Minnesota briefs: Supreme Court sides with Freeborn County sheriff in salary dispute
By Star Tribune staff Text size Copy shortlink:
The Minnesota Supreme Court handed a win to Freeborn County Sheriff Kurt Freitag, ruling that the county Board of Commissioners improperly set his salary without giving any rationale for its decision.
In December 2018, the board set Freitag s 2019 salary at $97,020. Freitag had made a detailed presentation to the board, including a comparison of sheriffs salaries in similarly sized counties. He asked for a salary of $113,952, a raise of 23%.
When his proposal was rejected, Freitag appealed the decision to Freeborn County District Court, as he had the right to do under state law governing sheriffs. That court agreed with him and set his salary at the amount he requested. The county then appealed to the Minnesota Court of Appeals, which sided with the county.
Arrested on a frozen lake.
Posted: Feb 26, 2021 2:20 PM
Posted By: Mike Bunge
ALBERT LEA, Minn. – A guilty plea is entered in a high-speed chase that wound up on a frozen lake.
Bradley Joe Caswell, 36 of St. Paul, pleaded guilty Friday in Freeborn County District Court to fleeing a peace officer in a motor vehicle.
Law enforcement says there was a 95 mile per hour pursuit on December 31, 2020, that started on Broadway Avenue in Albert Lea, went through Glenville, then north on U.S. Highway 65 until Caswell crashed into a railing near Broadway Park. Authorities say Caswell then exited his vehicle and ran onto the frozen lake before being arrested.
A September trial has been scheduled for 21-year-old Devin Weiland. 2:16 pm, Feb. 18, 2021 ×
Devin Weiland
ALBERT LEA The 21-year-old Albert Lea man who allegedly fired approximately 90 shots striking a police officer and two men is scheduled to go to trial on six felony charges in September.
Devin Matthew Weiland, 21, is charged in Freeborn County District Court with three counts of attempted first-degree murder and three counts of second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon.
Court records indicate that trial is scheduled for mid-September. Weiland is being held in lieu of $1 million unconditional bail.
Albert Lea police were called about 2:20 a.m. on Nov. 29, 2020, to the 800 block of Fourth Avenue Southeast for a report of fireworks or gunshots in the area. The criminal complaint states that Weiland admitted he was the one who called police.
KAAL-TV Created: January 28, 2021 06:15 PM
(ABC 6 News) - In a ruling from the bench, a Freeborn County District Court has issued a fine of $9,000 against The Interchange Wine Bar & Bistro of Albert Lea. The fine is for violating the Court’s January 8, 2021 order that found The Interchange in contempt of court for willfully violating the Court’s December 23, 2020 temporary restraining order and imposed a fine of $3,000 a day for every day it continued to violate or threatened to violate applicable executive orders designed to stop the spread of COVID-19.
Yesterday, The Interchange publicized on Facebook that it will hold an event on Friday, January 29 that will violate current Executive Order 21-01, which, among other requirements, mandates that bars, restaurants, and performance venues close for indoor, on-premises consumption of food and beverages by 10:00 pm and requires that restaurants only admit dine-in customers with reservations. For threatening