Forum News Network

Kiddie Parade, petting zoo offer weekend fun as 81st Annual Water Carnival continues

Sarah Suchoski — Sat, 05 Jul 2025 23:13:01 GMT

BEMIDJI — A stormy night did not stop kids from showing up Saturday morning for the Bemidji Jaycees' annual Kiddie Parade followed by a petting zoo at the waterfront as the Water Carnival continues.

Patriotic colors and smiles filled the trail at Paul Bunyan Park as children traveled along the parade route on their decked out bikes, wagons, scooters and toy cars.

The parade wound around Paul Bunyan Park and ended at the petting zoo provided by Carnoch Farmstead. Kids had the opportunity to pet and interact with farm animals, such as sheep, goats, cows and more.

To wrap up the week of carnival festivities, the Grand Parade will be held from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. on Sunday. It will start at the intersection of Eighth Street and Beltrami Avenue and travel south on Beltrami Avenue, turn west on Fourth Street for one block and then head north along Minnesota Avenue, ending again on eighth Street.

Merriam's Midway, located at the Sanford Center parking lot, will remain open until 11 p.m. on Saturday. It will open again at 1 p.m. on Sunday and close at 7. Bingo will also open daily at 1 p.m. through Sunday.

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Bemidji Chamber Ambassadors welcome Little Miracles, Inc.

Pioneer Staff Report — Sat, 05 Jul 2025 19:00:00 GMT

Bemidji Chamber Ambassadors welcomed Clinical Director and Occupational Therapist Kayla Borszich of Little Miracles, Inc. on her new Bemidji clinic, located at 1710 Paul Bunyan Drive NW, Bay 111.

Little Miracles, founded in 2006 in Grand Forks, N.D., offers pediatric therapy services designed to support the development and wellbeing of children and their families.

The Bemidji location opened earlier this year under the direction of Borszich, who brings extensive experience in pediatric occupational therapy.

Her areas of specialization include sensory integration, trauma-sensitive practices, emotional regulation, feeding therapy (with training in the SOS Approach to Feeding and the Beckman Oral Motor Program), reflex integration, and support for developmental delays.

Currently operating the clinic solo, Borszich works with a growing number of local children from her space in the Willow Creek Center. Little Miracles aims to expand services in Bemidji in the future to include physical and speech therapy, as offered at its Grand Forks location.

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Clearwater County Historical Society to hold used book sale July 11-12

Pioneer Staff Report — Sat, 05 Jul 2025 18:00:00 GMT

SHEVLIN — The Clearwater County Historical Society will hold a used book sale on Friday, July 11, and Saturday, July 12, at the History Center in Shevlin.

The sale will run from noon to 7 p.m. on Friday and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday. The books will be three for $1.

"There are a large number of books to dig through," a release said. "Books will be set up outside, or inside the red barn in inclement weather."

For more information, call the History Center at (218) 785-2000.

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Bemidji Chamber Ambassadors welcome Nature's Edge Floral

Pioneer Staff Report — Sat, 05 Jul 2025 16:00:00 GMT

Bemidji Chamber Ambassadors recently celebrated the launch of Nature’s Edge Floral, a new addition to Nature’s Edge Garden Center, located at 51676 U.S. Highway 71.

The floral studio offers custom arrangements for weddings, special occasions and everyday moments crafted with fresh blooms and a personalized touch, a release noted.

It also features flexible floral subscriptions, with weekly, biweekly, monthly or quarterly options, and terms ranging from one month to ongoing.

Visit in-store or online at naturesedgefloral.com to explore its full selection.

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Fish Tales: William Moore reels in perch on Lake Bemidji

Pioneer Staff Report — Sat, 05 Jul 2025 15:00:00 GMT

Four-year-old William Moore of Edina recently caught a perch on Lake Bemidji.

Send in your fishing photos to the Pioneer and we will publish them online in our Fish Tales section and also periodically run them on our Outdoors page in the Pioneer. Please include the names, date, type of fish and where the fish was landed in the body of the email. Fish Tales photos can be emailed to news@bemidjipioneer.com.

