Thursday, April 10, 2025
After a bumpy night of thunderstorms in the area, with thunder, lightning, some heavy rain and even some small hail in central Minnesota, where northern and northeastern Minnesota had to deal again with freezing mix and snow last night. It is just another reminder that this week is Severe Weather Awareness, and today is on tornadoes. There will be two Statewide Tornado Drills today, the first at 1:45pm is aimed for businesses and schools on preparing in case of a tornado and what to do. The second drill at 6:45pm is usually set for families to work at home on a prepared plan for a tornado warning with their family and also for second shift works to plan at their place of business. Those will be happening today locally and around the state.
A grand jury returned an indictment including multiple first-degree murder charges against a 35-year-old Brainerd man accused of the November shooting death of another man and the abduction of a pregnant woman and her children near Brainerd which led to an Amber Alert and his arrest shortly thereafter in Morrison County that morning. With the indictment, Chad Aaron Aanerud is charged with three counts of murder in the first-degree, second-degree murder, first-degree criminal sexual conduct, five counts of kidnapping, first-degree arson, three counts of first-degree burglary, second-degree burglary, five counts of second-degree assault and one count of possession of a firearm by a person previously convicted of a crime of violence. On Wednesday, Aanerud and his attorney, Melanie Dotty, appeared in Crow Wing County District Court in front of Crow Wing County District Court Judge Kristine DeMay. Dotty asked the court to reset the scheduled May 5 court date as they needed time to review the grand jury transcripts before submitting their briefs. Aanerud is currently in custody in the Morrison County Jail and is being held on a $3 million bail or bond without conditions. He is due back in Crow Wing County District Court on August 25th. In December, the prosecution filed a notice it would seek enhanced sentencing. The notice stated Aanerud has a prior felony conviction for criminal sexual conduct, the offenses were committed in the presence of multiple minors, victims were treated with particular cruelty, and the vulnerability of the victim, who was pregnant at the time of the assault, to name a few. Aanerud is accused of shooting Lyle Maske on November 1st for allegedly being too noisy following a domestic situation. When officers arrived and tried to save Maske the dwelling he resided in was being burned to the ground allegedly intentionally set by Aanerud. Then later it was reported he at gunpoint forced a pregnant woman, who he was allegedly having a relationship with, and her five children into a minivan and left Brainerd which prompted the Amber Alert statewide around 6:40am that morning and within 45 minutes he was apprehended north of Little Falls in Morrison County. All in the van were reportedly uninjured and Aanerud was taken into custody.
Voters approved many school bond referendum votes on Tuesday. A $65 million proposal to renovate St. Cloud Apollo High School and build a new indoor multipurpose athletic facility both passed. District 742 property owners gave it the thumbs up/thumbs down by a vote of 62.15% yes to question one and 54.32% yes to question two. A total of 6,463 people cast a ballot. The project will cost the average owner of a $250,000 home $3.33 a month. Residents had two questions to answer. The first was to authorize $50 million for security upgrades and classroom renovations, and the second asked for $15 million for the indoor turf field and walking track. Question one had to be approved before question two could be passed. Pequot Lakes School District voters approved both ballot questions during a special election giving the nod to an array of projects to address school safety and security, maintenance and instructional spaces, as well as curriculum, instructional materials and technology. Voters answered two ballot questions — one asking for a $55 million bond referendum and another seeking a 10-year, $600,000 annual capital projects levy. Crow Wing County showed unofficial vote totals of 1,115 (52.7%) for vs. 1,000 (47.3%) against the bond referendum; and 1,147 (54.2%) for vs. 968 (45.8%) against the capital projects levy. A total of 2,115 votes were cast for each question. Pine River-Backus schools also reported there referendum passed Tuesday. Unofficial results from Cass County indicated voters had chosen to approve funding for the school's project repairing the roof, HVAC systems, buses and more. These projects are part of a 10-year capital projects levy totaling $896,000 annually. For a home valued at $300,000, taxes would increase approximately $6 a month in 2026.According to unofficial results on the Cass County website Tuesday night, April 8, 627 voters voted in favor of the referendum with 386 opposed. Another Cass County school district was not as fortunate as is was reported that the school bond referendum in Nevis failed on Tuesday.
