Goode, and 3rd place Team Minakwa. 52 players were making up 13 teams.
Jennifer Ann Gullekson, 79, died peacefully at home with her husband Gary and children by her side on Friday, February 21, 2025, after a short struggle with cancer. Jennifer was born April 7, 1945 to Norman and Gladys Erickson. She had a happy childhood with her brothers, who everyone knew as Jimmy, Junior, Jerry, and Donny. She met the love of her life as a sophomore in high school. She was a cheerleader and played in the school band. Jennifer graduated from Fertile High School and attended Bemidji State. She left college to marry Gary Kent Gullekson in August of 1964. They made a life on the family farm, and she became a mom to Lee Ann, Grant Kelly and Lana Kaye. She was an active business manager for the farm and was the glue that kept everything together for an operation that spanned four generations. As a mom, she made sure that her girls got piano lessons, that her son learned to fly and all her children went to college. Under her leadership, the Beltrami 4-H Club and its members won many county and state awards. She was an active volunteer and coordinated the Beltrami Centennial celebration and countless other anniversaries, birthdays, and parties. Jennifer was an accomplished quilter and seamstress. She taught adult education sewing classes and made hundreds of quilts that she donated to various charities and missions. Jennifer was the inspiration for the book, Grandy’s quilt.
Jennifer was diagnosed with Lupus in 1970 and was continually learning new ways to survive with the disease. Through her many health scares, she made friends everywhere she went. Jennifer and Gary traveled throughout the US. Their favorite trips were out west. Jennifer had a deep and abiding love for her family and friends and most of all, Gary. Birthdays were big events and always involved pretty napkins. She was a wonderful grandmother. She invested many hours teaching her grandchildren sewing, crafts, reading, and gardening. Her hugs were legendary. She loved music from classical to the 50’s, from silly songs to country. She made collections of music for her good friends. She was an avid reader, typically finishing at least one book a week.
Jennifer was a woman of faith. She was baptized, confirmed and married at Concordia Lutheran Church in Fertile. She became a member of Beltrami United Methodist Church. Following the dissolution of the church in Beltrami, she embraced Scandia Lutheran Church, and in the later years loved watching all the local services on tv. During her last days, she ministered to everyone who came to visit her.
She is preceded in death by her parents, and her brothers Norm Erickson Jr and Donald Erickson. She is survived by Gary, her husband of 60 years, her mother in law, Marian Lee Gullekson, brothers James (Kathleen) Erickson of Saratoga, CA and Jerry (Patricia) Erickson of Prescott, WI, her sister in law Lois Erickson of Virginia Beach, VA, her children, Lee Ann (Jeff) Grimley, Grant Kelly (Rachel) Gullekson, and Lana Kaye Gullekson; her grandchildren Anna (Riley) Thiesfeld, Joseph Jay (Aleasea) Grimley, Ella Victoria Anderson, Gustav Karl and Granger Ken Gullekson, her great grandchildren Lillian Lee and Monty Allen Thiesfeld and Jensen Jay and Drue Guinevere Grimley; and many nieces and nephews.
Many thanks to her very special friends, Linda and Bonnie and her niece, Naomi. She and Gary would like to thank the Hospice of the Red River Valley. Thanks also to the Benedictine Living Center in Ada, who helped her recover from earlier challenges. Donations in Jennifer’s memory can be made to the Fairview Cemetery Fund (Beltrami) or the Hospice of the Red River Valley. Per her wishes, her body has been cremated, and there will be a celebration of a life well lived.
A memorial service celebrating Jennifer’s life will be held at Stenshoel-Houske Funeral Home in Crookston, on Sunday, March 2, 2025, at 3:00pm. Visitation with the family will be held one hour prior to the service. Inurnment will take place at a later date in the Spring.
Apple announced on Monday that it will spend $500 billion over the next four years expanding facilities in the United States, including plans to build a new manufacturing factory, double its advanced manufacturing fund, and hire 20,000 people.
The tech giant said it will expand teams and facilities in Texas along with Michigan, California, Arizona, Nevada, Iowa, Oregon, North Carolina and Washington state. The announcement comes about a week after Cook met with President Donald Trump, who recently signed an executive order adding a 10% tariff on goods made by China on top of the 25% tariffs already in place (most of Apple’s products, including the popular iPhones, are manufactured in China).
Apple CEO Tim Cook said in a statement: “We are bullish on the future of American innovation, and we’re proud to build on our long-standing U.S. investments with this $500 billion commitment to our country’s future. From doubling our Advanced Manufacturing Fund, to building advanced technology in Texas, we’re thrilled to expand our support for American manufacturing. And we’ll keep working with people and companies across this country to help write an extraordinary new chapter in the history of American innovation.”
Per AP News, Apple said it will also work to produce more content for Apple TV+ media streaming service in 20 states and make new hires in research and development along with spending. Additionally, Cook noted the construction of a new factory in Houston (slated to open in 2026) that will produce servers to power Apple Intelligence, its suite of AI features. Apple also confirmed Monday that an Arizona-based Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. facility, which began development under the Biden administration, had started producing chips for it there.
Editorial credit: John Gress Media Inc / Shutterstock.com
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