Monday, June 23, 2025

National News: The United States attacked three sites in Iran early Sunday Iran time/Saturday afternoon Minnesota time inserting itself into Israel’s war aimed at destroying the Iranian nuclear program. U.S. President Donald Trump asserted that Iran’s key nuclear sites were “completely and fully obliterated” in an address to the nation from the White House calling the attacks "very successful".  Hours later, Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the time for diplomacy had passed and that his country had the right to defend itself, saying the U.S. had “crossed a very big red line.” It was not clear whether the U.S. would continue attacking Iran alongside its ally Israel, which has been engaged in a war with Iran for nine days. President Trump reportedly acted without any congressional authorization but stated following the attacks that he warned Iran there would be additional strikes if Tehran retaliated against U.S. forces stating “There will either be peace or there will be tragedy for Iran,” according to President Trump.

State News: Search warrants and federal court papers were released Friday in the case against 57-year-old Vance Boelter. According to the search warrants, inside Vance Boelter's Green Isle home, authorities found 48 pistols, revolvers, shotguns, and rifles. They also found boxes of ammunition, a camouflage suit, a notecard with public officials' names on it, multiple computers, and nearly $18,000 in cash. Police say Boelter had 12 separate vehicles registered to him at his home in Green Isle.  According to the search warrants, in an interview on June 14 with Boelter's wife, she allegedly told police that at approximately 6:15 a.m., she received a text from Boelter in a family group chat indicating that he was sorry. The search warrant says he also texted her to get their family's belongings and leave the house to go to a family member's home in northern Minnesota to avoid being "implicated in this." Boelter's wife also confirmed to the police that Boelter had recently purchased a silicone face mask on Amazon. In these search warrants, we also learned that Boelter had a storage unit on the 4600 block of N Lyndale Ave in Minneapolis. Inside the storage unit, authorities discovered a duffel bag with 5 body bags inside, gun cases, a pair of pants, gun cleaning supplies, and a grey tarp. Federal court papers revealed that when Boelter's wife was pulled over in Mille Lacs County on Saturday, she agreed to a search of her vehicle. Police found two pistols, at least $10,000 in cash, and all of their kids and Boelter's passports. We also learned that Boelter and his wife were "preppers," people who prepare for catastrophic incidents. The attack on June 14th left DFL Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark dead. State Senator John Hoffman and his wife Yvette were also shot and are recovering. Boelter is charged in federal court with one count of stalking Rep. Hortman; one count of stalking Sen. Hoffman; two counts of murder through use of a firearm — punishable up to death — and two counts of firearm offenses for the shootings of the Hoffmans.

Strong to severe storms Friday night into Saturday and then another round of strong and severe thunderstorms last night into today have left parts of Beltrami County warning residents to stay away from some of the areas, after strong winds and flash flooding closed roadways and downed powerlines early Saturday morning. Reports still of thousands without power in the north central part of the state and more severe storms with damaging winds and hail occurred overnight again. Buildings around the colleges were heavily damaged lots of uprooted trees and debris across many roadways. National Weather Service personnel will be out today to investigate if it was straight line winds or tornadoes that went through the area. The Bemidji Regional Airport registered winds of 106 mph late Friday into Saturday. Beltrami County Emergency Management said heavy rains and flash flooding caused vehicles to stall in downtown Bemidji. Officials are asking people to avoid traveling in Bemidji as crews are working to clear off the roads. Officials requested that residents wait to report property damage, as dispatch is handling a high number of emergency calls. A number of counties were thunderstorm warnings including Crow Wing and Cass County early Saturday from strong winds before the hot weather moved in with temps in the 90s and heat index values around 105-111 over the weekend before more storms overnight led to warnings in Beltrami, Cass and Crow Wing County once again. Little Falls had no measurable rain Friday night, and around a 1/4 of a inch early this morning. More rain is in the forecast with heavy downpours on Wednesday. 