An executive order designed to increase mining and American mineral production signed by President Donald Trump in late March has increased the urgency of the effort to protect Minnesota's Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. On Wednesday, U.S. Senator Tina Smith introduced the Boundary Waters Wildness Waters Wilderness Protection Act legislation that would permanently ban new sulfide ore mining on 225,504 acres of federal forest land in the Rainy River watershed, which drains into the BWCAW. Companion legislation has been introduced in the U.S. House by Congresswoman Betty McCollum (D-St. Paul) “The Boundary Waters must be protected for today, and future generations," said Sen. Smith in a news release announcing her legislation. "The impartial science and data show unequivocally that copper-nickel sulfide mining poses an unacceptable risk to the Boundary Waters." Sen. Smith, a longtime advocate of preserving and protecting the beloved wilderness, has long pushed for comprehensive and science-driven processes for determining potential environmental impacts posed by mining. Her office maintains that Smith's efforts resulted in a federal order issued in January 2023 protecting the BWCAW from copper-sulfide mining for up to 20 years. But the senator and BWCAW advocacy groups say without permanent protection, the wilderness area will be subjected to further political interference, as was the case during the first Trump administration. Smith made sure to emphasize that her bill would not ban or otherwise restrict existing or future mining projects in Minnesota outside the Rainy River Watershed. She insisted it would also not impact any of the taconite mines currently operating in Minnesota. Minnesota State Rep. Alex Falconer (DFL-Eden Prairie), who has authored state legislation to ban sulfide mining within the BWCAW watershed, applauded Sen. Smith's effort. Congressman Pete Stauber (R-8th District), who represents the area that includes the BWCAW, has been a staunch supporter of efforts to increase mining and overturn the 20-year ban issued under the Biden administration. At a campaign stop in St. Cloud while on the presidential campaign trail before he was re-elected last November, Trump promised to undo the mining moratorium in “about 10 minutes,” while Stauber stood at his side. “All options are on the table, and we’re going to use all options in order to allow us to mine in Minnesota and across this country".
Benton County residents are invited to a series of open houses for a proposed new government center. The first open house was last night in Sauk Rapids. More open houses are scheduled at the Benton County Board room on April 16th and at Rice City Hall on April 17th. The county is proposing building a nearly $30-million government center on land they've acquired across the street from the current government center. County officials say the existing government center is in dire need of costly repairs and is at capacity. The cost of renovating the existing complex is estimated to be about the same as that of a new facility, and it wouldn't add any additional space. A new government center would include a dedicated space and drive-thru for the DMV, a larger county board room, room for growth, and state-of-the-art technology. There will also be tours of the existing government center from 4-6pm on April 16th and again on May 6th. The county plans to pay for the project through property taxes.
You can listen to the Good Friday Service from Fellowship Bible Church of Pierz on Good Friday, April 18th starting at noon live on AM960 KLTF and fallsradio.com sponsored by Schommer Insurance in Pierz.
FEDERAL MAIL NEWS- The U.S. Postal Service is seeking a rate increase this summer that includes hiking the cost of a first-class stamp from 73 cents to 78 cents. The request was made on Wednesday to the Postal Regulatory Commission, which must OK the proposal. If approved, the 5-cent increase for a “forever” stamp and similar increases for postcards, metered letters and international mail would take effect July 13th. The proposed changes would raise mailing services product prices approximately 7.4%. This comes also after President Donald Trump has said he is considering putting USPS under the control of the Commerce Department in an effort to stop losses at the $78 billion-a-year agency, which has struggled at times to balance the books with the decline of first-class mail.
Weather- Thursday spotty rain showers, mostly cloudy, high 48, tonight fog overnight, low 33. Friday sunny skies, warmer, high 58, low around 40. Saturday partly sunny and breezy, warm, high 66, low around 45. Sunday cloudy skies, possible showers and thunderstorms, high 66, low around 32 with with showers likely Monday and windy, high 53, low around 30.
Sports- Joe Ryan goes 7 shutout innings to beat the Royals last night as Twins win 4-0 in KC. The Twins wrap up the 4 game series today in Kansas City with pregame at 12:30pm on Q92 WYRQ. Wild win a wild game last night 8-7 in overtime over San Jose in St. Paul. Today there is High School Baseball with Pierz at Little Falls starting at 5pm on AM960 KLTF and you can stream the game online at fallsradio.com. With the 5pm start, the news will be at 4:30pm on KLTF.