NEWS
--A bonding bill passed in the Minnesota House late Wednesday night. After a vote of 100 to 34. Six Republican votes were needed for its passage in the House, despite the GOP’s continued concerns about the overall cost of the bill during a time of a $2.4 billion state budget deficit. This all comes roughly five months after the end of the regular session. There have been a number of special sessions that have convened in the interim, none of which resulted in the passage of a bonding bill. It’s failed to pass in the legislature six times this year. They had tweaked the bill to add projects in Republican areas, and there was reportedly a lot of support for the bill as a general stimulus in a time of COVID-19. There is $25 million in the bill to prevent flooding in Henderson. The project would elevate the road connecting Highway 93 to Interstate 169 so the road can stay open and not close every time it floods. That’s just one example of the kind of projects in this bill. It also contains $300 million for trunk highways, $324 million for miscellaneous transportation projects, $269 million for improvements to public facilities and $75 million for the University of Minnesota. The Minnesota Senate easilly passed the bill late on Thursday.
--27-year-old Dylan Wesley Stately of Bemidji was charged with a felony for theft or taking of a motor vehicle without the owner’s consent in Morrison County District Court. The charge stems from an October 5th incident in which the Little Falls Police Department received a report that a vehicle had been stolen from Mill Park in Little Falls. The vehicle belonged to a company, and they were able to track the vehicle via GPS, which allegedly put the vehicle near the city of Bowlus. A witness then alleged to have found the vehicle in the woods near a creek. An officer then followed the creek and located the truck, which was allegedly stuck. Officers then allegedly observed a subject that was shirtless walking away from them. The suspect was identified as Stately, and he was put under arrest. Officers took a statement from Stately at the jail, and he was allegedly uncooperative at first, but then allegedly admitted to stealing the truck. The truck allegedly suffered severe damage, which appeared to come from striking several trees. It also suffered a broken drive shaft. It is valued at $30,000. If convicted, Stately faces up to five years in prison and/or $10,000 in fines.
--Swanville High School announced their candidates for Homecoming they are Alex Bellefeuille, Rebekah Muhlenkamp, Kody Kaun, Kylie Karst, Haden Chuba, Sydney VanRisseghem, Logan Karnes and Alyssa Mueller. Coronation will be Sunday night at 8pm the high school, only candidates and their parents can attend. The coronation will be live streamed on the school facebook page. Upsala High School will hold Homecoming coronation on Sunday at 4pm at the high school auditorium. The event is open for candidates and their parents or 2 guests per candidate. All others can watch the ceremony on the Upsala High School facebook page streamed live. The Homecoming Court for Upsala are Zach Bartkowicz, Tommaso Filagrana, Carter Johnson, Wil Leners, and Johnny Mayer. The girls are Paige Binek, Shanna Dobmeier, Emma Kremers, Olivia Peterson, and Audrey Thomas. Royalton Area Schools will celebrate Homecoming week October 25th-30th. Candidates for homecoming king and queen include Grayson Suska, Nathan Kolbo, Hunter Bailey, Zach Cekalla, Brady Brezinka, Amanda Waletski, Ellie Petron, Jenna Kull, Anna Meemken and Rylee Johnson.
--According to Morrison County website there are 479 total cases of COVID-19 in the county since testing began, 27 of those required hospitalization. There are 164 active cases from the data of the last 14 days of testing. 80 of those cases are Little Falls Zip Code. The Minnesota Department of Health numbers showed 1,169 newly reported cases (of those 1,108 were confirmed cases) and 19 newly reported deaths with 3 of those reported in Mille Lacs County. Morrison County reported 10 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 2 probable cases also reported from the daily report. The weekly report states that 478 cases of COVID-19 in Morrison County since testing began of those 357 are no longer in isolation. The report also lists a number of schools that are dealing with larger numbers in their district including schools in Stearns, Crow Wing and Mille Lacs County. The report does not list any schools in Morrison County.
--One person was injured Wednesday around 11:12am at the intersection of County Road 17 and the western portion of County Road 3 in Holding Township. The caller reported that a vehicle had gone off the roadway at the T-intersection of these roads. When deputies arrived on scene, they saw one vehicle was in a harvested corn field. The driver, Ann Taranto, 55, of Little Falls, failed to yield at the stop sign went through both lanes. The vehicle was airborne after leaving the roadway and striking the field. Taranto was transported to the Saint Cloud Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
--Another accident occurred in Stearns County at 5:03pm. The two-vehicle crash with injuries on County Road 160 at Island Lake Road in Collegeville Township north of Cold Spring. Deputies arrived on scene and found two vehicles with significant damage in the field to the southeast of the intersection. 35-year-old Lynn Wellner of Richmond collided with 66-year-old Anna Jonas of Cold Spring. Jonas and Wellner were transported to the St. Cloud Hospital for their injuries.
--St. Gabriel's Hospital Advocates are reminding those that purchased tickets that their White Sidewalls dance fundraiser this year had been cancelled which would have been this month. They have rescheduled for next year in October and tickets can be used for that concert. Questions can be directed to their facebook page which also shows how to get involved in online fundraisers this year instead.
DEATH NOTICES
--Catharine “Cathy” Gwost, age 70 of Little Falls.
--Lloyd S. Solorz, age 87 of St. Cloud
--Patricia Ann Sowada, age 77 of Columbia Heights.
WEATHER
TODAY= becoming sunny, breezy, high 41.
TONIGHT= snow showers after midnight, low 27.
SATURDAY= rain/snow mix early, then cloudy, high 45, low 23.
SUNDAY= sunny and chilly, high 37, low near 20.
MONDAY= rain/snow develops in afternoon, high 38, low 22.
SPORTS
HS FB= Melrose Area at Pierz tonight 7pm on FM94 KFML
WRAP= listen to the weekly high school sports wrap for names and results from this past week, Saturday at 8:30am on AM960 KLTF.
NFL= Atlanta Falcons at Minnesota Vikings scheduled for Sunday at noon, though NFL is looking into four Atlanta players that tested positive for COVID-19 on Thursday morning that closed their facility. As of early this morning the game Sunday is still on.