Email Author Jessica Lussenhop

Awards

• 2011 - AAN AltWeekly Awards, published September 8, 2010

  "Bed Hopping"

• 2011 - AAN AltWeekly Awards, published November 3, 2010

  "Monster at the Tea Party"

• 2011 - AAN AltWeekly Awards, published December 1, 2010

  "Cop Killer"

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2010 Stories by Jessica Lussenhop

• Richard Lupkes is the best men's arm wrestler in the U.S.

  published Dec 30, 2010

  By day, Richard Lupkes farms the same 320-acres his father did in the southwestern corner of Minnesota. But in the world of professional arm wrestling, he's a local legend. "I saw a poster hanging on... More >>

• Phillips tire-slashings ruin Christmas

  published Dec 29, 2010

  T'was the week before Christmas when a small group of Phillips residents noticed a disturbing pattern -- repeat tire-slashings, just in time for the holidays. "That's horrible," says Jean Flugge, wh... More >>

• Mario Cortolezzis pleads guilty in autism fraud

  published Dec 28, 2010

  Mario Cortolezzis -- the father who stole from his own autism charity and was the subject of our November 24 cover story -- pleaded guilty to the scheme today in Carver County court, on four counts of... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Rhonda Arkley jailed after torching house with husband inside [UPDATE]

  published Dec 28, 2010

  After being hospitalized for nearly a month, Rhonda Lee Arkley has finally swapped her hospital bed for a Dakota County jail bunk. She made her first court appearance this morning for charges of arso... More >>

• Jacob Anhalt and Randy Knight charged in battle ax robbery

  published Dec 27, 2010

  It was 1:30 in the morning when 22-year-old Jacob Anhalt called up his buddy M.J. to see if he could pop by and say hello. The 52 year old agreed, and unlocked the back door when Anhalt arrived. But h... More >>

• Rhonda Arkley charged with torching house while husband was inside

  published Dec 23, 2010

  The Apple Valley woman who torched her house and attempted suicide with a screwdriver has been formally charged with arson, assault and fleeing cops, though she has still not left the hospital. The c... More >>

• 70-year-old bank robber Sandra Leanne Bathke forced to stay in jail

  published Dec 22, 2010

  Sandra Leanne Bathke told police she robbed the Elysian Bank in order to keep a roof over her head. The 70 year old's plan worked -- sorta. Bathke was nabbed shortly after she threatened a teller an... More >>

• Powder Ridge ski area notices 27-feet snowboard rail is missing six months too late

  published Dec 21, 2010

  About six months after the employees at Powder Ridge ski area in Kimball found the lock hack-sawed off their front gate, they finally realized what had been taken -- a 27-foot snowboarding rail. Dude... More >>

• Moorhead police investigating huge Sudanese-Liberian brawl

  published Dec 20, 2010

  When police arrived on the scene of a Christmas party gone wrong at a Moorhead bowling alley, there was total chaos. Multiple fights had broken out in the parking lot while panicked bystanders who f... More >>

• "Honesty" sculpture built from dollar bills is stolen

  published Dec 17, 2010

  Artist John Ilg built his sculpture "Honesty" as a kind of test of viewer willpower. And the piece -- a mesh wire frame with the word "HONESTY" spelled out in 316 loose dollar bills -- enjoyed several... More >>

• Sandra Leanne Bathke, 70, arrested in failed bank heist

  published Dec 16, 2010

  Most people are taught to be extra nice to little old ladies. In that spirit, Luke Weimert says he offered to give 70-year-old Sandra Leanne Bathke a ride from Janesville to Elysian to go to the bank.... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  TCF Stadium shoveling video

  published Dec 15, 2010

  About 150 workers -- most of them hired from temp agencies around the region -- shoveled diligently today in an attempt to prepare the University of Minnesota TCF Bank Stadium in time for Monday night... More >>

• Delta made more off baggage fees than any other airline in 2010

  published Dec 14, 2010

  Shelling out for airline baggage fees is the worst. But not as infuriating as finding out how much it all adds up to. In 2010 so far, the U.S. airlines have netted $2.6 billion in baggage fees. One ... More >>

• Blizzard may wipe out the Minneapolis snow-removal budget

  published Dec 13, 2010

  Minneapolis is declaring yet another snow emergency, but the money for snow removal is already drying up according to Mayor R.T. Rybak's spokesperson. "This will probably exhaust the snow emergency b... More >>

• Jose Alfredo Ruiz's cocaine cowboy boots hit the auction block

  published Dec 10, 2010

  After years of investigations into the now-disbanded Metro Gang Strike Force, the moment we've all been waiting for has arrived -- the inventory of El Primo Western Wear is finally up for auction. Ba... More >>

• James Armour leaves toddler with his dead girlfriend

  published Dec 09, 2010

  James Armour kinda, sorta thought his girlfriend might be dead when he left his 18-month-old son in her care. But he was late for work and didn't have time to make sure. Armour rose as he usually did... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Joel Rosenberg arrested for bringing gun to police headquarters

  published Dec 08, 2010

  What happens when you bring a gun into a police stationr You get arrested. A month later. At least that's what happened to Joel Rosenberg, Minneapolis's most rabid gun advocate, after he flaunted th... More >>

• Alex Pareene on leaving Gawker: "Gawker isn't taken seriously"

  published Dec 07, 2010

  Alex Pareene was blogging prolifically from his NYU dorm before anyone was paying him to do so, often about hating other NYU students and occasionally about his hometown, Minneapolis. Then like a fai... More >>

• Rufus Onel Victor, fleeing cops, rams car and kills mother and two sons

  published Dec 06, 2010

  Early Sunday morning, a state trooper noticed a Honda Accord just north of downtown Minneapolis weaving on I-94 and decided to pull it over. When he hit the lights, the car immediately roared ahead. ... More >>

• "King of Spam" Oleg Nikolaenko snagged by Wisconsin FBI

  published Dec 03, 2010

  Check your spam folder. According to the FBI, one in every three messages in there is courtesy of 23-year-old Oleg Nikolaenko. Since he ascended the "Spam King" throne in 2007, Nikolaenko has been res... More >>

• Rhonda Arkley sets house on fire with husband inside, stabs herself with screwdriver

  published Dec 02, 2010

  As Apple Valley police sped up to Rhonda Arkley's house this morning, flames leaped out of the back. Her husband was still inside. Arkley, meanwhile, was sitting in her car out front, stabbing herse... More >>

• Rep. Tom Hackbarth's loaded-gun story unravelling

  published Dec 02, 2010

  When Rep. Tom Hackbarth was confronted by St. Paul Police as he lurked in the Planned Parenthood parking lot with a loaded gun on his hip, he gave a perfectly reasonable explanation. He wasn't a craz... More >>

• Larry Falter flogs jewelry in Second Coming of Christ sale [VIDEO]

  published Dec 01, 2010

  According to Larry Falter, we should all be preparing for the Second Coming of Christ. Get baptized. Repent. Beware the great deception. But the owner of LTD Jewelers in Superior, Wis., would add th... More >>

• Samuel Hengel dead after taking 26 hostages at Wisconsin school [UPDATES]

  published Nov 30, 2010

  Sixth period Western Civilization class was just coming to a close at a Wisconsin high school when 15-year-old Samuel Hengel suddenly took the class hostage with two loaded handguns. The ensuing stan... More >>

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  COVER STORY

  Joshua Michael Martin: Cop killer

  published December 1, 2010

  Joshua Michael Martin walks to the interview room at Minnesota Correctional Facility-Stillwater, hands clasped behind his back. The barred gate... More >>