NEWS
--A local petition will rescind a decision by the Morrison County Commissioners to appoint the Auditor Treasurer. That means the Auditor/Treasurer position will remain an elected position. On March 22nd the petition was received to overturn the County Commissioners decision. By rule, the petition must have 10% of the voter registration. That threshold in Morrison County that must be met is 2,182 verified signatures. The petition was turned in with 2,403 signatures but it was only 2,196 valid signatures. There were 9 petitioner signers and addresses not in Morrison County, 13 duplicate signatures, 9 incomplete addresses or date of birth, and 176 not registered in Morrison County. That made it very close but by 14 signatures more than required, the county commissioners decision must be rescinded and the Morrison County Auditor/Treasurer position will remain an elected position.
--A Motley man was sentenced to 40 years in prison, Tuesday, in Morrison County District Court after he pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. 61-year-old, Harold Arvid Wassather of Motley, was ordered by District Court Judge Leonard A. Weiler to 480 months in prison. At least two-thirds of that, 320 months, or 26 years and eight months must be spent in custody. He is eligible for supervised probation for the remaining 160 months, or 13 years and four months. The conviction stems from the death of 66-year old Christine Naja Nygard of Motley. The murder took place at her home in Motley in early March of 2022. Wassather was Nygard’s boyfriend and was living in her home. Law enforcement was notified by Wassather’s friend, to whom he had admitted killing Nygard.
--Tense moments in Foley Tuesday after a bomb threat was reported at Falcon National Bank. The Foley Police Department says a phone call to the bank at about 2:45pm by an unknown person alerted staff to a bomb in the building. The staff was evacuated, and no one was injured, but police shut down Cedar Drive as a precaution. Foley police cleared the building and did not locate any suspicious packages or devices. The incident remains under investigation.
--No one was hurt, but a home in St. Cloud was heavily damaged by fire Tuesday night. The St. Cloud Fire Department’s Critical Incident Report says the call came in at 10:08 for a report of smoke coming from the house on the 300 block of Waite Avenue South. Firefighters quickly controlled the flames, and everyone made it out safely. Damage is estimated at over $300,000. The fire department stated that the cause is currently under investigation.
--A gas leak at the old Electrolux building in St. Cloud Tuesday morning was likely caused by a roof collapse. According to a fire department critical incident report, crews were called to the smell of gas coming from the building on the 700 block of 33rd Avenue North just after 7:00. The building and surrounding area were assessed for how far the leak had spread. Utilities were shut off while the investigation was ongoing. No one was hurt. There is no estimate for the cost of the damage. Electrolux wound down operations at the 922,000 square foot St. Cloud plant in 2019. The area saw several inches of heavy wet snow last week. This collapse is at least the third in the state in the past few weeks. Part of the roof at Miller Hill Mall in Duluth caved in, and the Browerville High School gym also collapsed under the weight of the snow.
--The St. Mathias Baseball Team is hosting their annual fish fry on Friday at the St. Mathias Pavilion from 4-8pm. All are welcome.
--The Little Falls Community Schools announced their Strategic Meeting scheduled for Tuesday was again postponed by the weather and will now be April 25th, that Tuesday at 4pm, questions call the school at 616-2200. Also there will be a Special Education Advisory Committee meeting on May 4th at 6pm at the middle school media center. All are welcome to come for a question and answer session with special education educators and programming and services. Questions can be submitted by using the link on the Little Falls Community Schools facebook page.
--A 35-year-old Brainerd man is in custody after exposing himself to a 16-year-old girl and grabbing a 12-year-old girl at a business in Brainerd. William Christopher Kounkel faces charges of felony second-degree criminal sexual conduct with a person under the age of 14 with the perpetrator at least 36 months older, two charges of felony harassment with sexual or aggressive intent with a victim under the age of 18, and a gross misdemeanor criminal sexual conduct with a person under the age of 16. According to court documents, on Saturday, March 25, law enforcement responded to a report at 8:56pm of a male exposing himself to two juvenile girls at a Brainerd business before running from the establishment. A witness in the store told police he chased the suspect after the suspect heard police were being called. The witness described the man as wearing a T-shirt, gray shorts and “was very obviously not wearing underwear.”
--The Minnesota State Patrol has opened a new online accountability dashboard website for the public. The information on the site is public, but it has never been posted proactively on the web. It includes community engagement numbers (over 600 presentations reaching more than 74,000 people in 2022), crash statistics (over 25,000 last year) policies, planning and staffing, training, and use of force (196 incidents in 2022, down from 220 in 2020) and special operations. It also displays information about each division, such as dispatch (More than 50 dispatchers answer approximately 500,000 911 and non-emergency calls each year, and most calls are answered within ten seconds) and flight (nine state trooper pilots who fly two Bell 407 helicopters, three Cessna 182 airplanes and a Cirrus SR22 airplane). The Minnesota Department of Public Safety says the site aims to build trust between the agency and the people they serve.
DEATH NOTICES
--Lois Roscoe, age 68 of Harding.
--Daniel L. Lokker, age 64 of Little Falls.
--Rita A. Gustafson, age 77 Little Falls.
–Mark Jon Weinand, age 67 of Royalton.
WEATHER
TODAY= flurries early, gusty winds, partial sun, high 30.
TONIGHT= clear and cold, winds die down, low 7.
FRIDAY= sunny early, cloudy late, high 48, freezing mix late 30.
SATURDAY= sunny and warmer high near 50, low near 30.
SUNDAY= rain showers in afternoon, high 53, low around 37.
SPORTS
TWINS= Marlins score 4 in the 8th inning to beat the Twins 5-2 to take the 3 game series in Miami. The Twins are off today as they have moved their home opener to Friday at Target Field. Twins will host the Astros tomorrow at 3:10pm, pregame 2:30 on Q92 WYRQ.