Friday, October 3, 2025
On Thursday, convicted murderer Walter Daniel Kenning was sentenced to life behind bars without the possibility of parole. Kenning was found guilty by a jury last week in Stearns County District Court of first degree murder in the 2018 death of Jennifer Lee Moy. Kenning, on September 29th of that year, walked into St. Cloud Police Headquarters and confessed that he had killed a woman at his home. Kenning says he murdered the Blaine woman after being told to do so by God. He says he was promised he would be able to resurrect her afterwards. Kenning’s case had been delayed for years as he was initially found incompetent to stand trial. A series of Rule 20 hearings continued to deliver the same result until December 2024, when Kenning’s trial was given the green light. Initially set for March 2025, it had to be delayed again after Kenning’s defense team introduced a slate of last minute witnesses and documents that the prosecution had not had prior access to. Kenning’s sentence was handed down by District Court Judge Nathaniel Welte.
A 91 year old was injured when their vehicle caught fire at the intersection of Highway 371 and Highway 210 in Baxter on Wednesday. It was reported the 91-year-old taken to the hospital with unknown injuries. No other injuries were reported and authorities were investigating the cause of the incident.
The Minnesota Department of Transportation is making improvements to Highway 25 between Monticello and Buffalo next summer. MnDOT is holding two open house community meetings on Thursday, October 9th, to gather community feedback on the project. An open house for businesses will be from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., and a public open house will be from 5pm to 7pm. Both meetings will be held at the Wright County Government Center in Buffalo. The $15.5-million project is in partnership with Wright County and the cities of Monticello and Buffalo. It will improve safety, traffic flow, and drainage. The work includes resurfacing, new pipes, improved access to the highway, and roundabouts. There will be no formal presentations, and people can come and go at their leisure. To learn more, visit MnDOT's Highway 25 project page.
Otter Tail County authorities identified a man who was killed in a traffic accident on Monday outside Perham. Police said Robert Stelzer, 65, of Detroit Lakes, was driving his motorcycle west on Fort Thunder Road when he went through a stop sign, striking an oncoming vehicle at the intersection with County Highway 125. County officials said the driver of the second vehicle, a 33-year-old man in a pick-up truck, was uninjured. Stelzer died at the scene despite life-saving attempts by emergency responders, according to the sheriff's office.
The Otter Tail County Sheriff's Office said a man walking on a highway was struck and killed Wednesday evening south of New York Mills. The crash happened shortly after 8 p.m. in Otto Township, when a passing pickup truck hit the 24-year-old, who was on the 37000 block of County Highway 67. Deputies found the man unresponsive in a ditch. First responders tried to save him, but he died at the scene. "The 42-year-old New York Mills man who was the driver of the vehicle involved, a Dodge pick-up, stopped at the scene and was cooperative with the investigation," the news release stated. No other information about the incident or the man's identity has been released.
A message from Morrison County that county offices at the government center are open for service during the federal government shutdown, some offices that are federal regulated may be short staffed during this time or some limitations but will effect any state or county offices at the government center, public works, Morrison Soil and Water and others, Soil and Water also will have free Nitrate Testing at their office 16776 Heron Road Little Falls October 20th through 24th, contact them with questions at 320-631-3551.
Weekend events include St. John's in Swanville craft fair Saturday, Bouja feed on Sunday at Holy Family of Belle Prairie, Bowlus Legion Auxiliary fundraiser Sunday 11am-3pm baked and canned good and othe items in Bowlus. St. Francis Convent has the blessing of the animals Sunday at noon at the convent campus. Other events can be found be going to fallsradio.com and click on the Community Calendar.
Death Notices: LeRoy Kenneth Miller, age 85 of Pierz.
Weather: Sunny and warm today, high 86, some morning fog, clear night and muggy tonight low 70. Saturday sunny warm and very breezy, high 90 low around 68 with 40mph wind gusts. Sunday chance of T-storms, sunny and humid, high 81, with another round of showers ending in evening cooler and windy low 42. Monday partly sunny and breezy, high 62, clear and cooler at night, low 35. some patchy frost Tuesday then partly cloudy, high 61, cool night low around 32 with frost likely into Wednesday sunny and cool, high around 57, cool night again with lows in the 30s.
Sports: High School Football today and tonight Maple Lake at Upsala vs. USA Patriots at 2pm on Q92 WYRQ. Royalton at Osakis 7pm on Q92 WYRQ. Pierz hosts St. Cloud Apollo 7pm on 94ROCKS and Albany at Little Falls 7pm on AM960 KLTF also all games streamed online at fallsradio.com. Tennis began playoffs this week for high school teams, soccer next week get the update on high school sports tomorrow morning at 9:05am on KLTF. San Francisco beat the Rams in LA 26-23 in overtime last night in the NFL. The Vikings have another game in Europe this time in London Sunday morning vs. Cleveland at 8:30am kickoff Sunday.