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Christian Haugen to perform at Blackduck Senior Center

Pioneer Staff Report — Sat, 05 Jul 2025 15:00:00 GMT

BEMIDJI — The Blackduck Senior Center will host local musician Christian Haugen from 2 to 4 p.m. on Saturday, July 12, at the center, 24 First St. E.

Haugen will play some joyful, fun, toe-tapping, easy listening music on the piano, a release said.

Everyone is welcome and refreshments will be served.

For more information, call (218) 751-8836.

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He was once central Minnesota’s most notorious criminal. Now DNA technology could add to his criminal history

Trisha Taurinskas — Sat, 05 Jul 2025 14:50:00 GMT

STEARNS COUNTY, Minn. — Herbert Notch had been on the run for two years when officers with the Federal Fugitive Task Force closed in on him at a Phoenix convenience store on Aug. 24, 1993.

At the time he was apprehended in Arizona, Notch was among central Minnesota’s notorious criminals, with a wrap sheet that included the violent kidnapping and stabbing of a 14-year-old girl and holding a 24-year-old mother at knife point.

Yet on that particular summer day, authorities were on the hunt for Notch for another reason.

Before fleeing the state, Notch was charged with one count of second-degree criminal sexual conduct and one count of attempted criminal sexual conduct, stemming from the violent sexual assault of a 27-year-old woman.

After officers honed in on and arrested Notch, he was extradited back to Minnesota, where he underwent a jury trial before being acquitted of the charges. The defense relied heavily on the argument that the woman gave Notch consent, and it worked.

The prosecutor attempted to submit into evidence photographs from Notch’s 1977 conviction, which included photographs of the 14-year-old girl’s wrists, with tape Notch used to confine her while allegedly sexually assaulting her.

The 27-year-old Benton County woman had the same marks.

Following his acquittal, Notch was set free. His known criminal history ended there, and he lived out his days in Montevideo, Minnesota, until his death in 2015.

Yet before he died, he was confronted with one more crime.

Notch spent the last days of his life hospitalized in St. Cloud for liver failure. Before he breathed his last breath, he had one last visitor: Rita Reker, the mother of Mary and Susan Reker.

The Reker girls were kidnapped in St. Cloud while walking from a store on Sept. 2, 1974. Their bodies were found 26 days later on the outskirts of town, near a quarry.

Rita Reker didn’t receive a confession that day, but she did leave with satisfaction, according to a 2024 interview with St. Cloud Live.

Now, 10 years after his death, the Stearns County Sheriff’s Office is actively pursuing whether Notch killed the Reker girls.

Advanced DNA technology and forensic genealogy are in the process of attempting to determine if DNA retained from the crime scene leads them to Notch.

“If and when we obtain a DNA profile from an item of evidence related to the Reker homicides that we are not able to account for, that profile will be tested against the known profile of Mr. Notch,” Stearns County Sheriff’s Office Lt. Zachary Sorenson told Forum News Service.

A St. Cloud kidnapping

The 14-year-old girl pretended to be unconscious in the summer of 1977 after Notch stabbed her twice, sexually assaulted her and buried her under a pile of brush at a remote gravel pit in Luxembourg, just miles outside of St. Cloud.

Notch was 18 years old at the time.

He intended to leave the girl to die, according to court testimony given by his accomplice, James Wagner.

After Wagner and Notch drove away, the girl pushed off the piles of brush and made her way to the nearest home. The owners called law enforcement, and she told them everything.

She had been working at the Twenty-Fifth Avenue Dairy Bar in St. Cloud when the two men came in, armed with a gun and demanding money. That wasn’t all Notch was after, though. He kidnapped the young girl at gunpoint and forcibly led her to the car he and Wagner were driving.

Wagner testified that he saw Notch stab the girl once before they both covered her with brush.

Notch later confessed to stabbing the 14-year-old girl with his 6-inch-blade buck knife before taking her to the gravel pit, where they tied her up with tape. The initial criminal complaint stated the girl was raped.

During the trial, a psychiatrist testified that Notch had a “fearlessly savage quality about him,” according to coverage of the trial by the St. Cloud Times.

In exchange for his confession, four of the six charges were dismissed. Those charges included attempted first-degree murder, second-degree criminal sexual conduct and one count of kidnapping.

