These stories made an impact on Minnesotans in 2023

Dec. 30—ST. PAUL — From a teen finding a wallet stuffed with cash to legalizing recreational marijuana, these are the stories that readers showed the most interest in last year.

MOORHEAD — 14-year-old Connor Halsa was just days away from his freshman year at Moorhead High School and more hockey. And he has a summer vacation story that will be hard to top.

While walleye fishing with his family, he netted a wallet containing $2,000.

The family found a business card inside, called the number, and tracked down the owner.

"I tell you what, I have the billfold in my hands, and it is still hard to believe," said Iowa farmer Jim Denney.

Denney was at Lake of the Woods fishing one year ago when he lost his wallet.

It's hard to calculate, but the odds are out of this world. One million acres of lake. Seventy miles long, 70 miles wide, and Connor hooked a billfold the size of a deck of cards.

WINONA — The death of Madeline Kingsbury captured the attention of people across the nation. She disappeared from her Winona home in March, and her body was found in June. The father of her two children, Adam Fravel, was arrested and

charged with second-degree murder in her death.

Police alleged that the relationship between the pair was rocky and Fravel may have had a

financial motive to kill the mother of his children.

FARGO —

Canadian wildfires created smoky conditions

across North Dakota and northern Minnesota, resulting in unhealthy air quality in the region, causing the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency to issue air quality alerts.

The smoke brought tiny particles of ash and soot that can irritate the respiratory system, especially for those with preexisting respiratory conditions.

ROCHESTER —

A former Mayo Clinic doctor is accused of murdering his wife,

also a former Mayo Clinic employee, earlier this year.

Connor Fitzgerald Bowman, 30, attempted to cremate his wife after poisoning her, prosecutors say. Betty Bowman died on Aug. 20. Her husband told people she died of an autoimmune disease she did not have.

The two married in 2021 in Independence, Missouri, according to her obituary.

"Her kindness and intelligence was noticed and valued by friends and strangers alike," part of her obituary reads.

Bowman's next court appearance is scheduled for Jan. 16, 2024.

ST. PAUL — Confusion surrounding the use of school resource officers this fall due to a recent law change that would prevent officers from legally using physical force on students outside of situations where there is a risk of death or serious injury.

Police departments pulled SROs from several school districts, but the majority of SROs in Minnesota remained in place.

ST. PAUL —

Recreational marijuana was legalized in Minnesota

as part of the DFL's historic legislative session, though Minnesotans have had access to medical cannabis since 2015 and to edibles containing tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) derived from hemp since July 2022.

While marijuana was legal to use, possess and grow at home in 2023, new dispensaries and businesses will not be licensed until 2024.

DETROIT LAKES —

WE Fest may well have set an attendance record this year, with more than 40,000 people

in the concert bowl to see country star Morgan Wallen.

"Historical records are not as accurate as they are today," said WE Fest General Manager Mark Bjerke.

With electronic scanning, the 40-year-old country music festival can now see exactly how many people are in the concert bowl, how many vehicles are on the grounds and how many campers have arrived, he said.

This was a bit of a mixed blessing for WE Fest, since the big crowds led to traffic delays, longer-than-desired waits for food and beverages, and some confusion with ticketing and the number of available sites at VIP campgrounds.

LONG LAKE, Minn. — When Larry Olimb walked away from college hockey in 1992, he was — and remains — the all-time career assists leader in over 100 seasons of Minnesota Gophers hockey. If he walks away from coaching high school hockey after one season and never coaches again,

he may retire among the winningest coaches in Minnesota hockey history.

In the summer of 2022, after some encouragement from parents and friends in the community, Olimb accepted the head coach position for the Orono High School girls hockey program. By whatever metric you choose to measure, his first season was an amazing success. The Spartans went 24-4-4 overall, advanced to the state championship game and finished as runners-up.

Under pressure from some of the team's parents to change his coaching style and his interactions with the players, Olimb put out a tentative offer to resign in mid-April. Although he made it clear to the school's athletic director that he would like to stay on as Orono's coach, the parent group insisted that Olimb's offer to step away was binding and could not be taken back.

WARROAD, Minn. — A statewide lobbying and education effort to spread the word about the

origins of Warroad High School's Warriors nickname and logo appears to have been a success,

according to the school superintendent.

Shawn Yates was watching the clock late Friday night, Dec. 15, waiting for midnight to come. When the big and little hands both landed on 12 with no notification of objection to the nickname and logo from any of the 11 federally recognized tribal governments in Minnesota, nor from the Tribal Nations Education Committee, Yates and countless community members who have advocated for remaining the Warriors celebrated quietly.

"It appears that we've passed through the hoops that they've set forward, so I would certainly hope that we are in the clear, so to speak," said Yates, who has been the school's superintendent since 2019.

BEMIDJI — Used to early mornings, rural mail carriers stood outside of the Bemidji Post Office before sunrise Monday and Tuesday carrying signs and protesting what they describe as

unsustainable working conditions and the prioritization of Amazon deliveries over actual mail.

"We're being forced to work 12-hour days, six days a week. All of our days off have been canceled by the district manager. They've even gone so far as to say they will not honor sick leave," said Dennis Nelson, who's worked for the post office for 20 years. "On top of that, we've been told Amazon is now our priority, that Amazon packages are the most important thing we do, the mail is secondary."

The carriers' picket is a response to the local implementation of the United States Postal Service's negotiated service agreement with Amazon at the start of November, which has the postal service deliver Amazon packages in addition to traditional mail.