NEWS
--The 15th Annual Little Falls Dam Festival is today and tomorrow with a sidewalk sale today from businesses, events begin at Maple Island Park at 5pm with live music tonight. Tomorrow a bike ride, River Rat Run at Belle Prairie Park, fly-in breakfast and free airplane rides at the airport, parade at 11:00am on 1st Street South in Little Falls, events continue at Maple Island Park all afternoon with bingo, petting zoo, games, magic show, raffle, DJ music and fireworks. Also the Little Falls Radio Cash Cube will be at the Dam Festival from 1-3pm Saturday. Come and get a chance to win prizes like Tim McGraw/Faith Hill tickets and tickets to Iconic Fest in Brainerd Saturday 1-3 in the Cash Cube. More details on events for the Dam Festival at fallsradio.com and then click on the dam festival logo.
--The body of a missing boater has been recovered from a Cass County lake. Sheriff's officials say he was thrown from a boat along with another man on Hay Lake near Backus Tuesday afternoon. The other man was rescued and was treated for minor injuries. The other man's body was recovered late Wednesday afternoon. The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and Lakes Area Dive Team helped with the search. The identity of the men have not been released.
--Motorists who travel Highway 210 through Crosby and Deerwood may encounter construction crews, equipment and occasional delays as segments of the road are intermittently reduced to a single lane during daytime hours beginning Monday. The short-term closures are needed as part of a Minnesota Department of Natural Resources project to construct 2.5 miles of non-motorized trail along the north and east sides of Highway 210 between County Highway 31, located near Crosby, and Broadway Street in Deerwood. For real-time travel information in Minnesota, visit www.511mn.org or dial 5-1-1.
--25 Soldiers from the Minnesota National Guard's Brooklyn Park-based 147th Financial Management Support Detachment will deploy Saturday to several installations throughout Southwest Asia in support of Operation Spartan Shield. The Soldiers will provide financial management support for service members, government civilians, Department of Defense contractors and others who are deployed overseas including check cashing, military pay support, contractor payment support and ensuring accountability of U.S. funds. Soldiers from the unit previously deployed to Afghanistan in 2013. The deployment ceremony is Saturday at 2:00pm at the Arden Hills Readiness Center.
--A 53-year old Waite Park man is in custody after selling methamphetamine on more than one occasion to a police informant. According to the court complaints, Eric Jay Robertson sold methamphetamine to a confidential informant who had been provided money and electronic surveillance devices by police, on March 29th and May 14th. In the March 29th incident, the substance sold to the informant tested positive for methamphetamine and weighed 28.5 grams, with packaging. In the May 14th incident, the substance sold to the informant tested positive for methamphetamine and weighed 15.2 grams, with packaging. In both instances, the police informant was searched before and after encountering Robertson to confirm they did not have drugs or U.S. currency. The substances sold to the informant were turned over to police. Robertson was arrested Tuesday morning and taken to Stearns County Jail. He faces a possible felony first degree drug sale charge.
--A couple of reminders from area law enforcement that today at 10am is the community event on Elder Abuse Awareness at the Pierz Villa. This is open to all to come and hear speakers on scams, exploitation of seniors and worker burnout in senior facilities. Also next Wednesday, June 20th is the Law Enforcement Torch Run in Morrison County. For more details on the torch run for Special Olympics contact Josh Andrea at the Little Falls Police Department.
--A ruptured natural gas line occurred Thursday around 3:40pm on Sixth Street in Brainerd due to construction nearby. The fire department said residents were notified nearby of the leak and suggested the 3-4 homes be evacuated for safety concerns. Centerpoint Energy turned off the gas, and firefighters ventilated the site with the cracked 3-inch pipe that was hit. No injuries were reported and residents were allowed to return by 5:30pm.
--MDU Resources Group Inc. announced last week they have acquired Tri City Paving, a general contractor and aggregate asphalt and ready-mix concrete supplier headquartered in Little Falls. Tri City will become part of Knife River Corporation, the construction materials subsidiary of MDU Resources. Financial details of the acquisition were not disclosed. In addition to its aggregate reserves and related processing equipment, Tri City operates three ready mix plants, three portable asphalt plants and a dust control operation. It will become part of Knife River's central Minnesota division which is headquartered in Sauk Rapids.
--A 24-year-old from Brainerd was injured in Benton County last night around 10:00pm when Aaron Ecklund struck a deer on Highway 25 in Graham Township near Rice. Ecklund had non-serious injuries.
--The Stearns County Sheriffs Office located a motor vehicle crash on westbound Highway 23 in St. Cloud early Friday morning just after midnight. The SUV driven by 22-year old Joel Marcial Reyes of St. Cloud was westbound when it had mechanical issues. The driver reported attempting to avoid a crash with another motor vehicle by taking the ditch. Upon entering the ditch, the SUV rolled several times before coming to a rest on the railroad tracks. The driver was transported to the St. Cloud Hospital for his injuries.
--The Little Falls City Council meets Monday at 7:30 at City Hall.
DEATH NOTICES
--Beverly E. Sahr, age 87 of Little Falls
--Charlene “Char” Stumpf, age 80 of Little Falls.
WEATHER
TODAY= partly cloudy, storms develop in PM, high 87.
TONIGHT= storms likely, some strong, low 67.
SATURDAY= storms early, cloudy, high 81, more storms late PM.
SAT NITE= storms likely, some severe, low 66.
SUNDAY= storms early, some sun, high 79, storms again late.
MONDAY= storms early, cooler, less humid in PM, high 72, low 51.
SPORTS
TWINS= Tigers go long ball on Twins in the 7th to win the rubber game 3-1 on Thursday. Twins are in Cleveland this weekend with pregame coverage tonight at 5:30, Saturday 2:30 and Sunday at 11:30am all live on Q92 WYRQ. Twins have Monday off.
VL= Randall at Flensburg Sunday at 1:30pm on KLTF, also get info all the games at fallsradio.com then click on Victory League.