Stephen Emery won election as county attorney, but resigned "effective immediately." The county commissioners appointed current office holder Mark Gruenes for a second time.
Craig Michael Van Dam, 41, was sentenced to 60 months in prison for a single felony charge of driving while impaired. A Renville County jury found him guilty in August. The charge stemmed from a traffic stop in Olivia after Van Dam was seen speeding through Bird Island in July 2021. During a pursuit, Van Dam hit speeds over 110 mph. A subsequent search of his vehicle yielded a glass pipe and a prescription bottle with suspected marijuana buds.
The Minnesota Court of Appeals affirmed a 68-month prison sentence for Braxton Anderson, of Montevideo, for his conviction of criminal vehicular homicide in the Aug. 6, 2019, crash that killed Brittany Lynn Schulz, 20, of Appleton.
Four charges of arson in the first degree were filed in Yellow Medicine County District Court against a 56-year-old woman for allegedly setting fires in the six-story apartment building in Granite Falls where she resides.