Public Safety

Former Olympic snowboarder on the FBI’s ‘Most Wanted’ list, has been arrested

Ryan Wedding Most Wanted Poster WASHINGTON (AP) — Ryan Wedding, a former Olympic snowboarder for Canada who was among the FBI’s top fugitives and faces charges related to multi-national drug trafficking and the killing of a federal witness, was arrested Friday, two people familiar with the matter told The Associated Press. Wedding, 44, is accused of running a drug trafficking operation, and officials…

Minnesota Attorney General warning of crowdfunding scams tied to ICE activity in Minnesota

Keith Ellison at news conference announcingMinnesota and Twin Citiesare suing Trump administration over widespread immigration operations ST. PAUL, Min. – Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison is warning people of crowdfunding scams purporting to help those impacted by immigration enforcement activity in Minnesota. The Attorney General’s Office is saying “bad actors” are taking advantage of people’s generosity.  The Attorney General’s Office…

BCA: Feds have not given them name of officer that shot man following chase

Law enforcement uses flash bang before entering home in search of suspect following ICE-involved shooting (January 14, 2026) ST. PAUL, Min. – Minnesota Department of Public Safety’s Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) say federal authorities are not cooperating with their investigation into a January 14, 2026 shooting involving federal officers. Minneapolis Police Department asked the BCA to investigate.  In a…

Cold weather to temporarily close Second Harvest Duluth

DULUTH, Minn. — Upcoming cold weather on Friday has temporarily closed Second Harvest Duluth. In a post to Facebook, the organization said that due to the upcoming weather, they will be closed on Friday, January 23. The post states it is for the safety of their staff, volunteers, and neighbors. The Grand Rapids location of Second Harvest will remain open….

Lifelong skier shares video of chair lift rescue at Lutsen Mountains

LUTSEN, Minn. – It was a wild ride, of sorts, in the stand-still position over the weekend for a few dozen skiers and snowboarders at Lutsen Mountains. The chair lift malfunctioned, leaving people stuck in the air for hours during dangerously cold air and wind. Courtesy: Andrew Schultz The Lutsen Fire Department said nobody was seriously injured as crews worked…

Vice President Vance coming to Minnesota to meet with ICE agents

Vice President JD Vance (CNN) – Vice President JD Vance is planning to travel Minneapolis on Thursday where he will meet with ICE agents and give remarks defending their immigration operations, White House officials told CNN. Vance’s visit comes days after the Justice Department subpoenaed several high-profile Minnesota officials, including Democratic Gov. Tim Walz, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and Attorney General…

Wisconsin man sentenced to 15 years for 12th DUI

  James Knuuttila Sr.(Bayfield County Sheriffs Office) BAYFIELD, Wis. — An Iron River man has been convicted to the maximum penalty for receiving his 12th DUI. 77-year-old  James Knuuttila Sr. was sentenced Wednesday to a 15-year prison sentence with 10 years initial confinement, and 5 years extended supervision. This sentencing comes after a 2024 rollover that Knuuttilas was involved in….

Victim identified in fatal Gnesen Township fire

GNESEN TOWNSHIP, Minn. — The victim has been identified in a fatal fire in Gnesen Township. The victim was identified as 76-year-old Neil Gordon Hendrickson of Duluth. Crews arrived on the scene of a pole barn on the 6700 block of Rice Lake Road early Monday. The St. Louis County Sheriff’s Office said when emergency personnel arrived on scene, the…

Mexico sends 37 cartel members to US in latest offer to Trump administration

FILE – Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum speaks at the National Palace in Mexico City, Nov. 7, 2025. MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico’s security minister said Tuesday that it had sent another 37 members of Mexican drug cartels to the United States, as the Trump administration ratchets up pressure on governments to crack down on criminal networks it says are smuggling drugs across…

Customers back to normal after gas pipeline explosion; temporary repairs on going

PINE COUNTY, Min. – Minnesota Energy Resources says all of their customers impacted by the recent pipeline explosion can get back to regular usage. Some customers in Willow River, Sturgeon Lake and Finlayson lost service on the afternoon of January 16, 2026. Willow River Pipeline Explosion(Carlton County Fire News) Customers were asked to reduce their heating levels now for four…

