NEWS
--A 71-year old Pillager man was injured Tuesday when he lost control north on Highway 371 at Tall Timbers Road in Nisswa. The Minnesota State Patrol said around 9:50pm Gerald Mihalic, was making a lane change on Highway 371 when he went through the median and into the southbound traffic lane, where it struck 67-year old Mark W. Gray of Brainerd in the southbound lane. Mihalic was taken to the Brainerd hospital with non-serious injuries. Gray and his two passengers were not injured in the accident.
--The wind turbine on the St. Cloud VA campus will be coming down later this summer. VA Spokesman Barry Venable says demolition will take place July 15th through the 24th and cost over $326,000 to remove. Last year, the St. Cloud VA studied whether the turbine could be repaired or destroyed. In the end, the cost of trying to fix the turbine outweighed its potential energy savings.
--A 62-year old Brainerd woman was injured Monday after her vehicle crashed into five parked vehicles on the 1100 block of Oak Street in Brainerd. The Brainerd Police Department responded to the crash at 9:38am and determined Maureen Adams was traveling east on Oak Street, when her vehicle hit a parked, unattended vehicle. This caused a chain reaction, and the second vehicle hit a third, and so on as up to five vehicles were damaged. Police reported no one was inside of any of the other vehicles, which were parked legally on the south side of Oak Street facing east. Police reported Adams' vehicle and the first three vehicles hit had significant damage. Adams was transported to the emergency room in Brainerd for treatment. --Governor Tim Walz was joined by students, teachers, and legislators at Bruce Vento Elementary School in St. Paul Thursday as he signed the E-12 education budget bill into law. The law invests $543 million in E-12 education funding providing Minnesota schools with more resources per child and keeping the classroom doors open for 4,000 pre-kindergartners. The bill passed the State Legislature on May 24. Governor Walz successfully fought to increase annual investments in each student by four times the amount Republicans originally proposed. The law increases the general education basic formula by two percent in the first year of the biennium, and two in the second, for a total new investment of $388 million.
--The Minnesota State Patrol and MnDOT are launching a new program this weekend to help catch red-light runners at a busy St. Cloud Intersection. The red-light enforcement project begins Saturday and uses video technology to catch violators who enter the intersection illegally. State Patrol Captain Brad Ouart is the Commander of the St. Cloud district. He says this system is different than photo ticket enforcement other states use. The systems in the past have been photography that results in a ticket that has been mailed after the fact. Our system is a live stream video feed that streams to the troopers cars, who watch the violation in real time, stop the vehicle in real time, identify the driver and take appreciate enforcement. The pilot project is located at the intersection of Highway 15 and 2nd Street, one of the most dangerous intersections in the state. In the last three years in Minnesota there have been 22 fatal crashes and 2,000 other injury crashes. This system is separate from the Blue Light system Stearns County is using along County Highway 75 between St. Joseph and Waite Park, County Highway 75 in St. Cloud, and parts of Highway 15 through central Minnesota.
--Joy Kamrowski of Pete and Joys spoke on KLTF Thursday and stated she and her husband Pete want to thank all of the patrons since they started in the bakery business in Foley back in 1964 to Little Falls, Pierz and Long Prairie for the 50 plus years. Pete and Joy's announced last week that they will be closing and Pete and Joy can take a much needed rest. She wanted to thank all the employees over the years, some like their cake decorator for many decades with them. Pete and Joy's final day of business will be tomorrow till 2pm.
--Next Thursday will be the first of the block parties in Little Falls to bring out the public while the Highway 27 construction project continues. There will be a free youth football camp Thursday from 9-11am at the high school practice field in Little Falls. Then join in the fun at the Kiwanis Park (back of the police station) for the Johnny Holm Band at 5:30pm next Thursday night. For more information on block party events contact 616-4959.
--The Homefront Resource Center will show a video entitled Central Minnesota Remembers Vietnam at the Pioneer Place on 5th Ave in St. Cloud on Tuesday at 7:00pm. This video chronicles the project and the event is free and open to the public.
--Weekend events include a benefit for Ricky Turner on Sunday at the Falls Ballroom, breakfast at Little Falls Senior Center Sunday morning and dollar day at the Lindbergh Site on Sunday afternoon. Many townships and cities like Bellevue Township and Upsala are hosting clean-up days on Saturday. Get details on upcoming events at fallsradio.com then community calendar.
--The Little Falls City Council meets Monday at 7:30 at City Hall.
DEATH NOTICES
--Keith Allan Zier, age 69 of Yuma, Arizona.
WEATHER
TODAY= sunny and warm, high 85.
TONIGHT= thunderstorms possible after 8pm, low 54.
SATURDAY= sunny and cooler, breezy, high 71, low 44.
SUNDAY= sunny skies, high 66, low around 41.
MONDAY= sunny skies, high 75, storms late night, low 50.
SPORTS
TWINS= Rays rock the Twins 14-3 last night. The Twins continue series with Tampa Bay tonight at 5:30 with pregame, then day games Saturday and Sunday with 11:30am pregames on Q92 WYRQ.
HS BAB= Little Falls beat Alexandria 12-2 to advance to the section championship next Wednesday where the Flyers only need 1 win to advance to state. Pierz defeated St. Cloud Cathedral 4-1 last night and move on in winners bracket to play the top seed Foley on Monday night at 7pm in St. Cloud on FM94 KFML. Also in baseball Royalton was eliminated while Upsala/Swanville stayed alive and is in an elimination on Tuesday in Minnewaska.
TRACK= The Pierz Pioneers track team had Mathias Algarin finished 1st in the four event he competed in at sections. There will also be 2 relay teams and 2 hurdlers heading to state, Royalton also advanced runners to the state track meet June 7th and 8th at Hamline University.
COL SB= Gophers softball team lost to UCLA yesterday 7-2 in the College World Series and will take on Washington in an elimination game on Saturday morning in Oklahoma City.
VL= Pierz Bulldogs at Randall Cubs Sunday at 1:30pm AM960 KLTF