Friday, October 23, 2026
Little Falls Police Department was made aware of vandalism and some thefts reported this week around the city of Little Falls. They remind residents, motorists, business owners if you notice suspicious activity of any kind to contact the police department at 320-616-5570 or if a crime is in progress call 911. Linden Hill was one of the spots targeted by vandals, it was reported that their candlelight tours and Edgar Allen Poe events scheduled for this weekend at the Mansions will still go on without issues.
Two children suffered serious injuries when they were struck by a car in St. Cloud on Wednesday afternoon. The St. Cloud Police Department was dispatched to the intersection of 15th Avenue SE and University Drive SE at around 4:50 p.m. Police say an adult and two children, ages six and 10, were crossing in a crosswalk and were struck by a car turning onto 15th Avenue from University Drive. Police say the children suffered substantial injuries that did not appear to be life-threatening. The six-year-old child was flown to Children's Hospital via air ambulance. The 10-year-old child was brought by ground ambulance to Children's Hospital. The adult pedestrian was not transported. Police say the driver of the car, 56-year-old Nancy Thelen of St. Cloud, was cited for failure to yield to a pedestrian in a crosswalk.
One person was injured Thursday morning on Highway 210 near Motley in Cass County. Just after 8am, 78-year-old Carla Scripture of Motley was eastbound on 210 when she veered to the left near 61st Avenue and collided with a vehicle that stopped at the shoulder of the road. She was not hurt. 64-year-old Lloyd Lanz of Wadena was in the stopped vehicle and injured, taken to Staples Hospital for treatment.
A couple from Isle were hurt in a two-vehicle accident Thursday afternoon around 3:10pm on Highway 47 at Highway 27 is Isle of Mille Lacs County. Stephanie Simon, 59 of Isle was turning out of a gas station and collided with an oncoming vehicle driven by 63-year-old Gregory Warneke of Isle. Simon and her 68-year-passenger were taken to Mille Lacs Health System in Onamia for treatment of non life threatening injuries. The other driver was not injured.
A St. Cloud man is accused of threatening a young woman with a knife, groping her, and trying to have intercourse with her. Stearns County prosecutors have charged 44-year-old Olo Cham with 2nd-degree assault with a dangerous weapon, attempted 1st-degree assault, and 2nd-degree criminal sexual conduct. According to the charges, Cham's niece and her friend were staying at Cham's home last Saturday when the niece called police to report that her uncle had a knife and was trying to have sex with her friend. Officers arrived to find the caller holding a large knife and the victim visibly upset. The victim said she was in a room with Cham, and he was trying to have intercourse with her and repeatedly tried removing her clothing, including pulling up her dress and underwear. She told officers that Cham was holding a knife to her back and was saying, " If I cannot sleep with you, I'm gonna kill you. Otherwise, give yourself to me, and I will sleep with you." Cham is also accused of grabbing the woman's groin and tearing her clothing off. Court records show the niece heard her friend's call for help, went into the room, and took the knife from her uncle. According to the charges, police noted blood on the victim's underwear from a cut to Cham's hand. DNA testing confirmed it was Cham. He was arrested at the scene. Cham is due in court on November 2nd.
The Bemidji State University campus will see major changes over the next several years as Northwest Technical College will be moving to the same campus as the university. Recently, BSU has seen an increase in adult and online learners, creating less of a need for on-campus living. With the upcoming NTC move, the university said it wants to repurpose or demolish underutilized facilities. The decision for the new comprehensive facilities plan, which has been in the works for a year and a half, was born of necessity, as rising enrollment means NTC is outgrowing the current building. But the move is also being made for financial reasons. “Collectively, this plan will help Bemidji State and NTC to pull $1 million off the books in annual expenses that we spend on facilities, redirecting those dollars into our people,” said Dr. Hoffman. “Additionally, we currently have a $10 million backlog. Most of that is for the BSU facilities that we will be pulling down as a part of this process.” BSU said that there will be no impact to classes other than their location, and the move will not create cuts to staff or current academic programs. The design plans will start being drafted in the spring. “The design phase will be for two projects, [one is] the new NTC industrial lab trades facility,” Hoffman added. “We will also begin the design phase for a one stop that serves Bemidji State and NTC students.” The project is set to be completed with a mix of state funding, fundraising, and private-public partnerships, but the university is still early in the planning process. Although BSU and NTC will be operating in the same location, the two entities are not being combined. They will remain separate four-year and two-year institutions with their own programming, just out of one campus.
