MINNEAPOLIS – In 2024, Minnesota was a hotbed of SPAM smuggling, golf-related helicopter attacks and the hunting of genetically modified giant sheep.
Below are six of the more special stories posted on WCCO.com this year.
Indictment: Minnesota woman forged her late mother’s signature on absentee ballots
A 50 year old Itasca County woman is charged with signing her late mother’s signature on two absentee ballots in October.
According to the complaint, the woman told investigators that her mother was an avid supporter of Donald Trump and had wanted to vote for him, but died in late August before their absentee ballots were received.
She faces two charges of intentionally signing false certificates and one charge of casting an illegal vote or adding another.
Man, 81, convicted of cloning giant ‘Montana Mountain King’ sheep for trophy hunting
An 81-year-old Montana man was sentenced to six months in prison in October for… illegally using tissue and testicles from a Marco Polo sheep to create hybrid sheep for trophy hunting in Minnesota and Texas.
Marco Polo sheep, native to Central Asia, are the largest in the world, weighing about 300 kilos and having curled horns up to 1.5 meters long.
U.S. District Court Judge Brian Morris said he struggled to come up with a sentence for Arthur “Jack” Schubarth. the beings” on earth.
Schubarth’s lawyer, Jason Holden, said the cloning of the giant sheep, hunted in Kyrgyzstan in 2013, has ruined his client’s “life, reputation and family.”
Golf ball hits a mosquito treatment helicopter flying over the subway
In July a Metropolitan Mosquito Control District helicopter was hit and damaged by a golf ball as you fly over Oak Grove’s Refuge Golf Course.
Officers and track employees tried unsuccessfully to identify the person who hit the ball. No one was injured.
“The safety of our employees and our contractors is my top priority,” said Daniel Huff, executive director of the Metropolitan Mosquito Control District. “I appreciate the work of the Anoka County Sheriff’s Office for taking the lead in this investigation.”
WCCO
How a Northern Minnesota Town Became Known as the ‘Home of Bigfoot’
In June, WCCO’s John Lauritsen traveled to the northeastern Minnesota town of Remer, called the “House of Bigfoot.”
In 2009, a trail camera near Remer captured what appeared to be a real sasquatch. Fake or not, it gave lifelong resident Marc Ruyak an idea: trademark the city to play off its sasquatch infamy.
“This city was founded in the early 20th century and observations have been made up to that time,” Ruyak said.
The city’s sightings, folklore and even mysticism have also attracted Bigfoot research teams to Remer.
Minnesota TSA agent arrests Massachusetts man with 10 cans of SPAM
A Massachusetts man went viral on TikTok in early June after a TSA agent pulled him aside at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International for with a hand luggage full of SPAM.
“I’m so ashamed,” Joel Libed said in the video, as a stunned TSA agent pulled out ten cans of SPAM.
The agent then asked if they were SPAM’s regular flavors, to which Libed replied that they were “all the special flavors,” and he was especially excited about the teriyaki flavor.
Libed explained in a later TikTok that he was born in Hawaii, where SPAM is a staple of the local cuisine. He worked as part of an Irish dance group that was on tour, and the group made their first stop in Austin, Minnesota, where the SPAM Museum is located.
Drone pilot spots 1983 BMW submerged in Twin Cities pond
In April, a drone pilot made a mysterious discovery while flying over Neil Park in Burnsville: a BMW 320i from 1983 that has been under water for a long time.
The lower water level of the pond aided the pilot’s discovery. The vehicle, later removed by a Dakota County Sheriff’s Office dive team, is believed to have been submerged for more than two decades.
Authorities did not say whether the car’s owner had been located or whether they would be liable for any criminal charges.
