Seven applicants apply for Blackduck police chief

I first started at the Bemidji (Minn.) Pioneer as an intern in the summer of 1996. That would begin six years as a news reporter, sports reporter and copy editor for a small, six-day-per-week daily newspaper in northern Minnesota. I wrote a large range of stories from multiple beats, to features to sports, my favorite being the coverage of the Red Lake Reservation High School basketball team named the Warriors. Here is a collection of my stories from my time at the Pioneer.

July 1, 1999

By Devlyn Brooks

About seven applicants have applied for the position of Blackduck's chief of police that was vacated when former chief Jeff Michalicek resigned in May, according to a city official.

After four years with Blackduck, Michalicek took a position with the Beltrami County Sheriff's Department.

"We'd like to have someone who would like to be in a small town atmosphere," Blackduck clerk/treasurer David Decker said Wednesday.

He said most of the applicants to date have been from northern and northwestern Minnesota, and most are "younger people looking to get into someplace and get their feet wet."

That was different when Michalicek was hired, he added. Then, they received some applications from officers from the Twin Cities and the Iron Range who were looking to move to a smaller town.

The application period ends July 9, and the Blackduck City Council will review them the following Monday and decide if and how many of the people should be interviewed, Decker said.

The Blackduck Police Department consists of the chief and another part-time officer, according to Decker.