The Pierz City Council meets Monday at 7pm at Pierz City Hall.
Sister Julien spoke on KLTF Thursday and mentioned the blood drive at the St. Francis Convent in Little Falls is Monday through Wednesday next week. Monday is pretty much filled up. You can call to see if any times may have opened up between 1-7pm. Tuesday is 12-6pm and there are still openings for that day, but going fast. Wednesday is pretty much all open still from 8:30am-2:30pm by calling Sister Julien at 320-632-0663 or go to redcrossblood.org.
Entertainment News: Country Music Hall of Famer John Anderson died on Wednesday at age 71. Anderson had numerous country music hits like Black Sheep, Swingin, Seminole Wind and others in the 1980s and 1990s. Emmy Award winning actor Tom Skerritt has died Wednesday at age 93. Was in movies like M A S H, Alien and Top Gun and won an Emmy for his role in Picket Fences on TV. Ron Duguay, who played twelve seasons in the National Hockey League, died on Thursday Oct. 22 following a two-year battle with colon cancer, his loved ones confirmed on social media. He was 69. Former Governor of Alaska and Vice Presidential Candidate Sarah Palin had been his girlfriend for the past 4 years.
Death Notices: Sam Plante, age 90 of Fort Ripley.
Weather: increasing clouds today with showers between 2-7pm this afternoon and tonight, high 72, winds gusty from the south 15-35mph. Tonight showers ending, cloudy, breezy and mild, low near 60. Cloudy Saturday showers likely 9am-1pm then partly sunny, high 70 early, temps falling later in the day with strong winds south early then northwest later in the day. Clearing and cooler Saturday night low near 40. Sunday partly sunny and cooler, high 52, clear and cool Sunday night low around 34. Monday rain showers start by mid-morning into the afternoon, high 49, showers some sleet and snow late, low near 30. Tuesday partly sunny, high near 50, low around 32. Wednesday few showers, high near 52, low around 36. Thursday partly sunny skies, high 52, low around 35.
Sports: HS Football: Playoffs start on Tuesday for some area teams, Little Falls will be at Detroit Lakes Tuesday at 6pm on AM960 KLTF. Royalton will be home Tuesday night at 6pm on Q92 WYRQ. Some teams like Upsala-Swanville, Pierz and others will get first round byes and play October 31st. NHL: Calgary beat the Wild 2-1 last night, Wild at Seattle 8:45pm Saturday, Wild at Vancouver 8:45pm Sunday both on Q92 WYRQ. NBA: Timberwolves at Orlando tonight at 6pm, home opener is Sunday against Toronto. COL FB: Gophers host Iowa at 2:30pm Saturday for Floyd of Rosedale. St. John's Football at Carleton 1pm Saturday. NFL: Chicago beat New England 30-24 last night on Thursday Night Football, Bears (5-2). Indianapolis at Minnesota Vikings at noon Sunday on AM960 KLTF Green Bay at Detroit to follow and then Seattle hosts Kansas City on Sunday night all on AM960 KLTF and fallsradio.com. Yesterday in high school sports, Pillager 20-17 over Park Rapids in football. Royalton wins in volleyball over Eden Valley Watkins. Holdingford/Upsala boys were 1st with Quinn Guthrie 1st at Conference Cross Country Meet, girls were 3rd. Royalton boys 6th, Ian Ratke 13th, Girls were 4th with Chloe Reedy 3rd for Royalton on Thursday.