Superior law enforcement to hold Rescue Task Force training at local church

  SUPERIOR, Wis. — Law enforcement and emergency services in Superior are holding a training exercise on Tuesday. According to officials, the event will be held all day and take place at the Central Assembly of God church, where there will be a large presence of emergency vehicles. The Superior Police Department, Douglas County Sheriff’s Office, and the Superior Fire…

Update: Man found dead after fire in Gnesen Township

9:20 P.M. UPDATE: Investigators located the body of a 76-year-old Duluth man around 8 p.m. Monday after a pole building started on fire in Gnesen Township earlier in the day. The St. Louis County Sheriff’s Office did not immediately release the identity of the man. The cause of the fire is being investigated by the Minnesota State Fire Marshals Office, the…

Judge refuses to block new DHS policy limiting Congress members’ access to ICE facilities

Minnesota lawmakers Rep. Angie Craig and Rep. Ilhan Omar say they were denied access to Bishop Whipple Federal Building, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in Minneapolis WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge refused Monday to temporarily block the Trump administration from enforcing a new policy requiring a week’s notice before members of Congress can visit immigration detention facilities. U.S. District Judge Jia Cobb in…

Weather slowing installation of temporary pipeline after explosion; Still no cause

PINE COUNTY, Min. – It could take about two weeks to install a temporary natural gas pipeline for customers effected by a pipeline explosion in Pine County on January 16, 2025. That time is extended due to the weather conditions in the area. Willow River Pipeline Explosion(Carlton County Fire News) Northern Natural Gas Company tells FOX21 they are plugging in…

Work continues to fix natural gas pipeline damaged from explosion

PINE COUNTY, Minn. – Crews with Northern Natural Gas Company on Monday (1/19/26) told FOX21 they are still working on the north and south ends of the pipeline segment that exploded on January 16, 2025. They did not give an estimated timeline for the repairs. Willow River Pipeline Explosion(Carlton County Fire News) Northern Natural Gas is supplying compressed natural gas…

ICE says an immigrant picked-up in Minnesota sweep killed himself in detention facility

ERO El Paso Camp East Montana is inside Fort Bliss Texas EL PASO, Texas (AP) — An immigrant from Nicaragua was found dead at a Texas immigration detention facility last week, federal officials said. Victor Manuel Diaz appears to have killed himself Wednesday (January 14, 2026) at the sprawling tent complex at the U.S. Army’s Fort Bill base in El Paso, Immigration…

DOJ vows to press charges after activists disrupt church where Minnesota ICE official is a pastor

Courtesy: Associated Press (file)   MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The U.S. Department of Justice said Sunday it is investigating a group of protesters in Minnesota who disrupted services at a church where a local official with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement apparently serves as a pastor. A livestreamed video posted on the Facebook page of Black Lives Matter Minnesota, one of…

Suspected drunken driver slams into home in Carlton County

Suspected drunk driver crashes into Mahtowa Township home (2/17/2026) MAHTOWA TOWNSHIP, Minn. – A suspected drunken driver slammed into a home in Carlton County over the weekend. The call for help came in around 8:30 p.m. Saturday on County Road 61 in Mahtowa Township. The Carlton County Sheriff’s Office said the driver is a 19-year-old man from the Carlton area…

Teen stabbed by man in Duluth

DULUTH, Minn. — Duluth police are investigating a stabbing of a juvenile male. The stabbing happened around 6 p.m. Saturday in the 400 block of n. 9th Avenue East. When police arrived, they found an “active fight,” according to a news release Sunday. Shortly after, police say they found a “juvenile male with possible stab wounds.” The juvenile was transported…

Justice Department investigating whether Minnesota’s Walz and Frey impeded immigration enforcement

Democratic Gov. Tim Walz, speaking at a news conference on Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025, in St. Paul, denounces President Donald Trump for calling Minnesota’s Somali community “garbage” and dismissing the state as a “hellhole.” WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department is investigating whether Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey have impeded federal immigration enforcement through public statements…

