North Dakota
Town OKs ban meant to deter Aryan enclave
LEITH, N.D. (AP) — Leaders in a small southwestern North Dakota town have approved a moratorium on any new construction — a move a white supremacist who is trying to take over says unfairly targets him and his aspirations.
Craig Cobb has bought a home and 12 other lots in Leith and is encouraging others with white power views to move there and help him take control of the community that had 23 residents before he arrived. He is living with three other male white supremacists and two children in a house with no water or sewer service and only space heaters for heat.
City officials on Sunday night put the building moratorium in place while they work on an ordinance that will require Cobb to install water and sewer service, The Bismarck Tribune reported. Another ordinance would prevent tents and campers from being set up on a city lot for more than 10 consecutive days.
Cobb, who has encouraged others to move tents and trailers onto his vacant lots, calls the proposals “patently unfair” and says residents of the town are “evil and nasty.”
Cobb is a hate crimes fugitive from Canada with extremist neo-Nazi views, and many area residents want him gone.
Minnesota
Authorities: Shot likely killed 24-year-old woman
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A 24-year-old woman whose remains were found in a central Minnesota park likely died from a single gunshot wound to the head, police and the medical examiner’s office said Sunday.
Eden Prairie police confirmed earlier Sunday that the human remains found in a shallow grave in a park along the Mississippi River north of Sartell are those of Mandy Matula, who had been missing since May. A hiker found the remains Saturday.
The detail about the gunshot was released Sunday night based on findings from the Ramsey County medical examiner’s office. Eden Prairie Police Chief Rob Reynolds, who spoke at a news conference, said it’s believed that Matula was shot and killed in Eden Prairie.
Matula’s brother, Steven Matula, 22, told WCCO Radio on Sunday that the family was already certain the remains were those of his sister, a University of Minnesota Duluth graduate. He said a UMD sports sweater and a class ring with a ruby-colored stone that police found with the remains matched hers.
“They found a UMD softball fast-pitch sweater with the number 14 on the back,” he said. “And right away when we heard that, we as a family knew that was Mandy. ... She was a proud wearer of UMD fast-pitch clothing. She loves the softball team, the softball sport, and 14 was her lucky number. So she just wore that sweater everywhere she went.”
The Eden Prairie woman was last seen leaving her home May 1 with her ex-boyfriend, David Roe. Roe fatally shot himself in the head in an Eden Prairie police parking lot the next day after he was called in for questioning.
The park where Matula’s remains were found is about 70 miles northwest of Minneapolis. It had been a focal point of the search for her after police traced the signal from her cellphone to the area.
Steven Matula, who led several searches there, said the family never gave up hope of finding her, though they didn’t know when it would happen.
“I was praying to God it was going to be before winter because that would have been ugly,” he said.
Steven Matula expressed no bitterness toward Roe, even though he presumes he somehow caused his sister’s death, and he extended sympathy to Roe’s family.
“This may have put a bad image on Dave, but Dave, he was such a really good guy. He was a sweetheart. He was a good brother, good friend, a mentor just like Mandy. ... No one would have ever expected for this to happen from him,” he said.
The Matula family plans to have a funeral soon at Grace Church in Eden Prairie.
Wisconsin
Board wants porn case with teacher in Supreme Court
MIDDLETON, Wis. (AP) — The Middleton-Cross Plains School Board wants the Wisconsin Supreme Court to hear its case against a teacher accused of viewing pornography at work.
The school district is asking the high court to overturn an arbitrator’s decision that gives the middle school science teacher his job back and reduces two other teachers’ suspensions.
If the court declines, the school district would be on the hook for about $600,000 in legal costs incurred so far. The district would also be required to pay former Glacier Creek Middle School teacher Andrew Harris about four years of back pay, estimated at about $300,000, and around $9,000 in back pay to the two other teachers, who have since retired.
The three were part of a grievance the teachers’ union filed on behalf of seven school district employees accused of viewing or sharing pornography or sexually inappropriate images, jokes or videos. Harris was fired while the rest received suspensions or reprimands.
The district maintains the content viewed by Harris was more inappropriate than the material seen by others, according to the State Journal.
An arbitrator ruled Harris’ termination was overreaching because a district investigation found others were doing the same or similar types of things — accessing inappropriate websites, receiving inappropriate emails, forwarding them to others and failing to discourage the senders.
Pennsylvania
Police: Retired Philly cop pulls gun on motorist
UPPER DARBY, Pa. (AP) — A man who retired as a Philadelphia police officer in 1985 has been charged with impersonating an officer and pulling a gun on a man in a convenience store parking lot.
The Delaware County Daily Times reports 79-year-old Roscoe Campbell was arrested shortly after the incident at a Wawa store in Upper Darby about 2:30 a.m. Saturday.
That’s when Campbell allegedly demanded $300 from a motorist who, Campbell claimed, had blocked him in. Campbell allegedly told the other man he would be towed unless he paid Campbell $300 for a violation.
Police say Campbell took off when the motorist threatened to call Upper Darby police. Police were able to find Campbell at home based on a license plate number the victim recorded.
Online court records don’t list an attorney for Campbell who faces a preliminary hearing Wednesday.
