NEWS
--At 3:44am Saturday the Morrison County Sheriff’s Office received a report of a one-vehicle accident on Highway 10 near 270th Street, approximately one mile north of Cushing, in Cushing Township. According to the Sheriff’s Office, 20-year-old Madalynn Frenzel of Bemidji was traveling west on Highway 10. Frenzel fell asleep behind the wheel and drove the vehicle off the road, hit a snowbank and rolled in the median. Frenzel and her 21-year-old passenger Toni Kimble of Bemidji were transported to St. Gabriel’s Hospital by Mayo Clinic Ambulance with unknown injuries.
--A boy was arrested last Tuesday, January 4th for threats of violence and assault at the Brainerd High School. The Brainerd Police Department responded to the high school at 1:25pm and arrested the boy on probable cause for felony threats and misdemeanor assault. Police Chief Mike Bestul said they do not believe the incident was related to the social media threats from mid-December leading multiple area schools including Brainerd and all Morrison County Schools closing their doors December 17th after a nationwide TikTok trend threatened school violence. The boy was transported to the Northwestern Minnesota Juvenile Center in Bemidji. Bestul would not comment further as the case was ongoing and involved a juvenile.
--Two dogs died in a fire in a detached garage in St. Cloud on Friday morning. The incident happened before 10:00am in the 2800 block of West St. Germain Street. The St. Cloud Fire Department, Animal Control, Mayo Ambulance, and the St. Cloud HRA all responded to the scene. Crews were able to contain and put out the fire. The St. Cloud Fire Marshal says the fire is believed to be an accident caused by a space heater. The damage is estimated at $24,000.
--A man was hurt when the snowmobile he was driving collided with a car. The Minnesota State Patrol says it happened just before 11am Saturday on Highway 95 in Princeton. The snowmobiler, 50-year-old Marvin Ross of Monticello, was taken to St. Cloud Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. The driver of the car, 20-year-old Joseph Schneider of Princeton, was not hurt.
--United States and Minnesota Flags across the state will be flown at half-staff in honor of a central Minnesota firefighter today. Governor Tim Walz ordered flags at all state buildings to be lowered from sunrise until sunset on Tuesday to remember St. Joseph Fire Captain Andy Loso. He passed away in November at the age of 42 from a medical illness he got while in the line of duty. Loso served with the St. Joseph Volunteer Fire Department for nearly 20 years.
--Leonice Prokott of the Upstage Players of Upsala wants to thank everyone who has preordered tickets for their dinner theatre show Wine, Cheese and Murder January 21st and 22nd. They sold out of tickets on Sunday night. Again the dinner theatre tickets are sold out. But there is a Dessert matinee on Sunday, January 23rd at 2pm at St. Mary's in Upsala for $10, there is not reservations for this so some and enjoy some cheesecake and the show on the 23rd in Upsala.
--The Pierz Knight of Columbus will hold their 25th Annual Buffalo Raffle on Saturday, January 29th from 4-8pm for a bufflo feed that will cost $7 with the raffle scheduled for 8:15pm that night. The event will be held at the Pierz Ballroom with live music. Raffle tickets are $10 and can be purchased by any KC member or at the event.
--The City of Little Falls is reminding residents that their offices will be closed on Monday, January 17th for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
--Upsala Area Schools announced their Triple A Award Winners for 2021-2022 are Christian Ripplinger and Kristine Bieniek.
--A 40-year-old Brainerd man faces charges of driving while intoxicated and fleeing a peace officer after leading a Baxter police officer on a chase. Andrew Derail Gilbert made his first court appearance last week in Crow Wing County District Court and faces charges of felony first-degree driving while intoxicated, felony refusing to submit to a chemical test, felony fleeing a peace officer in a motor vehicle, misdemeanor fleeing a peace officer by means other than a motor vehicle and misdemeanor operating a motor vehicle without an ignition interlock device. The charges stem at 11:35pm December 30th where a vehicle pulled over and stopped in the left turn lane to turn north onto Golf Course Drive, when the officer pulled in behind the vehicle with his emergency lights flashing, the vehicle accelerated away at a high rate of speed, still with no taillights activated. The pursuit on Highway 210 was estimating the speed to be between 80-90 mph. After a pursuit for some time then the suspect fled on foot. After a chase the suspect had to be TASED by a Brainerd Police Officer and was arrested.
--The USDA is releasing a recall on Iowa Smokehouse Original Smoked Beef Sticks with the sell-by dates of November 15th through November 17th, 2022 on its labels. The product was sold in 2-pound clear plastic packages. Abbyland Foods Inc, located in Wisconsin, recalled approximately 15,000 pounds of beef sticks because of misbranded packages, and also because they did not list allergens on the packages. The biggest problem is because the beef sticks contain milk, and they did not mention this on the label. So far, there have not been any reports of allergic reactions because of the errors. The Food Safety and Inspection Service is asking consumers to check their refrigerators, freezers, and pantries for the items, and encouraging people to throw them away without consumption. If you want a refund, they are asking that you return the products to the store from which they were purchased.
ENTERTAINMENT NEWS
--Actor, comedian Bob Saget died Sunday at age 65. Saget was found dead in his hotel room in Florida. Authorities have ruled out any foul play in the case. Saget was Danny Tanner on TV's Full House and the host of America's Funniest Home Videos when it debuts in the 1980s, he was also the grown up/narrator on How I Met Your Mother.
WEATHER
TODAY= mostly sunny, breezy, high 31, flurries overnight, low 19.
WEDNESDAY= flurries early, then partly sunny, high 30, low near 21.
THURSDAY= sunny, a bit cooler, breezy, high 23, low near 16.
SPORTS
HS BBB= Upsala at Pierz tonight 7:15pm on 94ROCKS KFML.
HS GBB= Little Falls at St. Cloud Cathedral tonight 7:15pm on Q92.
VIKINGS= The Minnesota Vikings Monday fired Head Coach Mike Zimmer after 8 seasons and fired General Manager Rick Spielman. Co-onwers Zygi and Mark Wilf informed both men they were going in a different direction with the team. The Vikings finished 8-9 and missed the playoffs. Zimmer went 2-3 in his playoff appearances. The Vikings were not the only team to fire coaches as Denver, Chicago and Miami all have parted way with their head coaches. Sources are stating that Dallas may already have some interest in Zimmer but that is if one or more of their coaches get new jobs after the season.
COL FB= #3 Georgia beat #1 Alabama 33-18 last night to win their first National College Football Championship since the 1980 season.