NEWS
--Platte River Day is Saturday in Royalton. Parade at 10:30am, auction, duck races, turtle races, egg toss, food, fun, games, polka mass at 4pm, street dance at 8pm and if the weather permits the Little Falls Radio Cash Cube will be in Royalton after the parade to win prizes from participating businesses. Listen to LF Radio for weather updates on Saturday in case of changes.
--A man pleaded guilty Thursday morning to killing his grandparents, according to the Stearns County Attorney's Office. 34-year old Gregory Allen Scheel pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree murder for killing his grandparents, Gloria and Wilbert Scheel, on March 21st. Gregory Scheel will serve both sentences consecutively and will not be eligible for parole for at least 60 years.
--A Watkins man died after being pinned under a semi truck. Around 5:05pm Wednesday authorities responded to the address of 15326 Kramer Road in Luxemburg Township, about three miles northwest of Watkins. As emergency services arrived, 54-year old Joseph Edwin Pauly of rural Watkins who was pinned under the semi truck was already deceased. Pauly had been doing repair work on the semi truck. An axel was jacked up using a hydraulic bottle jack and a wheel was removed. The jack slipped out from under the truck and it fell on Pauly. Family members discovered the accident and called 911.
--On Wednesday Jamie Luberts filed for the Little Falls City Council Ward 1 Seat (Southeast Little Falls). He will challenge incumbent councilman Leif Hanson who filed earlier this week. On Thursday, Robin Hensel filed for Mayor. Incumbent Mayor Greg Zylka already filed too. The filing period continues through Tuesday, August 14th.
--The Little Falls City Council will meet Monday at 7:30pm at City Hall. One item on the agenda is to vote on a possible ballot question in November for a half cent sales tax increase in Little Falls.
--Little Falls Community Schools is holding registration week August 13th through 15th for all families, new students or returning students, in the entire school district. Registration will be at the community high school commons on Monday 13th from 1-7pm, Tuesday 14th is 9am-3pm and Wednesday August 15th will again be from 1-7pm. There is no need to set up an appointment, just find a slot that works well for you family. Any questions call the District Office at 632-2002.
--An Elk River man is hurt after crashing his dirt bike motorcycle near St. Joseph Wednesday night. The Stearns County Sheriff's Office was called out to private property along County Road 3 in St. Wendel Township at 8:15pm. Sheriff's officials say 51-year-old David Neimi was riding with friends on a motocross track when he hit a soft patch and crashed. He was taken to St. Cloud Hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
--About 2,000-3,000 Pekin ducks were killed and 1,500 square bales of hay burned early Wednesday after a fire destroyed a metal livestock barn at Wild Acres Processing Inc. in rural Pequot Lakes. The fire was reported just before 7:45am and law enforcement personnel from three agencies and ambulances from North Memorial were on scene all morning while firefighters from four departments worked on extinguishing the blaze. Flames and smoke were heavy when firefighters arrived. As smoke billowed out of the barn, several firefighters worked on both ends of the building, extinguishing what they could. The building was a total loss, there were no people injured and the cause is under investigation.
--A pilot walked away unscathed after the plane he was piloting malfunctioned and crashed Thursday morning in a cornfield. Around 10:40am Thursday, the Stearns County 911 Center received a report of an aircraft down in a cornfield in Luxemburg Township near Watkins. The reporting parties indicated they they could see the tail of an aircraft sticking out of the standing corn. Officers arrived on scene and found the pilot, 21-year old Jonathan Aslesen of Buffalo was uninjured. Aslesen stated that he experienced a mechanical problem with the engine and the engine stalled while preparing to complete a crop dusting pass on the field. Aslesen said that he was then forced to conduct an emergency landing in the cornfield. The Stearns County Sheriff's Office along with the Federal Aviation Administration are investigating the incident.
--There will be a 1 Year Celebration Tuesday at Washington Park on the rebuild of the playground equipment by the Kiwanis Group of Little Falls. The event is 5-7pm with free ice cream provided by the Kiwanis Club in Little Falls. Come meet your neighbors, enjoy the playground that was built around a year ago in Little Falls. The park is located on 4th Street North kitty corner from the public library.
--The Brainerd Ski Loons will be performing three free water ski shows at Lum Park this summer. The shows will be on Sunday, August 5th and August 12th at 5:00pm, and on Wednesday, August 15th at 6:30pm. Come and watch human ski pyramids, ski jumpers, barefooters, and skiers being pulled 360 degrees around the boat. Concessions will be available. Free will donations are appreciated. Please bring blankets or lawn chairs for seating.
--Immanuel Lutheran Church of Hillman will be hosting a corn boil with hamburgers and homemade pie. The corn boil is Friday 4:30-7:30pm at the church near Hillman. There is also a corn feed event tonight at the Swanville Park. Crow Wing and Benton County Fairs continue through the weekend. St. Joseph's Parish Festival in Pierz is Sunday with music, food, kids games and a raffle at 4:30pm. There are many more events this weekend and the Morrison County Fair is next week. Get details at fallsradio.com on the community calendar.
WEATHER
TODAY= slight chance of T-storms by midday, sunny, warm, high 85.
TONIGHT= storms likely, some heavy overnight, low 68.
SATURDAY= mostly cloudy, storms possible early and late, high 77.
SUNDAY= sunny skies, PM storms possible, high 82, low near 60.
MONDAY= sunny skies, less humid, high 78, low around 55.
SPORTS
TWINS= after Thursday off, Twins (49-58) host Kansas City tonight, pregame at 6:30 tonight, 5:30 Saturday and 12:30pm Sunday, catch all the games live on Q92 WYRQ.
LYNX=LA Sparks come out hot with a 30-8 run and hold on to beat the Lynx last night in Los Angeles 79-57. Lynx have Seattle tonight.
ALL= The all sports meeting for Little Falls Community Schools will be held Monday at 7:00pm in the high school auditorium. The meeting is for all parents and athletes in grades 7-12 interested in participating in an activity during the 2018-2019 school year.
REGION 8C= State Qualifying games tomorrow are Nisswa vs. Lastrup at 11am, Ft. Ripley vs. Upsala Saturday at 1:30pm, then winners bracket game, Buckman vs. Sobieski Saturday at 4pm with more games Sunday in Upsala for tournament on AM960 KLTF.