Following explosion some customers could be without natural gas for days

Willow River Pipeline Explosion(Carlton County Fire News) PINE COUNTY, Min. – Minnesota Energy Resources says some of their customers in and around Willow River and Sturgeon Lake could be without natural gas for days following a pipeline explosion in Pine County.  Minnesota Energy Resources say about 500 customers will be affected by the outage. The explosion happened around 1:45pm on January…

Large explosion in Pine County; Natural gas affected in parts of Willow River and Sturgeon Lake

Willow River Explosion (Carlton County Fire News) Willow River Explosion (Carlton County Fire News) UPDATE: The Pine County Sheriff’s Office say, “On Friday, January 16th, 2026, at approximately 1:43 pm, Pine County Dispatch was inundated with 911 calls of explosions.” The calls were from a rural area west of Willow River. Multiple residences near the explosion were asked to evacuate. Several…

Police: Man who robbed Security Jewelers wanted to see most expensive watches

Jaquay Mckay Hassell DULUTH, Min. – Duluth Police say on January 13, 2026 Jaquay Mckay Hassell, 24, robbed Security Jewelers. Charging documents say just before 10am Hassell walked into Security Jewelers on Superior Street in Duluth. A clerk said Hassell asked to use the restroom.  When he left the restroom, he asked to see the most expensive watches. Hassell then…

Oglala Sioux president walks back claims of DHS pressure, member arrests

Oglala Sioux Tribe Flag (AP) – The president of the Oglala Sioux Tribe has walked back claims he made in a memo and press release earlier this week that immigration enforcement arrested four tribal members and that the federal government tried to extract an “immigration agreement” out of the tribe in return for information about their members’ whereabouts. The U.S. Department…

Minnesota launches on-line reporting form to share impacts of federal actions

Keith Ellison at news conference announcingMinnesota and Twin Citiesare suing Trump administration over widespread immigration operations ST. PAUL, Min. – Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison wants to know how Minnesotans have been impacted by the federal government. He’s looking for, “violations of constitutional rights (racial profiling, excessive force, retaliation against protestors, observers, and media), business closures, reduced healthcare access, reduced…

Man arrested for burglarizing Bentleyville, over $2,000 worth of merchandise stolen

John James Carter UPDATE: Court documents allege John James Carter, 47, of Duluth stole a change machine from the Bentleyville gift shop. The statement of probable cause says on December 26, 2026 at about 2:30am a man and woman were seen around the Bentleyville gift shop. The male entered the gift shop structure “by cutting a hole in the side…

Trump threatens to use the Insurrection Act to ‘put an end’ to protests in Minneapolis

Law enforcement officers stand amid tear gas at the scene of a reported shooting Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray) MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — President Donald Trump on Thursday threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act allowing him to deploy troops as protests against Immigration and Customs Enforcement persist in Minneapolis. Trump made the threat after a federal officer…

Federal officer shoots person in leg after being attacked during Minneapolis arrest, officials say

Jan. 14, 2026 — Minneapolis ICE-involved shooting scene MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A federal officer shot a person in the leg in Minneapolis after being attacked with a shovel and broom handle while trying to make an arrest Wednesday, federal officials said. The shooting took place about 4.5 miles (7.2 kilometers) north of where an immigration agent fatally shot Renee Good…

Oglala Sioux Tribe says three tribal members arrested in Minneapolis are in ICE detention

Oglala Sioux Tribe Flag (AP) – The president of Oglala Sioux Tribe in South Dakota on Tuesday called for the immediate release of tribal members who were detained at a homeless encampment by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Minnesota last week. Three of the four Oglala Sioux Tribe members who were arrested in Minneapolis on Friday have been transferred…

Wisconsin Gov. Evers questions his lieutenant governor’s immigration enforcement proposal

Governor Tony Evers MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin Democratic Gov. Tony Evers is questioning whether a proposal from his own lieutenant governor to ban federal immigration enforcement actions around courthouses, schools, day cares and other locations can, or should, be done. Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez, a Democrat, is running for governor this year after Evers decided against seeking a third term. She is…

