GRAND FORKS, N.D. — A Bemidji, Minn., woman has been indicted by a federal grand jury for interference with flight crew members and attendants after an incident on an Allegiant Air flight in January.

Court documents show that Jody Sherry-Berg, 64, was arrested in Minnesota on Tuesday on a warrant from North Dakota. She was released on a personal recognizance bond after a court appearance. She is scheduled to be arraigned on April 21 in Grand Forks.

The indictment, unsealed Wednesday, alleges Sherry-Berg “did knowingly interfere with the performance of the duties of J.M., a flight crew member or flight attendant … by assaulting and intimidating … J.M. by grabbing J.M’s genitals,” on a flight from Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas to Grand Forks International Airport on Jan. 16.

Initially, Sherry-Berg was charged in state court with providing false information to law enforcement, after she allegedly gave a false name to Grand Forks police officers responding to the report of the assault. Those charges were dismissed on April 3, following the federal indictment.

A message left for Sherry-Berg was not immediately returned Wednesday.

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A Lakeville man was convicted this week of one count of felony wage theft, marking the first conviction of its kind under a 2019 state law.

Frederick Leon Newell, 59, was convicted by a Hennepin County district judge Wednesday of one count of wage theft and one count of theft by swindle, according to the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office.

“This wage-theft conviction is the first of its kind in Minnesota. It is an important step forward in our efforts to protect workers,” Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said. “This type of behavior will not be tolerated. Mr. Newell was entrusted with public funds to pay his staff for their labor on a public works project. Instead, he siphoned their money for himself.”

According to the criminal complaint, Newell committed wage theft by failing to pay employees at his company at the rate of pay required by law. Newell owned Integrated Painting Solutions in Apple Valley, according to the criminal complaint.

Newell’s company secured a bid to do work on the Redwell apartment complex at 1020 N. Third St. in Minneapolis. He hired seven people to paint and do cleaning. All that work was subject to wage requirements under city ordinance and state and federal law.

The court also found that Newell had committed “major economic offenses,” which may lead to a longer sentence.

In total, five employees of Newell’s company were underpaid by more than $37,000 between June 8, 2020, and Dec. 4, 2020.

Newell was charged with one count of theft of wages and one count of theft by swindle.

Authorities said the latter charge refers to Newell continuing to “accept payments from a general contractor over the course of a project despite knowing that his company was in financial distress, was not paying prevailing wage, and was concealing hours worked by employees.”

“This guilty verdict marks a historic milestone in our ongoing commitment to workplace justice,” said state Rep. Cedrick Frazier, DFL-New Hope, a member of the House Workforce, Labor, and Economic Development Committee. “When the Legislature amended Minnesota’s theft statute in 2019, we took a significant step by explicitly recognizing wage theft as a criminal offense. However, our work to protect hardworking Minnesotans isn’t complete.”

Frazier is looking at legislation to grant county attorneys authority to further investigate wage theft.

Newell will be sentenced  June 6.

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Lakeville North legendary basketball coach John Oxton announced his retirement from the position on Thursday evening through the team’s social media account.

“It has been a great run, but it’s time,” Oxton said. “I take with me great memories and, most importantly, all the relationships formed over the years.”

A great run, indeed. The coach crossed the 700-win threshold this year and led the Panthers to 13 section titles and a 2014 state championship.

In his sendoff message, Oxton thanked his wife and three children, whom he coached, as well as his assistant coaches and the parents of the kids in the program. He noted the “most rewarding” aspect of the job was working with the players.

“They are the heart of the Panther program. Watching each player grow, not only as athletes, but also as young men has been an honor. Thank you for putting in the hard work, facing adversity and striving for excellence, both on and off the court,” Oxton said in his farewell. “As I retire, I look back with pride, knowing that the Panther basketball program we built together positively impacted many young men and the Lakeville community. Thank you to everyone who has been a part of this unforgettable experience. It has been an honor.

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Twins plan to promote right-hander David Festa from Triple-A St. Paul on Friday to face the Detroit Tigers at Target Field, manager Rocco Baldelli said.

Festa would take Pablo López’s roster spot once the Twins officially put him on the 15-day injured list because of a mild strain of his right hamstring.

“We’re going to call up Festa and give him the ball and let him go,” Baldelli said.

Zebby Matthews is a good bet to get a promotion from the Saints to start the opener of the next series at Target, against the New York Mets, on Monday night. It would give the Twins a six-person starting rotation until López returns.

Using both young pitchers this way would give others in the Twins’ rotation an extra day of rest between starts. The Twins are in the middle of a 12-day stretch without a break. Baldelli said this plan had been in the works before López’s injury Tuesday night.

“It’s something that’s a forward-looking, get-ahead-of-things move for our starting pitchers,” Baldelli said.

Festa comes in with a 5.40 earned-run average in two starts with eight strikeouts in 8 1/3 innings at St. Paul.

He posted a 4.90 ERA in 14 appearances, making 13 starts with the big-league team in 2024. In his five-year minor-league career, Festa has a 3.53 ERA with 336 strikeouts, 108 walks and 25 home runs allowed in 273 innings.

Festa’s own turn in the rotation at Triple-A otherwise would have come Friday, and Matthews was aligned with López, who would have gone Sunday if not for the injury.

It will be the first time López misses a start with the Twins. He could miss as many as three starts while on the IL, but the Twins hope the extra pitcher in the rotation, plus upcoming days off over the next two weeks, will make it just two starts missed.

López would rather miss none.

“I don’t like it. I hate it,” López said. “But it makes sense.”

López and head athletic trainer Nick Paparesta both said they have gone over reams of medical data looking for a reason the injury happened. It does not appear there was anything López did wrong, or could have done differently, to prevent it.

“We have not found anything, or uncovered any secret diamond, that was causing the issue or did cause the issue,” Paparesta said. “I think it’s just the competitive nature of this game, the repetitive stress upon the body that this game puts on people.”

Paparesta praised Carlos Correa for noticing that López wasn’t right and bringing his teammate to an understanding that it was time to get off the field.

“Pablo made the right decision, and it’s going to help him come out of this better off,” Paparesta said.

Lee to try nine

Paparesta said infielder Brooks Lee will play a nine-inning game with St. Paul on Friday as the next step in rehabbing a lower back strain.

Lee, who injured his back in spring training, started his assignment at Fort Myers, Fla., on Sunday before quickly ascending to the Triple-A squad. He has played parts of two games for the Saints, and was scheduled to rest Thursday before returning to the lineup.

Lee probably would need to play multiple full games before the Twins bring him to the big league team.

Paparesta said they wouldn’t let Lee play unless he said his back was feeling up to it.

“Once we get them out to a rehab assignment, the question of the injury in our mind is pretty much solidified,” Paparesta said. “We try to make the rehab as hard as possible so that the games are as easy as can be.”

Baldelli said that third baseman Royce Lewis was still several weeks away from being ready to play. Lewis is not quite midway through what was said to be a possible eight-week stint on the injured list.

“When he’s a lot closer, then I’ll start following it on a day-to-day basis,” Baldell said.

Buxton returning

The Twins didn’t have outfielder Byron Buxton available for the past two games because he went home to Georgia to attend a personal matter, said to be a friend’s funeral. Putting him on the bereavement list would have meant the Twins would have been without him for three games, so instead they played short for two games.

Buxton, who played the first 11 games of the season, is batting .171/.209/.293 with a home run, 16 strikeouts, one walk and two stolen bases in 41 at-bats.