Star Tribune
Man who set off MN Amber Alert faces murder, kidnapping, arson charges
A dozen felony charges were filed Monday against a Brainerd man who is accused of a violent crime spree Friday that set off a statewide Amber Alert after he killed a man, burned a house down and kidnapped at gunpoint a pregnant woman and her four children who were safely recovered.
Prosecutors in Crow Wing County charged Chad Aanerud, 35, with two counts of second-degree murder — one with intent, one without intent — first-degree criminal sexual conduct, five counts of kidnapping, first-degree arson, two counts of second-degree assault and theft of numerous firearms. Aanerud is a seven-time convicted felon prohibited from possessing firearms.
District Judge Charles Halverson ordered Annerud to have no contact with Nikkole Dobson, 33, and the victims and set his unconditional bail at $3 million.
“This is my 30th year as county attorney, so I’ve seen bails and bonds that high before, but obviously it’s not something that happens every day,” said County Attorney Donald Ryan in a phone interview Monday.
“Cases like this are always a tragedy. I mean, there’s just no other way to say it,” Ryan said while declining to comment further.
A 911 call came in around 1 a.m. Friday on a report that Annerud shot and killed Lyle Maske, 62. Someone living with Maske and his wife Lois placed the call, court records state.
Investigators and Maske’s relatives have previously told the Star Tribune that he “died as a hero” trying to help his neighbors on Loerch Road, east of Brainerd, after the Dobson children fled to his house for help.
Officers upon arrival found Maske’s body in the Dobson’s driveway. He wasn’t breathing and rifle casings were on the ground.
The new center aims to connect the East Lake Street community with services related to housing, community safety and more.
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Mayor Jacob Frey says he plans to run for re-election next year.
“I’m preparing to do so (run) but not making any formal announcements yet,” Frey said in a text Monday.
Frey was elected mayor in 2017, defeating incumbent Betsy Hodges, after representing Ward 3 on the Minneapolis City Council from 2014 to 2018. His first term was rocked by the COVID-19 pandemic, George Floyd’s murder by police and subsequent unrest that destroyed city blocks and rippled across the globe.
While a majority of City Council members called for defunding the police, Frey resisted and instead promised reform, angering a crowd of protesters that marched to the door of his townhouse days after Floyd’s murder. Minneapolis residents sided with him when they rejected a 2021 ballot measure to replace the police department with a new Department of Public Safety, and re-elected Frey.
Police reforms continue to dominate his tenure, as state and federal officials are forcing the police department into court-sanctioned monitoring due to discriminatory policing. Meanwhile, the police department continues to hemorrhage officers: The department has about 578 sworn officers, down from nearly 900 in 2019, a 36% decrease.
The Rev. DeWayne Davis, lead minister of Plymouth Congregational Church, announced plans to run for mayor on Oct. 17. Before his ordination in 2012, he worked as a congressional staffer. He co-chaired Frey’s Minneapolis Community Safety Work Group that recommended public safety reforms.
Minneapolis Council Member Emily Koski said Monday she’s “strongly considering” running for mayor. She campaigned with Frey in 2021, when she was elected to represent Ward 11 in south Minneapolis, and was considered one of his top allies on the council. But she broke ranks with Frey on his $15 million plan to replenish MPD ranks; sided with the council’s progressive majority in overriding Frey’s veto of changes to rideshare regulations; and voted against Frey’s proposal to build a new Third Precinct police station downtown.
If Koski runs, she’d be following in her father’s footsteps: Albert Hofstede was a council member before being elected Minneapolis mayor in the 1970s.
A $5 billion facility to manufacture jet fuel for airplanes is coming to Moorhead.
DG Fuels, a Washington D.C.-based energy company, announced they’re putting a sustainable aviation fuel [SAF] plant in Clay County, bringing 650 jobs to northwestern Minnesota’s border with North Dakota.
The facility, which expects to start production in 2030, will convert agriculture and timber waste into jet fuel, according to a statement from Greater MSP, a Twin Cities-based regional development organization.
“We not only want to lead the world in de-carbonizing air travel” at Minnesota-St. Paul International Airport, said Peter Frosch, CEO of Greater MSP, in an interview, on Monday. “But we want to produce that SAF in Minnesota.”
The selection of Moorhead, Frosch continued, was evidence of the concerted push from the Minnesota SAF Hub — which includes, government, universities, nonprofits and companies, including Bank of America and Delta Air Lines — to ramp up production of SAF in Minnesota.
The project is also a win for Moorhead.
“With the largest shovel-ready industrial site in the state of Minnesota, we are excited and prepared to compete on the national stage for this economic development opportunity,” said Moorhead Mayor Shelly Carlson, in a statement.
While SAF can be produced from biomass streams, including corn stover, industry experts look to perennial crops, as well, such as camelina and other oilseeds as possible sources for feedstocks.
