NEWS
--Little Falls Community High School Principal Tim Bjorge spoke on KLTF Thursday and gave an update on what is happening in the school distrct. Bjorge said that 650 students of the high school are getting their learning electronicially, with another 50-100 students getting it with hard copy and the staff are still in schools or at home where they can be reached by students if they have questions or just want to connect with their students. Bjorge said that everthing right now is on Pause for the end of the school, the hope is that in May students will return, but may not be the case and if that happens than plans for graduation, prom, baccalaureate, honors events and scholarship night but if the governor extends the distance learning than many of these will need a different approach for the end of the school year. Tim Bjorge wanted to express his sadness in having to cancel the Day of Caring, the 10th year of the program and the 35 families/homesteads that have been with them every year. Wanted to thank the public, businesses, sponsors, student, staff and faculty that made up the 1,200 volunteers that will miss out this year. Bjorge wanted to state he is hoping that the week of May 4th (if the restrictions are lifted), a week of caring in the community to get out and help each other (your neighbors, friends, others who can't get into their yards) to rake leaves and pick up debris to do a clean up of a community project of togetherness instead of one day put on by the school which will not take place this year. Bjorge stated that if you have questions on what is being done at Little Falls Community High School contact him at 616-2200 or check out information update regularlly on the High School Facebook page.
--Sister Carol Schmitt of the Franciscan Sisters of the St. Francis Covent spoke on KLTF Thursday. Sister stated that they will continue to follow the guidelines of the Bishop and the Governor right now and have closed their doors to all visitors, events, Masses and other items like Music, Health and Wellness and other centers until May 17th. She said this is a real loss as the Sisters look forward each day to meet and greet with others, have fundraisers like the Pasta Bar and Prom fundraisers which were cancelled (but were to be this weekend), and she said they are not rushing in any means of reopening to protect the sisters, (especially the older and those with health risks at this time) and other staff members that are still working in the convent. She wanted to thank those who donated masks for the sisters and they will continue to pray for all in the community for safety and health and hopes to reopen the facility to those in the coming weeks and months and guidelines and restrictions are lifted.
--Minnesota received $1,093,413,660 from the Coronavirus Relief Fund, appropriated through the federal CARES Act, after registering through a portal made available earlier this week. These funds will be used to help offset the state’s costs associated with responding to the coronavirus pandemic. Minnesota is expected to receive $2.187 billion through the Coronavirus Relief Fund, with a portion of that allocation directed to local units of government. The remaining balance of the payment amounts due to Minnesota will be paid no later than April 24, 2020. States are waiting for additional guidance from the U.S. Department of the Treasury on how these funds can be spent.
--The Little Falls City Council meets Monday night at 7:30pm, members will either be at city hall (but closed to all visitors) or can be via telephone or video conferencing for the meeting on Monday night with a work session to be held prior to the regular meeting.
--Thursday's numbers from the Department of Health stated that there are 94 death (related to COVID-19), 1,912 positive tests in the state of Minnesota of the 41,675 tested (again that does not mean the total of thoses with the viruses only the ones that test have been completed for). Of the 1,912 there are 1,020 no longer in isolation. 475 were hospitized, 213 remain and 103 in ICU. Mille Lacs County had their positive test case announced Thursday though Morrison, Wadena and Aitkin County have no positive cases yet. Todd 2, Douglas 1, Otter Tail 4, Stearns 11, Benton 1, Crow Wing 17, Cass 4, Sherburne 12 and Wright is at 21.
--Governor Tim Walz signed the Alec Smith Insulin Affordability Act to provide relief to Minnesotans struggling to afford their insulin. With the price of insulin tripling over the past 10 years, Governor Walz worked with insulin advocates to call attention to this urgent issue, keep up the pressure, and get this important bill passed through the legislature. The Governor was joined digitally by insulin advocates as he signed the bill. Over the last 10 years, insulin manufacturers have tripled the price of insulin, and one in four diabetics report rationing the life-saving drug. In 2017, the Minnesota Department of Health estimated that 7.8%, or around 330,000, Minnesotan adults had been diagnosed with either Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes, with around 18,000 new cases being diagnosed each year. In addition to highlighting the work today on insulin affordability, the Governor announced that the University of Minnesota received FDA approval for the design of a new, low-cost ventilator aimed at helping clinicians in settings where traditional ventilators are not available.
--Minnesota's Land O' Lakes has announced that after 92 years they are removing the Indian maiden from their packaging. The new package will have Farmer Owned above the the Land O Lakes name over the green pine trees and blue lake. Some local butter packages will have farmers standing in a field with the words “Proud to be Farmer-Owned, As a farmer owned Co-Op, we stand together to bring you the best in dairy”. The company said they have continued recently to hear criticism about the Native American on the log as culturally insensitive and also wanted to re-brand the log to show more on the farmers in Minnesota and their hard work.
ENTERTAINMENT NEWS
--Award winning actor Brian Dennehy of First Blood (Rambo), Tommy Boy and over 50 other movies and plays has died at age 81.
BIRTH ANNOUNCEMENT
--Ryan and Christine Yorek, parents of a baby girl born April 15th.
WEATHER
TODAY= sunny skies, high near 50.
TONIGHT= increasing clouds, low near 32.
SATURDAY= partly sunny and mild, high near 60, low near 27.
SUNDAY= sunny and windy, cooler, high 48, low 31.
MONDAY= partly cloudy and breezy, high 58, low around 30.
SPORTS
TWINS= catch Game 2 of the 1987 World Series between the Twins and Cardinals, Sunday at noon on Q92 WYRQ and fallsradio.com.
WNBA= The WNBA Draft is tonight and will be done via internet on a virtural means. No face to face interactions. The Minnesota Lynx pick 6th in the first round of the draft tonight but may trade up.