Instead, Notch pleaded guilty to one count of kidnapping and aggravated robbery.

He was sentenced to up to 40 years in prison at what was then known as the St. Cloud Reformatory for Men.

Notch was released after serving just 11 years and went on to commit a similar crime six months later.

Repeat behavior

On Feb. 25, 1988, Stearns County sheriff’s deputies arrived at Notch’s home at around 10 p.m. and arrested him in the sexual assault of a 24-year-old woman.

Notch was formally charged with multiple counts of assault and criminal sexual conduct, all stemming from the same victim.

Earlier that day, the woman had a meeting with St. Cloud police, during which she detailed three separate incidents that occurred the month prior.

Notch moved in with the victim after he was released from prison in June of 1987. They were introduced by a mutual friend while he was still in prison.

The relationship didn’t work outside of prison, though. The woman kicked Notch out of the house after their relationship ended six months after his release.

Yet Notch continued to enter the house without permission, according to court documents.

The woman alleged that on Jan. 3, 1988, Notch entered her home without permission and used a knife to threaten her while he sexually assaulted her, according to a 1988 newspaper article.

It didn’t end there.

The woman told police officers that Notch again gained entry into her home five days later by tricking her and displaying a knife in a threatening manner, causing her to fear for her life, according to court documents.

After another week passed, the woman claimed Notch confronted her with a knife outside of her workplace, where he threatened her and ordered her to get into her vehicle and drive.

At trial, Notch was convicted on one count of burglary and one count of false imprisonment, yet jurors weren’t able to agree on a criminal sexual conduct conviction.

Jurors cited the relationship between Notch and the victim as their main reason for not delivering a guilty verdict.

For each conviction, Notch was sentenced to 36 months in prison.

By 1991, Notch was a free man.

In the summer of 1993, Notch offered a 27-year-old woman a ride home from Tom’s Bar in St. Cloud. The criminal complaint states Notch drove to a rural area in nearby Benton County, where he forced the woman into the back of his pickup truck before tying her wrists and punching her before sexually assaulting her.

After the woman came forward and charges were filed, Notch fled the state. After a two-year nationwide manhunt led to his arrest and return to Minnesota, Notch was found not guilty. His past relationship with the victim was cited as a main factor in the acquittal.

A background check conducted by Forum News Service shows Notch settled into a home in rural Montevideo. His known criminal record remained clean until the day of his death at age 58.

Now there’s a possibility that his rap sheet could grow.

Sorenson told Forum News Service in February that DNA obtained from the Reker crime scene was undergoing advanced DNA testing with an out-of-state agency.

“We still have physical evidence that was collected early in the investigation still in our possession,” Sorenson said. “Currently some of which is being tested with advancements in DNA technology.”

If a DNA sample is extracted that does not belong to the girls, Notch will once again be brought into the fold — and the question of Notch’s involvement could be answered.

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Students in the news, July 5

Pioneer Staff Report — Sat, 05 Jul 2025 14:20:00 GMT

AMES, Iowa — Sierra Charle Wroolie, of Akeley, recently graduated from Iowa State University in Aimes, Iowa, with a Bachelor of Architecture degree in Architecture, summa cum laude.

Jaeger receives Bison Merit Award

FARGO, N.D. — Morgan Jaeger, daughter of Todd Jaeger of Blackduck and Lisa Jaeger of Bemidji, received the Bison Merit Award at North Dakota State University.

The award recognizes students with a GPA of 3.0 or higher. Jaeger will enter NDSU in the fall and major in radiological sciences.

In high school, she was active in choir, Business Professionals of America, drama, softball and was the varsity boys basketball manager. She also made the honor roll and received the perfect attendance award.

Area students named to NDSU dean's list

FARGO, N.D. — The following local students were named to the dean's list at North Dakota State University in Fargo, N.D., for earning a GPA of 3.5 or higher while enrolled in at least 12 credits during the spring 2025 semester.

Akeley: Savana Damar.

Bagley: Cori Bonik and Priscilla Dasyam.

