News

Governor Tim Walz ordered Thursday for state buildings to lower flags to half-staff in honor of a firefighter who died after responding to the Bear Trap Fire. Leslie R. Washington, a wildland firefighter from Noorvik, Alaska, suffered a medical emergency Tuesday while responding to the wildfire. He died later at a nearby hospital.  The Bear Trap Fire, located 20 miles north of Ely, has consumed nearly 30,000 acres in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW). As of Wednesday, firefighting crews had the flames 44% contained. 

Luigi Mangione, the 28-year-old pleaded guilty to two federal counts of stalking resulting in death in connection with the 2024 killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson of Minnesota. At the request of District Judge Margaret M. Garnett, he detailed his criminal actions, Mangione, who shared that he suffered from back pain for years—said that he learned UnitedHealthcare was having a conference only being attended by executives and investors. He said he emailed leadership, posing as an investor, to find the address before using a 3-D printer to print part of his gun. "I shot Mr. Thompson in Manhattan, and he died," he told the judge. "And I knew what I was doing was illegal." Mangione will be sentenced December 18th where he likely to be receive life in prison. 

Numerous accidents occurred Friday in Stearns and Benton County. One person was injured around 3:30pm when two vehicles collided in Maine Prairie Township, one of the drivers from Kimball had non life threatening injuries. A 50-year-old from Melrose was critically injured when his Harley Davidson motorcycle struck a turning pickup on Highway 71 in Lake George Township Friday around 9:15pm. Neil Blenker was taken to St. Cloud Hospital with life threatening injuries. A 24-year-old from St. Cloud was injured around 8:20pm when three vehicles collided in Benton County on Highway 23 and 14th Avenue. Michael Lakusa was driving a Honda Fit tried to maneuver around two-vehicles and the three collided in the intersection. Lakusa was taken to St. Cloud Hospital while the other drivers from Brainerd and Virginia MN were not injured. Another accident occurred off Highway 15 and Interstate 94 around 12:15am Saturday, the drivers were treated at the scene but not hospitalized according to the Minnesota State Patrol. 

The Morrison County Sheriff's Office, local police departments, members from Crow Wing County law enforcement recently conducted training at the Morrison County/Little Falls Airport where they conducted traffic stop, critical incidents, and other training measures were conducted. The Sheriff's wanted the public to know that if you saw a large presence of law enforcement vehicles and flashing lights out at the airport the previous days it was training going on at the airport. 

Living Hope Church north of Little Falls has their Family Fun Day today, Sunday August 16th, service at 10am then food, games, bingo, prizes, outdoor events and everything is FREE. Come for the fun and the giveaways all afternoon at Living Hope Church today. 

The Little Falls City Council meets Monday at 7:30pm at City Hall Council Chambers.

Death Notices: Donald Waldvogel, age 91 of Little Falls. 

Weather: sunny skies Sunday, high 79. Clear and much cooler tonight, low around 49. Sunny and warmer Monday high 82, showers and thunderstorms between 4-10pm some with heavy downpours, then clearing skies low 56. Tuesday sunny skies, high 75, clear and 50 Tuesday night. Wednesday sunny and 77, clear and 53 Wednesday night. Sunny and humid Thursday, high 84, storms Thursday night low 57. Sunny and warm on Friday, high 85, low around 61. 

Sports: Phillies beat the Twins 9-1 on Saturday night. Twins and Phillies wrap up series today at 1:10pm at Target Field. Lynx win 92-87 over Las Vegas last night with Olivia Miles leading the Lynx with 23 points as 6 players have double digits in the game. Vikings win 13-10 Saturday over New York Giants in preseason game #1 but lost defensive player Jamal Adams to what the coach said was a "brutal knee injury". The Region 4B and 9C Tournament wrapped up early Sunday morning after a lengthy rain delay last night. Sobieski 7-4 over Buckman in 10 innings for the Region 4B Championship. Pierz Brewers won 2-0 on Friday night over Aitkin for 9C Championship. Nisswa 4-3 over Avon, Foley 18-1 over Pierz Lakers on Friday, Saturday Foley 3-0 over Nisswa for 3rd place, Pierz Lakers 5-0 over Avon for 5th place and on to state. In 9C Opole 5-1 over Randall Friday night, Aitkin 3-1 over Opole late Saturday night to advance to state in 9C. The State Tournament for Class B and C seed Sunday with games starting Friday night. Good luck to Sobieski (who gets a first round bye), Buckman, Foley, Nisswa and Pierz Lakers in Class B at state and also the Pierz Brewers and Aitkin who go in Class C. State coverage will be heard on AM960 KLTF and streamed online at fallsradio.com.