Tuesday, October 13, 2026

The Douglas County Sheriff's Office is asking for the public's help in locating a missing woman.  57-year-old Debra Margaret White was last seen on October 10th in the Monticello area. Authorities say White is known to be traveling in a 2012 Blue Mazda 3 hatchback with license plate number PDP-218. White is described as being 5 feet 7 inches tall, weighing about 135 pounds, with gray/blonde hair and multicolored eyes. The Sheriff's Office says White is considered missing and endangered due to her not having her medication.  If you have seen White or have any information about her whereabouts, you are asked to call the Douglas County Sheriff's Office at 320-762-8151.

Republican House Speaker and candidate for governor, Lisa Demuth, announced a series of public safety proposals Monday at an event with members of the Minneapolis Police Federation. Demuth says the proposals were developed from feedback she received from law enforcement officials, community members, county prosecutors, and former school board members after a recent surge of gang violence. They build on a public safety plan she released earlier this month. She is calling for a permanent statewide gang task force, led by the Department of Public Safety, to coordinate state, local, and federal resources. Demuth also pointed to the case of the man accused of shooting two people at the Eden Prairie homecoming game. He was released from jail Sunday after posting bond. Citing a judicial plan she released earlier this year, Demuth pledged to appoint judges who put victims first and uphold the rule of law. She says she would also appoint attorneys who share that philosophy to the judicial selection commission. Demuth repeated her proposal to require that state funding to municipalities first fully fund police. She says the change would allow police to do their jobs. The Police Officers Federation of Minneapolis endorsed Demuth for governor last week. Meanwhile, U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar, a Democrat and a candidate for governor, outlined her own public safety proposals Friday at an event with current and former prosecutors and law enforcement officials. She served as Hennepin County Attorney for eight years before her election to the Senate. Klobuchar says she would establish a Regional Gang Violence Task Force, led by the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, with law enforcement from seven metro counties as well as Minneapolis, St. Paul, Metro Transit, and college and university police departments. She also proposes state grants for cities and counties to hire and retain officers, more funding for BCA forensic and investigative capacity, and expanded threat-assessment and hate crime efforts. She says she would sign the gun safety package that passed the Minnesota Senate, which would ban assault weapons, strengthen safe storage standards, and improve school security. The general election is Tuesday, November 3rd. Early voting is underway now.

Meeker County fire crews had a busy weekend, including three fires in about three and a half hours Saturday night, two of them in just over a half hour. The Meeker County Sheriff’s Office says the first call came in at 6:26 p.m. Saturday, October 10th, for a baler on fire in a field in Harvey Township. Litchfield Fire and deputies found the baler fully engulfed, and the flames had spread to the field. The 70-year-old operator and landowner was not hurt. The baler was a total loss, and the tractor pulling it was damaged. Thirty-three minutes later, at 6:59 p.m., deputies and Litchfield Fire were sent to a combine fire in Forest City Township. The combine, owned by a 30-year-old man from rural Cokato, was fully engulfed. The operator, a 67-year-old man from rural Litchfield, escaped before the fire took hold and was not injured. The combine and its contents were a total loss. At 9:52 p.m., a neighbor alerted a Dassel Township homeowner that a sauna attached to the outside of the home was on fire. The 39-year-old homeowner was home at the time and was not injured. The sheriff’s office says the preliminary investigation shows the fire spread from the wood-burning stove inside the sauna. The sauna was a total loss. Dassel Fire and Cokato Fire put out the flames before they reached the house. The weekend’s fire calls started Friday. At 11:30 a.m. October 9th, deputies were called to a combine fire in Kingston Township, where they found a combine owned by a 65-year-old of Kimball fully engulfed. The operator, a 33-year-old Kimball woman, got out without injury. Dassel Fire, assisted by Cokato Fire, put out the flames. The combine and its contents were a total loss.

At least one person is dead following a wrong way crash on Interstate 94 early Sunday morning. According to the Minnesota State Patrol’s preliminary crash report, just before 1:45, a 57-year-old man driving a Nissan Rogue was traveling east in the westbound lanes of I-94 at mile marker 178 near the Fuller Rest Area west of Clearwater. The SUV hit a Honda CR-V with two people from Watkins inside and a Yamaha motorcycle driven by a 24-year-old man from Wahpeton, North Dakota. Authorities say the crash involved someone who was not wearing their seatbelt. No names have been released.