Bemidji: Paige Headlee, Mia Hoffman, Jocelyn Kurtzweg, Leah Lucas, Ethan Maish, Charlie Maus, Kyle Michalek, Kendal Midboe, Hailey Nelson, Mariah Page, Kaitlyn Schmidt, Hannah Tri, Hannah Voge and Riley Winger.

Fosston: Joshua Manecke, Grace Rue and Ashten Wolfe.

Hines: Eli Sharbono.

Local students graduate from NDSU

FARGO, N.D. — The following local students graduated from North Dakota State University in Fargo, N.D., in spring 2025.

Bemidji: Nicholas Giles graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Pharmaceutical Sciences, cum laude. Paige Headlee graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration, cum laude. Joshua Maki graduated with a Bachelor of Music degree in Music, summa cum laude. Hannah Morris graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Social Studies Education. Hailey Nelson graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology, cum laude. Lydia Ryan graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Human Development and Family Science. Joshua Storey graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Pharmaceutical Sciences. Hannah Tri graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Human Development and Family Science. Derek Young graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Finance. Dylan Ascheman graudated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Finance, summa cum laude.

Fosston: Lance Balstad graduated with a Master of Science degree in Computer Science. Trent Balstad graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Engineering. Jaime Carlin graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Radiologic Sciences, cum laude. Jacob Malmanger graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Construction Management. Emma Olson graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Biological Sciences, summa cum laude. Grace Rue graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Nutrition Science.

Peterson, Hill named to Normandale Community College Dean's list

BLOOMINGTON, Minn. — Nicholas Peterson of Bemidji and Trista Hill of Wilton were named to the spring 2025 dean's list at Normandale Community College in Bloomington, Minn., for earning a GPA of 3.5 or higher while enrolled in at least nine credits.

Hill earns certificate from Normandale Community College

BLOOMINGTON, Minn. — Trista Hill of Wilton received a Community Health Worker and Navigator certificate from Normandale Community College in Bloomington, Minn.

Schouten named to dean's list at UW Eau Claire

EU CLAIRE, Wis. — Isaac Schouten of Bemidji was named to the dean's list at the University of Wisconsin Eu Claire for earning a GPA of 3.70 or higher while completing at least 12 credits and no courses below the 100 level during the spring 2025 semester.

Giffen named to UW Stout dean's list

MENOMONIE, Wis. — Kyra Giffen of Federal Dam was named to the dean's list at the University of Wisconsin Stout in Menomonie, Wis., for earning a 3.5 or higher GPA.

Area students graduate from Minnesota Connections Academy

ST. PAUL — The following Beltrami County students graduated from Minnesota Connections Academy in spring 2025. The virtual school serves students in grades K-12 statewide.

Bemidji: Makayla Lory, Aiden Mariskanish, Destinee Sundvall and Brett Ambuehl.

Blackduck: Merrick Tjepkes and Dylan Maxwell.

Hines: Danica Underdahl.

Solway: Alexis Parks.

Area students graduate from Central Lakes College

BRAINERD — The following local students graduated from Central Lakes College campuses in Brainerd and Staples.

Akeley: Jett Krotzer earned a certificate in Computer CompTIA, with honors.

Bemidji: Joseph Casper graduated with an Associate of Applied Science degree in Criminal Justice and a certificate in Minnesota Peace Officer Skills, with high honors. Maximus Fugli graduated with an Associate of Applied Science degree in Computer Information Technology; a Diploma of Occupational Proficiency in Computer Information Technology; and Computer CompTIA and Computer Microsoft Professional certificates, with high honors.

Blackduck: Kainen Arp graduated with a Diploma of Occupational Proficiency, Diesel Equipment Technician. Casey Cunningham earned a certificate in Meat Cutting and Butchery, with high honors. Ella Larson graduated with an Associate of Science degree in Nursing, with honors.

Laporte: Jacob Foss graduated with an Associate of Arts degree, with high honors.

Solway: Amanda Coulter graduated with an Associate of Applied Science degree in Horticulture; Diplomas of Occupational Proficiency in Sustainable Greenhouse Production and Sustainable Landscaping; and a Certificate in Sustainable Local Food, with high honors.

Walker: Desirae Phillips graduated with an Associate of Arts degree, with high honors.

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