Brainerd Police Chief Frank Ball has announced he will leave the police department at the end of this month, and that he has accepted a job with the Department of Public Safety in St. Paul.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - State alcohol enforcement officials have fined liquor-law violators dozens of times because cities have declined to do so.

The Texas Hold 'em poker tournament planned Sunday at Brainerd High School for students and staff has been postponed indefinitely, Brainerd school officials said Friday.

A 19-year-old student in the Brainerd lakes area enjoyed playing poker with his friends in high school and thought gambling was fun.

Former Brainerd Police Chief Frank Ball continues to serve as the Department of Public Safety's director of alcohol and gambling enforcement and hopes to continue in that post.

A Texas Hold 'em poker tournament planned Sunday at Brainerd High School by a student group for students and staff would be considered an unlawful form of gambling, a state gambling official said Thursday.

Frank Ball, once considered Brainerd's most quotable cop and now a director for the Minnesota Department of Public Safety, is bound for Afghanistan.