NEWS
--The 27th annual Morrison County Sheriff's Office Sandbox Fill will be held on Thursday, May 20th. Anyone within a three mile radius of bank square in downtown Little Falls may have a sandbox filled. This will be limited to only 40 residences on a first come first serve basis. There will be a limit of three wheelbarrows per household and this is for sandboxes only. All that is required is a donation to the food shelf. Donations can be given at the time of the sandbox fill or left by the sandbox if you are not home. To place your name on the list call (320) 631-2880. The deadline to have your name put on the list is May 18th. If there is no answer leave your name, address, phone number and where the sandbox is located on the answering machine.
--Rural Minnesota CEP and Career Force in Little Falls will be hosting a Trunk or Treat Job Fair event on Thursday April 29th the event is completely outdoors and will occur rain or shine. Bring your resume, masks wil be required for the event, parking is available on site. The event will be 12:30-5pm in the parking lot of the old Crestliner site.
--The Pine Grove Zoo announced that their fundraiser Zoo Gone Wild with the Deuces Wild piano entertainment has been rescheduled for Friday, June 11th at the Falls Ballroom. Tickets are available by contact the Zoo at 616-5595 or email info@pinegrovezoo.com. There will not be a full meal and with the ticket purchase this year there will also be free admisson for a visit to the Pine Grove Zoo.
--A reminder that there are cleanup days in the city Flensburg and Green Prairie Township tomorrow. There are more cleanup days scheduled for next Saturday May 1 including city of Bowlus and also in Little Falls Township contact your local officials for further details.
--One of three men accused of raping a woman at a St. Cloud park last fall has been sentenced for his role in the attack. A Stearns County judge has sentenced 25-year old Sahal Abdi Hassan to 15 years in prison. After his prison term, Hassan must also register as a predatory offender and be on probation for 10 more years. He pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting 1st-degree criminal sexual conduct in February. Two other men, 22-year-old Abdirahin Omar Ali and 23-year-old Mohamed Hassan Abdi are also charged in the case. St. Cloud Police were called on a report of a sexual assault that occurred in the early morning hours of October 18th. The woman said she was in a car with five Somali men who were talking in their native language, drinking liquor, trying to kiss her, and threatening her. The woman said they stopped at a park and a man later identified as Hassan brought her to a slide and raped her as the other men encouraged it. The woman said she was brought back to the car and forced to perform oral sex on a man later identified as Ali. The victim was then dropped off at a location and sought help from a homeowner in the area and was brought to the hospital for a rape examination. DNA testing through the exam determined profiles matching Hassan and Ali. Abdi's DNA could not be ruled out from a mixture of sperm cell fractions collected during the examination.
--COVID-19 numbers keep going down in Morrison County making it more likely to keep a lot of outdoor events going. 160 active cases on Thursday down 20 from the day before, Little Falls at 67 cases, Pierz for the first time in months is under 40 cases now at 37, Royalton was at 26 cases and Randall at 11 the rest were under 10 cases.
--The City of Randall will have their Garage Sale Days on Wednesday May 5th through Friday May 7th with the Randall Clean Up Day on Saturday May 8th for items to be taken after the 3 day garage sales.
--On April 1st Sylvan Township awarded the contract for the Camp Ripley Sentinel Landscape Cultural Literature Review and Report to Nienow Cultural Consultants LLC. Invaluable, centuries-old cultural resources in the Camp Ripley Sentinel Landscape (CRSL) area will get a closer look under a new study funded by the Minnesota Historical Society. This award begins that process with Dr. Jeremy Nienow, Ph.D., RPA the Principal Investigator and team of cultural resource professionals gathering data from the region. The goal of this project is to more fully understand and appreciate the cultural elements which make up the Camp Ripley Sentinel Landscape program area to foster better awareness, interpretation and protection of cultural sites within the CRSL. Work on this grant will involve gathering detailed information about known archaeological sites and historic standing structures within the project area by working with state agencies and visiting local historical societies. As this information grows, it will be built into a GIS database, allowing researchers and land managers to identify areas where future development could impact important archaeological and historic spaces. NCC hopes to make the database as inclusive as possible with information from the 1950's stretching back to 10,000 years ago. Interested avocational archaeologists and historians, and other members of the public, who may have information about the project area are encouraged to contact NCC's Principal Investigator, Jeremy Nienow at jeremy.nienow@gmail.com.
--The Little Falls Community High School drama and music departments will present the musical “The Theory of Relativity,” in the Charles D. Martin Auditorium. Performances are Thursday, Friday and Saturday, May 6 through the 8th, at 7 p.m. and Sunday, May 9 at 2pm. Doors open 30 minutes before the performance.
--There is a free food distribution event on Sunday at 4pm at St. James Catholic Church parking lot in Randall.
--Sacred Heart School and Church in Staples will have a community fish fry today from 4-7:30pm. Take out only for the event.
--The Pierz City Council meets Monday night at 7pm at City Hall.
WEATHER
TODAY= showers likely, cloudy skies, high 52.
TONIGHT= rain or snow showers overnight, low near 30.
SATURDAY= sunny skies, high 48, clear night, low 29.
SUNDAY= snow showers in AM, rain showers during day, high 43.
MONDAY= showers likely, few thunderstorms, high 61, low 47.
SPORTS
TWINS= After a day off. Twins open series with Pittsburgh tonight at Target Field, pregame tonight 6:30pm, Saturday at 12:30pm and Sunday Inside Twins begins at noon live on Q92 WYRQ.
VL= Pierz Brewers at Pierz Bulldogs in the KLTF Victory League Game of the Week Sunday at 1:30pm on AM960 KLTF.
TODAY IN HISTORY
IN 1564= William Shakespeare is born in England.
IN 1789= Courier de Boston is first published, first Roman Catholic magazine to be distributed to the public in the United States.
IN 1961= Ernie K. Doe hit #1 with Mother-in-Law.
IN 1977= The Eagles released their Hotel California album.
IN 1985= Coca-Cola announced they were changing their formula for the first time in 99 years and New Coke was introduced, it flopped.