The Benton County Board of Commissioners has scheduled a special meeting for Monday morning concerning the new government center. Scheduled to be built on a vacant lot on Dewey Street, the board will look to select a bid from the 127 options before them. Project manager Contegrity Group says the average cost is $27.6 million, well below what the firm had projected. The low bid is only $24.5 million, compared to the $29.7 million that had been expected. Contegrity says the number of bids is among the five highest it has ever received for a Minnesota construction project. Following the awarding of bids, the commissioners will hear from Northland Securities about different financing options. They will look at terms lasting between 15 and 30 years. The shorter the term, the lower the interest rate on the debt and the less money that has to be paid back overall. Longer terms increase the number of payments and bring down the overall yearly obligations for property owners. The meeting is only expected to be 30 minutes at 9am. 

The Mississippi River between Little Falls and St. Cloud harbors one of Minnesota’s best-kept fishing secrets. The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources calls this stretch a fish menagerie in the heart of central Minnesota. “Honestly, we have a great diversity of species you can catch,” says DNR Area Fisheries Manager Eric Altena, who describes this section as a hidden gem. “I mean, if you throw a nightcrawler out anywhere in the Mississippi, you’ve got a chance to catch probably about 16 different varieties.” The catch includes smallmouth bass, walleye, northern pike, channel catfish, muskie, crappie, bluegill, and rock bass. While the river supports 35 total types overall, not all are game fish that anglers can keep. Still, the diversity offers something for every angler’s preference. This abundance is matched by equally impressive water access. The St. Cloud metro provides exceptional shore fishing opportunities, making the river accessible even to those without boats. “Right around the St. Cloud Metro is pretty amazing for riverbank access, right adjacent to the shore,” Altena explains. “There’s parks in Sauk Rapids, there’s parks in St. Cloud. It makes for a great chance to wet your line, even if you don’t have a boat or kayak.” For success, Altena recommends focusing on the river’s structure and current patterns. The water levels are also quite high due to recent rains and thunderstorms where some areas of Sherburne, Wright and Meeker Counties have posted No Way Warnings and High Water Advisories around the lakeshores to boaters at this time. 

A man is fighting for his life after a motorcycle crash on Interstate 94 near Monticello. According to the Minnesota State Patrol preliminary accident report, 44-year-old Nicholas William Opatz was heading east when he lost control and was tossed from the bike. Troopers say the Breckenridge man wasn’t wearing a helmet. The accident was reported around 5pm on Sunday. Opatz was rushed to North Memorial Hospital with life-threatening injuries. His current condition wasn’t released.

The Pierz City Council meets tonight at 7pm at Pierz City Hall.

Death Notices- Margaret T. Olson, age 106 of Little Falls.

Weather- morning showers and thunderstorms, then clearing skies in afternoon, cooler temps, high 76, with dewpoints back in the 50s by tonight. Clear skies tonight, cooler, low 51. Tuesday sunny and pleasant, with highs around 75, showers after midnight, low around 53. Heavy rain is forecast for Wednesday with showers and storms in the morning and again later in the afternoon and evening, high near 68, low around 55. 

Sports- Oklahoma City wins the NBA Championship 103-91 last night in game 7 over Indiana to take the series 4-3 and win their first championship in OKC history (the franchise had won a title in the 70s when in Seattle). Milwaukee blasts the Twins Friday night winning 17-6. Brewers shut out the Twins Saturday 9-0 as the Twins only got 4 hits in the entire game. Brewers get the sweep Sunday holding off the Twins 9-8 to take the 3 game series. The Twins (37-40) have lost 9 of their last 11 games and start a series with Seattle tonight at Target Field, pregame at 6pm on Q92 WYRQ. Lynx won 82-66 over Los Angeles Saturday night in WNBA action, the Lynx now are 12-1 and have Washington Tuesday. The KLTF Victory League game yesterday was postponed. This Sunday it is Avon at Buckman at 1:30pm on AM960 KLTF.  Reminder to local teams Junior Victory League, American Legion, VFW and others to send scores and results to ads@fallsradio.com or alex@fallsradio.com to get your scores on Little Falls Radio and on the weekly sports wrap on Saturday mornings on KLTF.