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News: Monday, January 20th, 2025
--An Extreme Cold Weather Warning is in effect until noon Tuesday. Temperatures this morning are around -15 to -30 in areas with wind chills factors not a lot in areas but still -30 to -40 due to air temps. Winds will pick up 10-15 miles per hour today meaning that evening colder air tonight with air temps of -20 to -35 and wind chills near -40 to -50 in spots going into Tuesday morning. Because of the cold weather today Bonebuilders at the Little Falls Senior is canceled.
--Today is Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day. A federal holiday to remember the civil rights leader established by President Ronald Reagan in 1986. All government agencies and offices are likely closed today including courthouses, government centers, city halls, post offices with no regular mail delivery, banks and financial institutions, most schools are off today and some businesses are closed. Best to check ahead before heading out on a cold Monday. One note that parcel services announced they will run their regular schedule of deliveries today.
--A Holdingford man is charged with murder after he allegedly provided another man with drugs involved in a fatal overdose. According to the criminal complaint filed in Stearns County District Court, 31-year-old Cody Johannes sold the victim methamphetamine and fentanyl on November 17, 2024. The victim's body was found two days later after his brother called St. Cloud Police for a welfare check. Police say they found the man's body in the bedroom of an apartment with drug paraphernalia in his hand commonly used to smoke fentanyl pills and a piece of tin foil nearby with what appeared to be burn lines. An autopsy of the man showed he died of drug toxicity from the presence of fentanyl, xylazine, and methamphetamine. Court records show investigators conducted a data extraction of the victim's phone which investigators allege showed text messages between the victim and Johannes discussing drug sales. One of those conversations specifically discussed a drug transaction on the morning of the man's death. Police say phone records show Johannes is the only person the victim contacted about getting the drugs. Johannes is charged with one count of 3rd-degree murder. He is due in court on February 6th.
--State Troopers, deputies and police officers made 2,079 driving while impaired (DWI) arrests during the holiday enforcement campaign from Thanksgiving eve to New Years Eve (November 27th-December 31st). This campaign reinforces the importance of planning a sober ride, even if a person believes they’re fine to drive after drinking. Each DWI arrest tells a story of reckless, irresponsible behavior that puts lives at risk. In St. Paul, one driver stopped by police said she thought she was OK to drive after having dinner with a friend. She had a 0.112 blood alcohol content (BAC). The legal limit is 0.08. In Minneapolis, a trooper arrested a driver who had three children in his vehicle. His BAC was 0.186. Two 911 callers helped Zumbrota police locate an impaired 27-year-old female driver. The woman had six prior DWI convictions. The Minnesota Department of Public Safety’s Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) coordinated the campaign, which included extra enforcement, with funding provided by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. “A 27-year-old with six DWIs, and a man driving impaired with three children in the car— these examples are disturbing and heartbreaking, but we know there were drivers who chose to do the right thing and drive safe and sober this holiday,” said OTS Director Mike Hanson. “To those sober drivers I say thank you; it really was a gift. For those who chose to drive impaired, we’re grateful to our law enforcement partners who are relentlessly protecting Minnesotans from those reckless decisions.” Duluth authorities had 35 arrests during that period. The 2,079 is up from over 1,600 arrests during that same period last year and the recent DWI arrests during that period is the most since 2021 in Minnesota.
--The Brainerd Jaycees announced Friday that the Ice Fishing Extravaganza on Hole in the Day Bay off of Gull Lake is a GO for 2025. There is enough ice to hold the event on February 1st at noon. But again this year no motorized vehicles will be allowed on the ice during the event. The event is the largest fundraiser for the Jaycees bringing in hundreds of thousands of dollars and they return by giving out large numbers of prizes including a new truck.
NATIONAL NEWS- Today is Inauguration Day in Washington D.C. President-elect Donald J. Trump will become the 47th Commander in Chief of the United States taking the oath of office at 12pm eastern (11am central). President Trump becomes only the second President to serve non consecutive terms in the White House, Grover Cleveland was the first in 1885 and 1893 for four year terms. Trump won the election in 2016 but lost in 2020 to President Joe Biden. You can hear the Inauguration oath of office today at 11am on AM960 KLTF Little Falls and fallsradio.com.
NATIONAL NEWS- on Saturday Tik-Tok went dark on phones and mobile devices just ahead of the government ban on the app but that only lasted a few hours as by late Sunday morning most devices were back online with Tik-Tok and a thank you to President Donald Trump for working out a way to keep the Tik-Tok devices going for at least the next 90 days as one of his items he was to approve after taking office today.
DEATH NOTICES- Curt E. Hanson, age 72 of Little Falls, Betty Kern, age 94 of Little Falls, Cindy Krueger, age 65 of Royalton.
WEATHER- Extreme Cold Warning in effect until noon Tuesday. Today- sunny and cold, high -7, wind chills near -35, tonight very cold, low -26, wind chills -44. Tuesday- sunny and cold, high 4 above with snow developing late Tuesday night, temps rising into Wednesday with high 22, could be 1-2 inches of snow.
SPORTS- NFL= Kansas City beat Houston 23-14, Washington ousted Detroit 45-31 on Saturday. Philadelphia beat LA Rams 28-22 and Buffalo held off Baltimore last night 27-25 in the NFL. This Sunday the NFC Championship is Washington at Philadelphia at 2pm, followed by the AFC Championship pitting Buffalo at Kansas City at 5:30pm. Both games live on AM960 KLTF with winners going to the Super Bowl in New Orleans on February 9th.
News: Friday, January 17th, 2025
News: Thursday, January 16th, 2025