News Briefs: Clearbrook man dies in snowmobile crash

Editor's note: The following is a collection of news briefs from Forum Communication Company newspapers in Minnesota, North Dakota and Wisconsin.

MINNESOTA

Crookston man charged with sexually assaulting nursing home employee

CROOKSTON, MInn. -- Crookston police arrested a man last week after he admitted to sexually assaulting a woman in November and and last week threatening her about telling police about it.

Jason Cortez, 22, is in jail awaiting his next court appearance Feb. 19 on charges based on the allegations.

On Feb. 3, police were called to Villa St. Vincent, a Catholic nursing home. A woman said Cortez had sexually assaulted her Nov. 30 in the Villa’s parking lot. She said on Feb. 3, he confronted her in the nursing home’s linen room, physically attacking her and threatening her.

Det. Sgt. Aaron Pry said during an interview Feb. 5 in the police station, Cortez admitted to the woman’s allegations.

He was charged with first-degree criminal sexual conduct in the November incident and he was charged with tampering with a witness, making terroristic threats, false imprisonment and fifth-degree assault in the Feb. 3 incident.

All but the assault charge are felonies, a court official said.

Cortez made an initial appearance Friday in state district court in Crookston. His probation on a previous conviction was revoked and he remains in the regional jail in Crookston.

Clearbrook man dies in snowmobile crash in Hubbard County

GUTHRIE, Minn. – A 41-year-old Clearbrook man was killed Thursday after a collision with a car.

The Hubbard County Sheriff’s Office said Dennis Lindenfelser was traveling north on a snowmobile trail when he failed to obey a stop sign on County Road 16.

Lindenfelser’s snowmobile collided at 7:36 p.m. with an eastbound vehicle driven by a 16-year-old from Laporte.

At the scene, deputies attempted to revive Lindenfelser, who was pronounced dead by North Country Ambulance medical staff, according to a news release.

NORTH DAKOTA

Wife of fallen soldier to be Heitkamp’s guest at State of the Union

WASHINGTON -- Adrienne Linde, wife of a North Dakota National Guard soldier from Devils Lake who was killed in action in Afghanistan late last year, will be the guest of Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, R-N.D., at Tuesday’s State of the Union speech by President Barack Obama.

Sgt. 1st Class Darren Linde, 41, and Spc. Tyler Orgaard, 20, Bismarck, were killed Dec. 3 by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan as they cleared explosives from a road. A third soldier was wounded.

Adrienne Linde will be seated in the House gallery for the address.

“I’ve had the privilege to get to know the Linde family,” Heitkamp said. “They are truly everything that this country should be proud of, and I can think of no better representation to have with me to hear the President speak to the state of our Union.”

NCLB waiver to be reviewed

BISMARCK -- North Dakota’s application to waive certain provisions of the No Child Left Behind Act will be reviewed by U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and the federal executive committee without further revision required, Kirsten Baesler, state superintendent of public instruction, said Monday.

The state’s application releases North Dakota from some provisions in NCLB in exchange for its own plans to improve students’ grades and the quality of instruction.

One issue in the application was the level by which the number of non-proficient students in reading and math would be reduced over a six-year period. North Dakota initially proposed reducing this number by 25 percent, but the federal education department requested the goal be 50 percent.

The North Dakota Department of Public Instruction submitted the application in September and revised it in late December. State officials hope to hear the results from the executive committee’s consideration before March 1.

WISCONSIN

Iowan killed in snowmobile crash

BELL, Wis. -- Authorities have released the name and correct age of an Iowa man killed in a snowmobile crash in Bayfield County on Friday.

Scott Mandernach, 43, of Odebolt, was killed when he hit a tree.

The crash happened about 3 p.m. on a snowmobile trail about two miles south of the village of Cornucopia, in the town of Bell in northern Bayfield County. Mandernach was traveling with a group of nine others who had departed the Iron River area for trail riding earlier in the day.

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