Newsletter: Friday, April 28th, 2023
NEWS
--A grand jury in Benton County has charged a man with first degree premeditated murder after he allegedly killed a coworker who rejected his romantic advances. Michael Jordan Carpenter is also charged with second-degree murder with intent after 28-year-old Nicole Hammond was shot to death in the parking lot of their northeast St. Cloud workplace as she arrived to clock in the morning of October 24th. A coworker told police they saw Carpenter get out of his car and walk toward the south end of the parking lot moments before they heard a gunshot. They said they saw Carpenter jog to his vehicle and drive away. Investigators say they searched Hammond’s phone and found several text messages between her and Carpenter saying she didn’t want him to touch or manipulate her and said not to make things uncomfortable at work. Another text message on her phone showed her telling someone else he was mad at her. Other coworkers said Carpenter made advances toward her in the last month, which she had repeatedly rebuffed. In a sworn statement, Carpenter admitted walking toward Hammond’s vehicle when he heard a gunshot and saw a person in a hat standing beside her. He said he was traumatized, so he left, did not go to work, did not call 911 and did not try and help her. He said he was upset and hadn’t slept well the night before due to their ongoing argument. According to the criminal complaint, Carpenter made several contradictory statements and told a coworker he thought someone had been shot, so he left. Carpenter told his mother he saw his friend get shot at work and said when he got out of his car, he saw people down on the ground helping Hammond, which investigators say would be impossible due to lighting conditions and blocked line of sight. A search warrant of Carpenter’s car allegedly turned up a 9mm pistol, and a loaded magazine was found in a carrying case on the driver’s side rear seat. Investigators said the ammunition matched a shell casing found next to the victim. Bail was set at $4 million.
--The Wall That Heals, the mobile replica of the Vietnam War Memorial that is built at a three-quarter scale to the one found near the National Mall in Washington, D.C. and includes the names of all 58,281 men and women who died during America’s long conflict in Southeast Asia will be in Monticello this July. There is also an educational exhibit as part of the display. It will arrive in Monticello’s Pinewood Elementary School on Tuesday, July 18th, with a motorcycle escort in tow and will be set up the next day. It opens to the public on that Thursday at 10am and will be accessible 24 hours a day until Sunday, July 23rd, at 2pm. There is no charge.
--The Franciscan Sisters of Little Falls are happy to announce after a three year hiatus the Annual Green Fair event will be returning later this summer to the grounds of the Convent. The event will be held on August 2nd from 4-8pm, now they ask to pray for good weather so the event can go on this year after the long time away. For questions or to be part of the event contact the Convent at 320-632-2981.
--A reminder that the Emblom Brenny's first Church Ladies Hotdish Cookoff is today from 4-7pm at the Little Falls VFW. This is a fundraiser for local hospice organizations in the area and all the monies raise tonight goes to the hospice groups. $10 tickets at the door tonight. Other weekend events include a Polka Praise Service event Sunday at Zion Lutheran Church in Little Falls. Many other future events can be found at fallsradio.com community calendar.
--The Little Falls City Council meets Monday 7:30pm at City Hall.
--Today is the final day of Corey Fink at Little Falls Radio. Corey started as an intern back in 2004. The following year he took over the morning show on 94.1FM KFML. Corey has called hundreds to close to 1,000 Little Falls Flyer games doing the play by play on Little Falls Radio. Corey would later become the News Director of Little Falls along with being the overall type IT guy with computers and then later the streaming items and most recently is the past years took over the station manager duties at Little Falls Radio. Earlier this year Corey announced he wanted to be with some of his family who had relocated out of state and announced that today April 28th would be his final day on the air with LF Radio. This comes after nearly two decades. You can wish Corey well today with live call in shows on Up Front at 9:05am and Party Line at 10:05am on AM960 KLTF and online at fallsradio.com by calling 320-632-2306. Good Luck to Corey Fink from Little Falls Radio in all of his future endeavors and thanks for the memories you gave at Little Falls Radio.
--Little Falls Community High School is reminding those who wish to see the spring musical Xanadu next week at the high school that all reserved seating will be tickets that are only being purchased online. Tickets must be printed off or stored on a smartphone and will need to be presented upon entry at the event May 4th-6th at the high school each night at 7pm. Tickets can be purchased at the website www.vancoevents.com/BSYY. It was also announced that there will be some General admission (unreserved seating) sold at the door by cash or check only, NO Credit Cards each of the nights at the school.
--Jim Virnig, an employee at Thielen Meats in Pierz was recently awarded with the Pierz Area Commercial Club’s Outstanding Service Award. Virnig was nominated for his 40 years of service and for going the extra mile to produce over 30 varieties of beef sticks and sausage while always providing excellent customer service.
ENTERTAINMENT NEWS
--Legendary talk show host Jerry Springer has died. Springer started in politics and was Mayor of Cincinnati, Ohio at one time. He hosted a talk show for 27 years and turned into a circus atmosphere with nudity, brawls and foul language making his the top rated talk show in the United States. Springer died on Thursday at age 79.
DEATH NOTICES
--Virginia B. Nelson, age 89 of Randall formerly of Bagley.
--Dr. James “Jim” Peters DDS, age 85 of Little Falls.
WEATHER
TODAY= showers likely, cloudy, high 50, more rain tonight, low 34.
SATURDAY= showers and t-storms possible, high 50, low near 32.
SUNDAY= snow showers early, then partly sunny, high 47, low 35.
MONDAY= sunny skies, high 55, low around 38.