NEWS
--Morrison County Administrator Matt LeBlanc spoke on KLTF yesterday on the two public meetings coming up next week. The first will be on the county auditor/treasurer position on whether to make it an appointed position or to keep it an elected position. Chelsey Robinson won the election in November but this was after she resigned last year and also informed the board that she will not take the position after being the winner in November as the only one on the ballot. LeBlanc stated if the position is appointed it will a majority vote of 4 of 5 Commissioners. If the position is to stay as an elected position the interim auditor/treasurer who took over when Robinson first resigned will remain in that position until the next general election for the position which will not be until 2026. That public hearing is at 6pm Tuesday at the government center. The second will be a couple of meetings to discuss what FEMA is asking to have a flood plan in place. On January 19th a leadership meeting will start that day at 3pm and then will then go into the open house at 5pm in the boardroom to provide information to residents on what changes and what will be provided in the plan for the future of the county. LeBlanc went on to talk about many other things that will be on the agenda in 2023 including the opioid settlement dollars as part of a statewide settlement agreement and Morrison County will receive around 7% of the $300-million dollar settlement for the counties from the state of Minnesota. The 1.6 million dollars to the county which will come in parts over a period of years will be put into 3 buckets of prevention, training and helping of treatment of those in custody. Discussion is to be done on repairs or replacing the public works building that was damaged by fire last year and work on plans and specs on that in the next year. If you need to reach out to Matt LeBlanc at the government center call 320-632-0293.
--A 10-year-old Brainerd girl was injured in a crash with a semitrailer Tuesday. The Minnesota State Patrol reported the crash at 3:08pm when a Peterbilt semitrailer, driven by 48-year-old Scottie G. Mishler of Garden City, Kansas, was in the turnaround of Highway 371 and Birchdale Road, partially blocking lanes of traffic, when it was struck by a 2005 Ford F-150 traveling northbound. Mishler was uninjured as was the driver of the Ford, 44-year-old Brainerd man Jason Lee Schultz. Schultz’s passenger, 10-year-old Kynzee Irene Schultz, was transported to Essentia Health-St. Joseph’s Medical Center in Brainerd for non-life-threatening injuries. All were wearing seat belts.
--A man working as a personal care assistant in a Sartell home has pleaded guilty to sexually abusing an 11-year-old girl. Twenty-seven-year-old Cole Van Halbeck of Sauk Rapids was charged with 1st-degree criminal sexual conduct and 2nd-degree criminal sexual conduct. He was accused of sexually molesting the girl several times in early 2016 as he worked in her home to care for a sibling. The girl told investigators Van Halbeck sexually abused her for several months while she was just 11-years-old and he was 21. Stearns County Court records show Van Halbeck had worked in the home from February 2016 through at least April of that year. He pleaded guilty to 2nd-degree criminal sexual conduct with a victim under 13-years-old just as his jury trial was set to begin. The 1st-degree criminal sexual conduct charge is expected to be dismissed at his sentencing. A psychosexual evaluation will be conducted before Van Halbeck is sentenced in May.
--Sister Julien said they received 62 units of blood Wednesday and 44 Thursday (3 day total of 178). Thanks to all who gave blood.
--Monday is Dr. Martin Luther King Day which is a federal holiday, meaning government offices, banks and post offices will be closed.
--A reminder that Little Falls City Offices will be closed Monday because of the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday. Because of that the city council will hold their special work session and then the regular meeting on Tuesday night with the regular meeting at 7:30pm at City Hall Council Chambers. The Pierz City Council will also meet on Tuesday at 7pm as they postponed their meeting from this week.
--A 35-year-old from North Dakota has been charged as being a fugitive from justice in Morrison County District Court. Samantha Rae Marie Decoteau from Fargo on December 30th was ruled from Burleigh County North Dakota as a fugitive and the order was to apprehend here as she violated the terms of her probation, specifically, she failed to maintain contact with her probation officer as instructed. She also allegedly admitted to leaving the state of North Dakota, which was also a violation. A deputy from the Morrison County Sheriff’s Office located Decoteau at a gas station in Motley where she was placed under arrest on the warrant. On January 3rd, a law enforcement officer met with Decoteau in the Morrison County Jail. According to the report, she confirmed that the person named in the warrant was her, and that she indicated she was willing to return to North Dakota to address the violation.
--A barn fire near St. Stephen has been declared a total loss. Stearns County Sheriff Deputies were sent to the 43,000 block of 85th Avenue in Brockway Township Tuesday on reports of a barn on fire.
Fire crews from St. Stephen, Rice, Sartell, Avon, and Holdingford fought the fire for more than three hours Tuesday afternoon before letting the fire burn itself out. Authorities say the 350-foot chicken barn had been unused for years, but some equipment and miscellaneous items were declared a total loss.
--The St. Cloud fire department was called to a fire in an apartment building early Thursday morning. At about 2am a call came in about a fire at 4055 12th Street North. There was smoke detected on the first floor of the three-story building. The damage was contained to one apartment unit with a total damage estimate of about $25,000.
--The Upstage Players are presenting The Hollow by Agatha Christie on January 20th through the 22nd at Upsala High School. Tickets will be sold at the door, and doors will open 30 minutes before the shows at 7pm Friday and Saturday next week and 2pm on the Sunday show. More details can be found on the UpsalaUpstage Facebook page.
WEATHER
TODAY= sunny skies, high around 17, temps rise at night, low 10.
SATURDAY= becoming cloudy, high 30, cloudy, hazy night, low 25.
SUNDAY= cloudy with fog and haze, high 36, low around 28.
MONDAY= rain, sleet and snow possible mainly PM hours, high 34.
SPORTS
HS GBB= Pierz at Little Falls tonight 5:45pm on Q92 WYRQ.
HS BBB= Pierz at Little Falls tonight around 7:30pm following the girls game, hear both games tonight on Q92 WYRQ.
NFL= The Wild Card Weekend starts Saturday with Seattle at San Francisco then LA Chargers at Jacksonville coverage begins with the preview show at 2:30pm on AM960 KLTF. Then Sunday it is Buffalo hosting Miami, The Vikings host New York Giants and Cincinnati hosts Baltimore, coverage begins at 11:30am on AM960 KLTF. The Vikings kickoff at 3:30pm. The weekend actually then goes on into Monday night with Dallas at Tampa Bay at 6:30pm on KLTF.