Ex-boyfriend of woman set on fire arrested in her death

ST. PAUL. (AP) — The former boyfriend of a woman who died after she was set on fire at a St. Paul shipping warehouse has been arrested in the case, according to police.

Authorities said 44-year-old Kelli Ranning Goodermont was killed at her workplace Tuesday. Her former boyfriend was arrested near his Bloomington home that had been set on fire.

In a protection petition filed last June by Goodermont, she stated the 47-year-old man had held a loaded gun to her head. Court records also show the man was civilly committed and hospitalized for psychosis, the St. Paul Pioneer Press reported.

The victim’s former husband, Tyler Goodermont, says his ex-wife was a wonderful mother and loving woman. He says she had expressed concern about her safety and that of her children.

Family members said Goodermont worked as a dispatcher at the warehouse business where the suspect was a truck driver and that they had known each other for years.

Bloomington Deputy Police Chief Kimberly Clauson said the man is suspected of starting the fire at his house. He was booked into the Ramsey County Jail on suspicion of murder.

Boy held in fatal stabbing of relative in Duluth

DULUTH (AP) — A 15-year-old relative is accused of fatally stabbing a 19-year-old woman in Duluth, according to police.

Karimah Phuly was found unresponsive at a residence Friday just minutes after police had left the home following a previous call.

Officers originally responded to a disturbance call at the house about 6:40 p.m. where here was an allegation that a different family member had been assaulted, WDIO-TV reported.

Police left after speaking with the family member and determining there had been no assault.

About 10 minutes later, officers were called back to the house where they found Phuly unresponsive. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

The boy is being held in the Arrowhead Juvenile Center on a charge of second-degree homicide.

Ex-South Dakota prison official: Firing was retaliation

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — A former supervisor in South Dakota’s prison system alleges in a lawsuit that she was fired last year in retaliation for reporting sexual harassment from the warden of the prison.

Stefany Bawek, the former director of a work program at the State Penitentiary in Sioux Falls, filed the lawsuit in federal court Monday, charging that the Department of Corrections violated her civil rights, including punishing her for reporting workplace misconduct and discriminating against her based on her sex.

Bawek was fired last year along with several other top Corrections Department officials after Gov. Kristi Noem launched an investigation into sexual harassment and low staff morale at the prison. But Bawek alleges that she was forced from her job just weeks after reporting a sexual harassment incident involving the prison warden and a subordinate staff member.

The former prison warden, Darin Young, denied the allegations in a statement to the Sioux Falls Argus Leader. He was also fired last year.

Bawek alleges in her lawsuit that the Corrections Department gave inaccurate information about her termination “as a means of chilling the willingness of other staff members to report discriminatory behavior,” as well as making it more difficult for her to obtain unemployment insurance and find a new job.

She also alleged that the department had “different standards of performance” for female staff members. She is seeking unspecified payment from the state to cover losses to her income, emotional distress and other damages.

Governor’s spokesman Ian Fury said the administration does not comment on “personnel matters or ongoing litigation.”

Noem has pushed for widespread changes to the state’s prison system after launching the investigation last year. She also named a new corrections secretary, Kellie Wasko, who started this month.

Jail time for man whose marijuana brownies sickened seniors

TYNDALL, S.D. (AP) — A South Dakota man has been ordered to spend 60 days in jail for providing the marijuana in the brownies his mother unknowingly served to seniors at a card game.

Michael Koranda, 46, had earlier pleaded guilty to a felony drug charge. A judge in Bon Homme County Tuesday also sentenced the Tabor man to two years of probation and ordered him to pay more than $3,400 in court costs and restitution. He must also write an apology letter to the seniors who ate the marijuana brownies.

Koranda resigned his position with the Bon Homme school district as its vocal music teacher as a result of his court case.

At his sentencing, Koranda expressed regret for his actions and its impact on others, including those who sought medical attention, the Yankton Press and Dakotan reported.

“I’m really sorry. This impacted so many in the community, and I’m sorry for that,” he said. “So many people got sick, and that wasn’t my intention for that to happen.”

Judge Cheryle Gering told Kornada she realizes he didn’t intend for the brownies to be served at the community center card game, but his actions — including transporting THC-laced butter from Colorado — harmed the unsuspecting victims.

A report from Bon Homme County Sheriff’s Office says dispatchers received several calls about possible poisonings on Jan. 4. All the calls involved seniors who had earlier been at a community center card game in Tabor.

An investigation into the incident led authorities to believe the patients were all under the influence of THC, the compound in cannabis that produces the high sensation and that the THC came from a batch of brownies brought by a woman to the community center,

Canada to drop COVID tests for vaccinated visitors: official

TORONTO (AP) — Canada will no longer require a pre-arrival COVID-19 test for vaccinated travelers as of April 1.

A senior government official confirmed the change Wednesday, speaking on condition of anonymity due to lack of authorization to speak publicly ahead of the announcement this week.

Last month, Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos announced that travelers coming to Canada would be able to present a negative rapid-antigen test at the border as an alternative to a more costly molecular test.