Thursday, March 5, 2026
A Dense Fog Advisory is in effect today until Noon. Drizzle, mist, fog will lead to poor visibility at times this morning. Please have your Headlights on when traveling out and expect slow downs.
An early morning crash on Wednesday has closed two area roadways. The Stearns County Sheriff's Office says portions of County Road 42 and County Road 161 are closed after a propane truck crashed about 4.5 miles north of Richmond at the intersection of the two county roads. The Sheriff's Office says they received a call around 7:35 a.m. about a flatbed-style propane truck lying in the ditch on a power box with the driver still inside. An officer from the Cold Spring/Richmond Police Department was the first to arrive and found a Wenners Gas Company truck leaking propane with the driver trapped inside. Rescue teams were able to get the driver out, and he was taken to the St. Cloud Hospital with unknown injuries. Upon investigation, authorities say the truck was going north on County Road 161 approaching County Road 42, and due to heavy fog, the T-intersection came up more quickly than anticipated. The driver tried to make a left turn, causing the truck to roll. Stearns County Electric shut off the power to the affected area due to the propane leak, and because of the amount of propane, County Road 42 from County Road 9 to 218th Avenue is closed. County Road 161 is also closed to northbound traffic at 260th Street. Dense fog on Wednesday led to a number of close calls and accidents on roadways across Minnesota. There was a report of an accident on I-94 in Douglas County when a vehicle struck an animal, another accident on Highway 25 in Wright County at an intersection with two vehicles and numerous crashes between Clearwater and the Twin Cities from fog.
The Stearns County Sheriff's Office says 59-year-old Steven Berscheit of Grey Eagle was driving a 1985 International straight truck South on County Road 13 at around 10:50am Tuesday morning in Stearns County near Melrose. Berscheit was approaching the hill just north of County Road 17 when the truck started losing power. Berscheit told dispatchers he could smell burning rubber and the cab was filling with smoke. The truck lost all power, rolled backwards, and eventually tipped over into the ditch as it continued to burn. Berscheit was able to escape the truck's cab and was not hurt in the incident.
Minnesota’s governor and attorney general on Wednesday defended their efforts to combat fraud and told a U.S. House committee that their efforts have been hampered by President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown in the state. Republicans on the House Oversight Committee accused Gov. Tim Walz and Attorney General Keith Ellison of stalling to fight fraud in government programs, saying they put politics ahead of rooting out abuse instead of pausing payments. Walz said he wanted to work with the federal government to help with fraud investigations, but the immigration surge was making that more difficult. “The people of Minnesota have been singled out and targeted for political retribution at an unparalleled scale,” Walz said. “We’re going to prosecute, as we have, every single person that’s involved in fraud, but we can’t do it alone.” Walz and Ellison defended their efforts on fraud, while also trying to turn the focus of the hearing to the surge of 3,000 federal agents in Minnesota that began in December. The Trump administration cited fraud as one justification for its enforcement action. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem testified Tuesday that about 650 investigators remain in Minnesota as part of a broader fraud probe. “Operation Metro Surge did nothing to address fraud in our state,” Ellison said. “It harmed our economy and it scarred our people and it dealt a devastating blow to fraud enforcement in Minnesota.” Ellison noted the series of resignation of lawyers in the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Minnesota, leaving those who remain “drowning in immigration-related petitions” instead of prosecuting fraud. On Tuesday, the U.S. attorney for Minnesota appeared before a judge for a contempt hearing related to Immigration and Customs Enforcement not returning personal property of detainees. Ellison said his office has “punched above our weight” in winning 300 Medicaid fraud convictions and recovering more than $80 million for taxpayers. Republican Rep. Clay Higgins of Louisiana called on Ellison to resign, accusing him of not leading investigations into criminal fraud activity. Last week, Vice President JD Vance said the Trump administration would “temporarily halt” $243 million in Medicaid funding to Minnesota over fraud concerns, as part of what he described as an aggressive crackdown on misuse of public funds. Minnesota sued on Monday to stop the money from being withheld, warning it may have to cut health care for low-income families if the money is held back.
Friday could be a March weather day in Minnesota with the potential for heavy rains and strong thunderstorms with gusty winds in southern Minnesota from the Twin Cities Metro Area to the southern border into Iowa. The Storm Prediction Center is forecasting a slight risk of severe storms mainly due to strong damaging winds. Northwestern Minnesota Detroit Lakes to Grand Forks to the border with Canada is expected to get heavy snow with blizzard conditions Friday afternoon and up to a foot of snow could fall by Saturday morning. Central Minnesota is expecting rain Friday with highs in the upper 40s then rain will change to snow Friday night, temperatures will depend on how much snow will fall currently St. Cloud to Brainerd forecasting 1-3 inches with 2-5 up to 6 inches possible the farther Northwest you head into the colder area of the state by Friday night into Saturday. You can continue to listen to Little Falls Radio for the latest weather details and check out the weather forecast at fallsradio.com.
Pierz Healy School presents their spring play "The Queen's Guard" Thursday, Friday and Saturday night at 7pm at the high school PAC Performing Arts Center, tickets will be sold at the door. Students in the play will be performing as if in a real life chess game battle from the story. Come and support the Pierz Drama Club.
Morrison County Sheriff Shawn Larsen is scheduled to be the guest on KLTF this morning at 8:30am and Little Falls Fire Chief Craig Seelen the guest on Friday morning on KLTF at 8:30am and both can be heard online too at fallsradio.com and then listen online for KLTF WYRQ or 94ROCKS.
Reminder to Spring Ahead this weekend, as Daylight Saving Time returns Sunday at 2am. Turn your clocks ahead one hour prior to bed Saturday night or before 2am Sunday morning this weekend. Also this a good time to check smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors to make sure they are working properly.
Death Notices: Gloria J. Birchem, age 94 of Little Falls formerly of Flensburg.
Weather: Dense Fog Advisory until noon today, mist, fog, drizzle and clouds today high near 50, rain likely late tonight low 40. Rain likely Friday high near 49 early then falling to 24 by Friday night. Winds pick up from the North during the evening, rain changing to snow after 10pm, possible 1-3 inches into early Saturday morning. Saturday cloudy with snow early, then PM sunshine, high 44, low around 31. Sunday sunny and mild, high 57, low around 34. Monday sunny and mild, high near 61, low around 28. More rain and snow is possible on Tuesday next week.
Sports: The Section 8AAA Championship game is tonight as Little Falls will host Willmar at 7pm. Come and the support the Flyer girls basketball team as they try and punch their ticket for the State Tournament next week in Minneapolis. If you cannot attend and want to hear the game on the radio, James Hershey has the call at 7pm on 94ROCKS KFML and also streamed online at fallsradio.com. Let's fill the gym for the Flyer girls tonight. Sartell ended the Little Falls Flyer boys basketball season last night 89-35 in the section playoffs. The Minnesota Wild traded for Nashville center Michael McCarron in exchange for a second-round pick in 2028. The 6-foot-6, 230-pound former first-round pick provides some depth for the Wild at center and can be an asset on the penalty kill. The trade comes one day after Minnesota claimed forward Robby Fabbri from the St. Louis Blues. McCarron has played in 59 games this season with the Predators and leads the team with a career-high 165 hits. He's also won nearly 53% of his faceoffs, which is valuable for the Wild, who currently have the second-worst face-off percentage (46.2%) in the league.