Jan. 1 -- GRAND FORKS -- When Gary Przekwas spotted his prize elk on Sept. 11, 2023, in northeast Kittson County, he knew it was the bull he was after -- but he wasn't yet thinking about any kinds of records.
He also likely wasn't thinking his trophy elk would become the Grand Forks Herald's
top-read news story of 2024,
netting exactly 32,000 views as of Dec. 6. The story first was posted on Feb. 17.
Przekwas' bull elk, a 10x11 brute, was ultimately named the largest nontypical bull elk ever taken by hunting in Minnesota, according to the Boone and Crockett Club's system for measuring trophy big game animals.
The "funky" asymmetrical rack was difficult to measure, according to Randy Dufault of East Grand Forks, a certified measurer for Boone and Crocket, and judgment calls had to be made -- but it was expected to easily outpace the previous recordholder.
"I had (the rack) sitting in my entryway up until I brought it to (the taxidermist), and I tell you what -- every time I'd walk by it, I'd have to stop and stare at it for a while," he told the Herald in February.
Przekwas' bull wasn't the only wildlife story that wowed Herald readers in 2024. Outdoors stories dominated the Herald's most-read news stories of the year, making up seven of the top 20 -- they included articles on one young angler's impressive catch, a Grand Forks' man's close encounter with a mountain lion, a gray wolf that was shot and killed in North Dakota and 50 Minnesota anglers stranded on the ice.
Last week, the Herald declared that Altru Health System's big year -- its new hospital construction, in addition to its business news and national accolades -- was the newspaper's Story of the Year for 2024. That award is subjective, based on staff nominations and conversations, and taking into account the scope and community impact of a story.
The most-read stories, however, are objective, based solely on digital readership data.
Below are the Herald's No. 1 through No. 10 most-read stories of 2024. The Nos. 11-20 stories were presented in Tuesday's e-edition:
2.
Storm heading toward North Dakota, Minnesota and South Dakota; a foot or more of snow possible in some areas
Weather stories always generate high interest, but on March 22, when the National Weather Service forecast
more than 12 inches
of wet, heavy snow across the region, 30,092 Herald readers visited the story to learn more.
As the multi-day storm continued to move into the region,
winter weather warnings were downgraded -- forecasters adjusted their predictions to 1 to 6 inches of snowfall in Grand Forks -- and ultimately, due to dry air undercutting the snow before it reached the ground, the storm didn't live up to expectations.
In the days that followed, John Wheeler, lead forecaster at WDAY,
wrote in his regular weather column
in the Herald that despite overshooting expected snow totals,
WDAY prides itself on its snow forecasting techniques.
"We did miss this one, but even when (our forecasters) are very close it seems we are always fighting the entity of the worst-case scenario that seems to come collectively from other media, social media and word-of-mouth," Wheeler wrote. "Our broadcasts mentioned the dry air and the chance it would limit snow totals, but it seems not many heard that, people gravitating instead to the highest snow totals they could find."
3.
Animal that appears to be a gray wolf shot in western North Dakota
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service investigated the shooting of
what appeared to be a gray wolf
in western North Dakota, the Herald reported on Nov. 6. It didn't take long for it to become a big online story -- 23,095 Herald readers viewed it.
The shooting appeared to have been a mistake, and the person who shot the animal believed it was a coyote, a North Dakota Game and Fish Department spokesperson said.
Gray wolf
sightings in North Dakota are rare -- transient wolves occasionally come into the state from Minnesota, where they're much more prevalent. Although the animals were de-listed from federal protected status in the eastern two-thirds of the state in 2007,
it remains illegal
to kill a wolf across North Dakota, with certain exceptions.
4.
B1-B bomber touches down at Grand Forks Air Force Base for first time in 30 years
On Oct. 1, a B1-B Lancer bomber landed at Grand Forks Air Force Base for the first time since the Cold War. That particular touchdown was part of an exercise meant to test GFAFB's underground refueling system -- but it was part of preparations for the arrival of 17 more bombers, which will be housed at the base through 2025.
The bombers, as well as 800 airmen, will be temporarily reassigned to Grand Forks while their home at the Ellsworth Air Force Base near Rapid City, South Dakota, undergoes extensive renovations.
The Herald first reported in August that the bombers might be coming to the local air base
in August.
U.S. Sen. John Hoeven told the Herald at that time that the official decision was coming down the pike. Col. Tim Monroe, commander of the 319th Renaissance Wing at Grand Forks Air Force Base, then confirmed that the base had been working "discreetly" for several months on the requisite mission planning to
Bombers and personnel are expected to continue to arrive in Grand Forks through January and February.
as more great news for Grand Forks Air Force Base, and noted that in the last 10 or 20 years, local and state leaders were scrambling to keep the base from closing amid Department of Defense spending cuts.
"The first time we see those big bombers flying overhead, we'll take a moment to remember how far the base has come in the past decade and, perhaps, to think about its bright future," the board editorialized.
5. Approximately 50 anglers rescued on Lake of the Woods
On New Year's Day, 2024, on the south shore of Lake of the Woods, a large crack split the ice less than a mile off Long Point, stranding some 50 anglers on the lake. Personnel from Lake of the Woods County Sheriff's Office, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, Baudette Fire and Rescue and Lake of the Woods Ambulance responded, and were able to transport the stranded anglers back to shore using airboats and UTVs.
