NEWS
--The Little Falls School District will pay less interest overall and five years less payments too than what was proposed to the voters in the recent referendum. At the Little Falls School Board meeting Wednesday evening the board finalized some details relating to funds from the referendum. Part one passed by the voters while part two was voted down. From information shown to voters before the election the school district projected a 4% interest rate knowing that was probably high, but not wanting the voters to pay more than they were expecting. The original plan was for the life of the loan to be 25 years. After Wednesday's meeting the school district locked in a 2.48% interest rate and lowered the life span of the loan to 20 years, five years less than the original proposal. $19.67 million was required for the projects approved. The interest is now $6.6 million less. Before the election the total estimate with principal and interest was $33.9 million over 25 years, but now the Little Falls School District owes only $26.3 million over 20 years.
--A 17-year-old from Royalton was injured Wednesday around 4:45pm on 63rd Street in Buckman Township northeast of Royalton. Savannah Schwendeman of Randall was traveling west as she lost control of her vehicle and rolled. Schwendeman was taken to the hospital with reported minor injuries from the Sheriff's Office.
--A Minnesota traffic stop turned deadly Wednesday evening when a police officer opened fire on a black driver. The victim, 32-year-old Philando Castile, died at a Minneapolis hospital. The cop who shot Castile was later identified as Jeronimo Yanez. The Justice Department said Thursday that it was “aware of the incident and is assessing the situation.” The Bureau of Criminal Apprehension has been called in to investigate the shooting.
--Motorists traveling in Foley Monday will encounter construction. Benton County will be working on Fourth Avenue North/Benton County Road 20-which will be closed between Stony Brook Creek and Main Street in Foley until the end of September. This is being done to replace water and sewer mains and replacing water and sewer services from the mains to building faces. Motorists are asked to find alternate routes around the construction site. A reminder that Highway 27 between Morrison County Road 23 in Lastrup and Morrison County Road 47, east of Lastrup, will close Monday through mid-August. A signed detour will direct motorists along County Road 23 and County Road 47. The closure is needed while crews replace the Highway 27 bridge over the Skunk River east of Lastrup. When complete, the project will result in a safer roadway with wider shoulders, and replace an aging bridge with a new, lower maintenance box culvert bridge. The Rice Creek bridge east of Little Falls is scheduled to be replaced September 6th through late October.
--Crosby Firefighters battled a smoking dehumidifier at a residence west of Crosby on Wednesday stopping it from spreading through the home. The house was filled with smoke around 5:00pm when firefighters arrived. They were able to find the source of the problem in the basement. No flames were reported from. The fire department was able to ventilate the home with no damage to the structure.
--Congratulations to Mary Swenson, Shawn Janson, Grace Boser, Corey Egan and Carol Oldakowski who were the winners of the VIP tickets to Pierz Freedom Fest from participating sponsors and Q92. Pierz Freedom Fest is next Saturday, July 16th.
--Due to last night's weather the Rock, Roll and Stroll event in Pierz was postponed to next Thursday July 14th. The event with classic cars, music, poker walk and more is next Thursday now from 6-9pm.
--The 54th Annual Swanville Mid-Summer Carnival begins today and run through Sunday. Midway opens at 5pm today, food and bingo this evening with music from the Fabulous Armadillos. Midway opens at 3pm Saturday with fun and music all night, then Parade 11:30am Sunday midway at noon and music throughout the day all this weekend in Swanville. The event is put on by the Swanville Lions.
--The Morrison County Relay for Life event is tonight beginning at 5:30pm at the Morrison County Fairgrounds east of Little Falls.
--The Minnesota Department of Public Safety, State Patrol, sheriff and police around the state will have increased officers on patrol now through the 22nd for a speed enforcement campaign. Speed is the leading factor in crashes and have accounted to five fatalities on Minnesota road this summer alone. Strategic areas where crashes have been on the rise will be focused by patrol officers this month.
--Coon Rapids man has been charged with aggravated robbery, accused of robbing a TCF Bank in St. Cloud in 2013. 28-year old Michael John Berger was identified as the robber after fingerprints on a note he handed the bank teller matched fingerprints Berger had submitted to a government database because of his military service, according to the court complaint charging him. Berger is scheduled to make his first court appearance on the charges in late August in Stearns County court. According to the complaint St. Cloud police interviewed Berger in May, and he admitted being the bank robber.
--An attic fire Tuesday in Wadena was quickly contained by firefighters without spreading throughout a residence on the 200 block of Jefferson Street. Firefighters responded around 9:30pm and extinguished the fire in the attic area. The fire was believed to be electrical in nature. No injuries were reported.
--A 57-inch fish. That's nearly five feet! One only dreams of catching something that massive. For a young man from Hawley, it was a dream that recently became a reality. Back on June 24th, 20-year old Andrew Slette netted this monster fish on Pelican Lake in Otter Tail County. He released it, but not before taking photos to Instagram.
DEATH NOTICE
--Leonard L. Kliber, age 63 of Little Falls
WEATHER
TODAY= mostly cloudy, breezy, chance of showers, high 72.
TONIGHT= clearing skies, cooler, low around 50.
SATURDAY= sunny, high 78, T-storms overnight, low 61.
SUNDAY= early and late day storms, high 85, low 67.
MONDAY= partly sunny, muggy, storms likely, high 84, low 68.
SPORTS
VL= final regular season weekend of the Victory League so the game of the week is Saturday 1:30pm with Randall at Upsala on KLTF.
TWINS= Twins win 10-1 over Texas Thursday. Series continues tonight at 6:30, Saturday 7:30pm and Sunday 1:30pm on Q92.
LYNX= Maya Moore 40 points, Lindsey Whalen joins 3000 point, 1000 assist, 1000 rebound club, but Lynx lose to Sun 93-89 in OT.
ALL STAR= Eduardo Nunez lone Twins All Star Tuesday in San Diego for the All Star Game, winner gets home field in World Series.