What to know about the warrants most immigration agents use to make arrests

(AP) – As the Trump administration intensifies immigration enforcement nationwide, a wave of high-profile arrests — many unfolding at private homes and businesses and captured on video — has pushed one legal question into the center of the national debate: When can federal immigration agents lawfully enter private property to make an arrest? That question has taken on new urgency in cities like…

Court documents tie alleged ring-leader of Duluth ‘Drug Trafficking Organization’ to murder

John Deon Herring DULUTH. Min. – Branden Russell King has been arrested accused of shooting and killing Chazz Toney on October 10, 2025.  The indictment filed in St. Louis County court explained the alleged facts of the investigation.  It does not explain a motive.  That indictment does not mention John Herring, but Toney’s name is mention with Herring in other…

Justice Department sees no basis for civil rights probe in Minnesota ICE shooting, official says

A bullet hole is seen in the windshield as law enforcement officers work at the scene of a shooting involving federal law enforcement agents, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026, in Minneapolis. WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department does not believe there is currently any basis to open a criminal civil rights investigation into the killing of a woman by a U.S….

Eveleth man accused of sexually assaulting two teens

Axsel Davian Ibarraa EVELETH, Min. – Eveleth Police say Axsel Davian Ibarra, 22, Eveleth sexually assault two teens. The probable cause statement says Ibarra invited two teens to his apartment. The three were watching a movie and listening to music, plus playing a card game. Police department says Ibarra was giving the teens alcohol. Ibarra is then accused of becoming…

Prosecutors resigning from U.S. Attorney’s Office in Minnesota

First Assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Thompson describes a sprawling fraud investigation involving state-run programs in Minnesota at a news conference Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025, in Minneapolis. ST PAUL, Min. – Minnesota Governor Tim Walz says at least six prosecutors, including former acting U.S. Attorney Joe Thompson, have resigned from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Minnesota. Governor Walz…

House fire in Gogebic County leaves 1 dead

WAKEFIELD TOWNSHIP, Mich. — A house fire in Gogebic County left one person dead. According to officials at 5:26 a.m. Tuesday, the crew responded to reports of a house fire in Wakefield Township. Upon arrival, they found one person outside who said someone else was still in the home. Officials say attempts were then made to rescue the other person,…

Duluth Police Dept. puts new Armored Rescue Vehicle into service for high-risk calls

DULUTH, Minn. – The Duluth Police Department officially has its new Armored Rescue Vehicle in service for high-risk situations.  As FOX 21’s Dan Hanger reports, the purchase has been decades in the making. “That’s my biggest fear, is that we have to put people in harm’s way for an extended period of time without having proper equipment there to deal…

Indictment: Man that killed Chazz Toney shot the ‘wrong person’ the previous day

Branden Russell King DULUTH, Min. – An apparently mistake in identity lead to a man being shot in Duluth, that is according to court documents. An indictment claims a person was shot accidently on October 9, 2025 when then intent was to kill Chazz Toney.  Toney was then killed the next day, October 10, 2025. The statement of probable cause…

Caregiver accused of sexually assaulting resident at Northome care facility

Morgan Sylvester Johnson NORTHOME, Min. – A Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) investigation says a caregiver at a Lutheran Social Services facility in Northhome sexual assaulted a vulnerable adult. The report from DHS says the caregiver helped the vulnerable adult get into bed. The caregiver then got into that bed with the vulnerable adult and began to kiss them. …

Bomb threat closes Bessemer School District Monday

Bessemer Schools Logo BESSEMER, Mich. — A bomb threat closed schools in Bessemer on Monday. According to School officials, on Sunday at around 7:05 p.m., the high school principal received a voicemail about bombs being placed at the school. SEE PREVIOUS:Bessemer Schools closed Monday due to threat Law enforcement was notified and responded to the school grounds. No other specifics…

Duluth caregiver who took vulnerable adult on drug run not banned from future roles

DULUTH, Min. – A staff person at a residential facility in Duluth took a vulnerable adult to a home, where the staffer used illegal drugs, and then drove the vulnerable adult back to the facility.  Yet with those allegations, the staff person is still able to care for vulnerable adults according to Minnesota state regulations. The state report where the…