Similar cracks in the ice aren't uncommon, especially on large bodies of water like Lake of the Woods, where ice sheets are constantly moving -- but poor ice conditions caused by
unseasonably warm conditions
resulted in several ice-related rescues that season.
on the southeast side of Upper Red Lake, leading to
a temporary ban on driving vehicles on the ice
issued by the Beltrami County Sheriff. A day prior,
a 78-year-old Wisconsin man drowned
near Flag Island on Lake of the Woods' Northwest Angle when his Bombardier tracked vehicle broke through 12 inches of ice. Earlier in December,
After the plane crash, Herald outdoors reporter Brad Dokken
wrote in his weekly column
that ice rescue reports have become all too common. According to one longtime resident of Upper Red's eastern shore, weather warnings have gone increasingly unheeded by anglers in recent years -- now, "they are a tragedy looking for a place to happen."
6.
'It's been a ton of fun,' Home of Economy CEO says upon sale to Runnings
The sale of Home of Economy, based in Grand Forks for 85 years, was announced in May and finalized in September. The eclectic clothing, furniture, tools and farm supplies store was sold to Runnings, a Marshall, Minn.-based company with 80 stores across the U.S.
The Grand Forks mainstay was founded by M.W. "Bob" and Jean Kiesau, grandparents of its last CEOs, Wade and Scott Pearson.
after the sale was announced that the timing was right to move on from the business.
"It's tough," he said. "I'm in my 60s now, and my brother (Scott) is a little bit older. We got offered a fair price by Runnings, and they are friends. We know they'll do it right."
In December, Runnings was still slowly transitioning into the old Home of Economy building on North Washington Street -- the original sign remained in place, and Runnings hasn't yet begun to market the change in ownership. A grand opening is
Grand Forks-based Real Good Cookies to suspend operations
announced in May that it would suspend operations. Final orders went out in June.
Owner Sarah Horak said the space -- a second-floor kitchen with no elevator -- was never ideal, and although she looked for other options, the finances never quite worked out.
"I had building plans done and I had a contractor and designer and everything lined up, but at the end of the day the numbers just didn't make sense to do that expansion," Horak said.
Level 10, Brick and Barley and O'Really's -- all downtown bars co-owned by Horak -- were not affected by the Real Good closure.
8.
A busy train station in Tokyo, a long-forgotten FFA jacket and an incredible coincidence for a Grand Forks man
At the busy train station in the Shinjuku area of Tokyo, where some 3.7 million people walk through daily, Sally Pyle was the first one to spot the Future Farmers of America jacket that said "Park River, North Dakota" on the back.
Pyle was traveling with Peter and Bernadette Meberg, all of North Dakota. Peter, who grew up in Park River, ran to catch up with the Japanese 20-something-year-old in the Park River jacket -- but the coincidences didn't end there.
"I don't know if I grabbed him or touched him on the shoulder, and he turned around and I saw my brother's name on the front of the FFA jacket," Meberg said. "I'm like, no, this can't be."
The front of the FFA jacket is embroidered with "Eric Meberg, Vice President, 1975-76. Eric "Ike" Meberg, Peter's older brother, died in February 2020.
The trio tried to explain to the man the significance of the jacket, but they spoke no Japanese, and he spoke very little English. Meberg said eventually, he thinks the man started to grasp why they were so excited, and they were able to communicate enough to understand he had found the jacket secondhand. After snapping a picture, they went their separate ways.
"What are the odds?" Meberg said. "For one thing, just to see an FFA jacket from North Dakota. Then, you think, the Tokyo metro area is 34 million people. To just run into a person who had a jacket, and then it's from Park River, and then it's your brother's. We were like, how can this even be?"
9.
North Dakota roadkill study aims to shed light on hotspots for wildlife-vehicle collisions
Over the summer, a team of UND researchers and officials from the North Dakota Department of Transportation and the North Dakota Fish and Game Department traveled the state painting roadkill carcasses pink.
The project, funded by NDDOT, aimed to learn more about the frequency of vehicle-animal collisions, identify potential trouble spots and mitigate their occurrence, according to Susan Felege, a UND professor of wildlife ecology and management.
About 5% of all vehicle crashes nationwide involve wildlife, Felege said, while the frequency in North Dakota is more than 18% -- one of the highest in the nation.
10.
Man who died in July 4 incident in Grand Forks identified; alleged shooter facing four felony charges
Shortly after 7 p.m. on Independence Day, Grand Forks police responded to a report of a shooting at Sledster's Food and Brew, a downtown bar.
Witnesses say they saw Nicholas Jon Narveson, 26, of Grand Forks, pull a handgun and fire multiple rounds at James Erwin Jorgenson, 53, before fleeing the bar, according to court documents filed the next day. Jorgenson was pronounced dead on scene, and Narveson was taken into custody at Tea and Crepe, another downtown business.
a psychological and criminal responsibility evaluation, but was ultimately
to murder and other charges last month. His case is ongoing.