Federal agents on Monday searched the Washington, D.C., area residence of Democratic U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar, who is in the final weeks of her reelection bid in Minnesota.  The Justice Department confirmed in a statement that Homeland Security Investigations agents executed a judicially authorized search warrant in connection with an ongoing federal criminal investigation but provided no other details. The nature and scope of the investigation were unclear, though Trump administration officials have repeatedly hinted at the existence of an inquiry targeting Omar, a Somali-born Democrat whose status as an immigrant and left-wing views have repeatedly drawn criticism from Republicans and senior Trump officials. According to the Associated Press, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said last month that there was an “ongoing investigation” related in part to whether Omar lied on her immigration forms and that “something's going to happen.” Omar released a statement on X Monday morning in response to the raid.  "Make no mistake: this is an attempt to target political enemies and weaponize federal law enforcement. For ten years, Trump has targeted me with baseless lies and smear campaigns. This is just the latest escalation in his campaign of political intimidation," Omar wrote. "I will not be silenced." The Associated Press reported the raid is unusual as the Justice Department has historically sought to avoid public investigative actions involving a candidate within 60 days of a primary or general election.  "The Congresswoman has done nothing wrong. No president should be able to use the power of the federal government to intimidate his political enemies," an Omar spokesperson added. The Minnesota GOP Party Chair Alex Plechash issued a short statement on Monday in response to the news:  "We'll defer to Rep. Omar. She said it best back in 2023, when the subject of a criminal investigation was someone else: 'Our democracy rests on the rule of law. When someone—no matter how powerful they are—is suspected of a criminal act, our justice system investigates, charges, and convicts them in accordance with due process. Now it is up to all of us, as citizens and elected leaders, to support accountability and to follow the facts where they lead. No one is above the law.' Omar is on the ballot for reelection to a House seat representing Minnesota's 5th District. She was first elected to the seat in 2018. President Donald Trump and fellow Republicans from the highest ranks of party leadership have repeatedly and publicly criticized the Somali-born Omar over her status as an immigrant to the U.S. and her left-wing views. Trump - as recently as this past weekend - brought up Omar at a rally in Tennessee, where he attacked her upbringing and suggested that Vice President JD Vance “and our people” were investigating her.

Aaron Olson of Kinship of Morrison County was on KLTF Monday and invites all to the Kinship Soup and Chili Cookoff Monday, October 19th at 5pm at the Falls Ballroom. Enjoy soup and chili, vote for your choice of favorite, there is milk, ice cream, breadsticks, raffles, silent auction, live music and all proceeds go to support the youth mentoring program at Kinship of Morrison County. Tickets are $18 at the door, $10 for kids 5-15 and under 4 and over 80 are free will offering. You can save $3 on adult tickets by calling Aaron and preordering them at 320-632-8806 through the end of this week. 

Zion Lutheran Church of Little Falls is having another ‘Chicks For Bricks’ dinner on Thursday, October 15th. Serving from 5-7pm or until gone. The menu is chicken, ham, mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy, green bean casserole, corn, coleslaw, pickles, dinner rolls, desserts, and beverages. To-go boxes are available and preferred at 6:00 p.m. or later. $15.00 per person suggested donation. Zion is located at 411 Third Avenue Northeast in Little Falls. Proceeds go to church and parsonage maintenance.

Death Notices: John R. Stockdale, age 68 of Little Falls. Ronald "Ron" Virnig, age 89 of Hillman, Thomas "Tom" Balaski, age 45 of Little Falls. 

Weather: mist and drizzle early then cloudy skies today, high 56, mostly cloudy tonight, low 36. Wednesday morning clouds then gradual clearing, high 57, Wednesday night clear low near 30, some frost possible. Thursday AM frost then partly sunny skies, high near 60 and breezy, partly cloudy Thursday night and windy, low around 36. Friday sunny and very windy, high 53, clear and frosty Friday night low 28. Saturday sunny and breezy, high near 60, clear and breezy Saturday night low 38. Sunday skies are forecast for Sunday and Monday, highs in the 60s, lows in the 30s. 

Sports: Last night Wild win 4-2 over Las Vegas in NHL. Timberwolves win in preseason 122-104 over New York in NBA. Buffalo won 37-34 in overtime over LA Rams on Monday Night Football. Brewers win 7-4 over Dodgers lead NLCS 2-0. Cleveland wins 7-3 over Tampa Bay leads ALCS 1-0. High School Football Wednesday night this week, Melrose at Little Falls 7pm on AM960 KLTF. Rockford at Pierz 7pm on 94ROCKS KFML. Also with MEA week early, the football games next week for regular season finales will be on October 21st Wednesday and Little Falls will be at St. Cloud Apollo and that game is at 4:30pm on AM960 KLTF while Pierz will host Milaca at 7pm on 94ROCKS. Little Falls soccer playoffs begin Tuesday, Flyer girls host Sauk Rapids-Rice at 3:15pm, Little Falls boys are at St. Cloud Tech at 4:30pm.