NEWS
--An organized search by volunteers and law enforcement Thursday uncovered a body police believe is that of missing Brainerd man John Greenwaldt. The Brainerd Police Department reported officers discovered the body at 4:50pm Thursday in a wooded area near a trail, located close to the 300 block of Hattie Street. The area is south of Boom Lake. The body was transported to the Ramsey County Medical Examiner's Office for autopsy to determine the cause of death. The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension is conducting an investigation. Thursday, about 20 volunteers joined a multi-agency search covering areas in Brainerd Greenwaldt was known to frequent. Volunteers and searchers gathered at the Crow Wing County Fairgrounds for a briefing before heading out to search. Brainerd Police Department Investigator Chad Kleffman told searchers to look for a red mountain bike style bicycle or a black backpack. The mounted patrol and K-9 units searched around Buffalo Hills Park, while volunteers combed a wooded area north of Shipman Auto Parts and Jaycees Park. Another group of volunteers searched a wooded area south of the Social Security Administration office south of College Road in Baxter, where they said Greenwaldt was known to frequent. Greenwaldt's family reported him missing to the Brainerd Police Department July 14th after becoming concerned no one had heard from him for nearly two weeks. Greenwaldt was last seen on the July 4th in downtown Brainerd when he got into an unknown vehicle. Anyone with information regarding this investigation is asked to call Brainerd police at (218) 829-2805.
--Master plans for Belle Prairie Park and the Soo Line Trail have been developed utilizing online survey results with oversight by the Morrison County Board appointed Task Force. Anyone wishing to review the plans may go to www.co.morrison.mn.us. Any additional comments may be directed to your county commissioner or to the Public Works Department at 632-0121. The plans will be presented for approval at the next County Board meeting on September 5th.
--The National Weather Service confirmed three tornadoes touched down between 4:20pm and 7:30pm Wednesday. A number of farm buildings were destroyed and a number of homes were damaged. Meteorologist Jacob Beitlich says the first reported twister was on the ground around 4:20pm Wednesday near Lake Crystal, about 75 miles southwest of Minneapolis. Beitlich says forecasters later received several reports of tornado touchdowns around the town of Nicollet, about 11 miles north of Lake Crystal. Tornadoes were also reported near the towns of New Sweden, Gaylord and Winthrop. There were no injuries reported. The National Weather Service surveyed the storm damage on Thursday.
--The solar eclipse on Monday could bring a halt to some first day classes at Minnesota Colleges and Universities. Most schools understand the significance of the event on Monday. In Minnesota, if the skies are clear, and using special eye wear, you should be able to view the eclipse starting around 11:40am and lasting until 2:30pm that afternoon. Classes begin for many Minnesota colleges and universities including St. Cloud State and Moorhead on Monday.
--Weekend events include Ride for Eyes motorcycle event Saturday; 125th Anniversary weekend at First Baptist Church in Little Falls; Seussical the Musical Saturday and Sunday at Pierz High School and other events too can be found at fallsradio.com community calendar.
--The heavy rains Thursday knocked out power to the Brainerd Lakes area and outages were reported in Morrison, Cass, Todd and Crow Wing Counties. Outages started around 3:45pm Wednesday in Brainerd. Power companies are unsure what started the first problem Wednesday. Power in that issue was restored by 5:30pm. More outages occurred from 7pm-2am that night into Thursday morning due to the heavy rains that dropped nearly 4 inches at Little Falls Radio and 2-5 inches or more in other areas. Power companies stated that work was done yesterday to restore power to impacted areas.
--The Central Minnesota Violent Offender Task Force conducted a search warrant Thursday morning at the address of 712 31st Avenue North, in the City of St. Cloud. Investigators determined that several people were residing at this address and may be in possession of firearms and controlled substances. Some residents were identified as being ineligible to possess firearms and a search warrant was applied for and granted. During the search of the residence, approximately 1 ounce of marijuana and 2 handguns were located. Several people were home at the time of the warrant, including the homeowner 38-year old Luis Hernandez. Two others were found to have outstanding warrants and were arrested. They were 25-year old Andre Hemsworth for an active 3rd degree Criminal Sexual Conduct warrant out of Stearns County, and 21-year old Tulane Hardaway of St. Cloud, for an outstanding 1st Degree Aggravated Robbery warrant from the Department of Corrections. Both were transported to the Stearns County Jail where they were booked and held for their charges. Hernandez was released pending further investigation. The Central Minnesota Violent Offender Task Force was assisted by the St. Cloud Police Department SWAT team due to the presence of weapons and by the St. Cloud Police Department K-9 unit and patrol division. The task force is comprised of officers from the cities of St. Cloud, Sauk Rapids, and Little Falls and deputies from Stearns, Benton, Morrison, Todd, and Sherburne County Sheriff Office’s.
--The Little Falls School Board meets Monday 5:00pm at the Government Center Boardroom. Agenda items include approval of 2017-18 handbooks, approval of policies, exposure control plan, they will be given Little Falls Flyers activity report, and authorize approval of a loan for the new scoreboard at Flyer Field.
WEATHER
TODAY= partly sunny, showers & storms into afternoon, high 75.
TONIGHT= early shower, fog late, clearing skies, low 54.
SATURDAY= sunny skies, high near 80, partly cloudy night, low 60.
SUNDAY= morning shower, sunny, high 83, nighttimes storms, low 61
MONDAY= morning and evening storms possible, high 77, low 58.
SPORTS
8C= Class C State Tournament games this weekend are Sobieski vs. Springfield today at 5pm, Ft. Ripley vs. Blue Earth Saturday 1pm and Avon vs. St. Peter Sunday at 5pm on AM960 KLTF. Buckman will play next Saturday at 11am after getting a bye this weekend.
TWINS= Twins split double header on Thursday losing day game to Cleveland 9-3, Max Kepler homered to help the Twins win the nightcap 4-2. The Twins host Arizona for three games with pregame tonight at 6:30, Saturday 5:30 and Sunday at 12:30 on Q92 WYRQ.
NFL= Vikings at Seattle tonight at 9pm.
WNBA= Lynx host Indiana tonight, at New York Sunday.