NATIONAL NEWS
--President Donald J. Trump announced early this morning via Twitter that he and First Lady of the United States Melania Trump have both tested positive for COVID-19 as of late last night. The President stated he and the First Lady have began their isolation period and as of yesterday had not shown any symptoms related to COVID-19. The President stated he has had to now stop all campaign venues and other public appearances during the isolation process time.
NEWS
--The Midwest Medical Examiner’s Office has identified the man fatally shot by police in St. Cloud as a 27-year-old with no permanent address. Kirby Joseph Michael Hengel died of multiple gunshot wounds Tuesday, according to the medical examiner. Officers in St. Cloud were assisting St. Paul police and the federal authorities in locating Hengel, who was accused of shooting at officers in St. Paul Monday evening and stealing a vehicle. According to police, Hengel was found in a vehicle in a parking lot in St. Cloud about 6:00pm Tuesday. He got out of the vehicle armed with a gun and was shot by officers. The suspect died at the scene. A woman in the suspect’s vehicle was injured, was taken to the hospital for treatment and released. No officers were injured during the incident.
--The Morrison County website reported Thursday morning 298 total cases of COVID-19 since testing began, 98 active cases reported in the past 14 days, 23 of the 298 cases required hospitalization. Little Falls zip code 56345 reported 51 of the 98 cases, Pierz 13, Motley 9, Randall 7 and Hillman 6 in the past 14 days. Statewide on Thursday there were 1,066 new cases, 13 new deaths in the state linked the the virus with another 11 new cases in Morrison County which included a third confirmed death linked to COVD-19 it was reported on the website that person was in the ages of 90-94. On the statewide website Morrison at 293 cases and 3 confirmed deaths. On the weekly report from the CDC it showed there has been since September 30th, 2,854 tests completed in the county since testing began, 293 total cases and of those 213 are no longer in the 14 day isolation period according the state website.
--A St. Cloud man faces assault charges stemming from two separate incidents in the last week. According to the complaints filed in Stearns County District Court, 30-year-old Sharmake Mohamed Aden assaulted another man with a baseball bat and a week later shoved a woman and allegedly intimidated her. The first incident happened in the early morning hours on September 22nd. Court records alleged Aden grabbed an aluminum baseball bat and began hitting him in the face and head. When the man regained consciousness, he said Aden's father was driving him home. He told police he didn't know why Aden attacked him. A week later, on September 29th, police were finally able to make contact to a woman who said Aden had pushed her down days earlier and she felt afraid. She said she learned she couldn't talk to the police because she was in danger. Records show the woman said she was hesitant to talk to police because she didn't know what Aden would do. Aden has a handful of previous domestic assault and no-contact order violation convictions. He is now charged with 2nd-degree assault with a dangerous weapon and 3rd-degree assault causing substantial bodily harm for the bat assault. Aden also faces two counts of felony domestic assault within 10 years of previous domestic assault convictions.
--The Little Falls Police Department responded to a burglary report on Wednesday at 8:13pm at 513 3rd Street Northeast. A large quanitity of items including photographs and papers were taken. The victim gave the officer a list of items missing. Neighbors are asked to check outdoor cameras to see if any picked up any suspicious footage. Anyone with information please contact authorities.
--Next week October 4th through the 10th is Fire Prevention Week. The Fire Prevention Week 2020 campaign highlights this year's focus on cooking safety and preventing kitchen fires at home. During the week fire marshals and firefighters from across the nation and state will send out helpful tips on creating a kid-free zone in the kitchen, how to extinguish a small fire with a lid, staying focused and alert while cooking, distributing materials at safety events, and more. Little Falls Fire Chief Craig Seelen has provided Little Falls Radio with public service announcements and will be live Monday at 8am on KLTF.
--Numerous events this weekend around Morrison County. Tomrorow there is a tractor drive from Swanville to Long Prairie beginning with the drive at 10:30am (with tractors and wagons going to Long Prairie where a lunch will be served). The proceeds go to a camp for special need children. Adults $20 per tractor and $5 for those riding in a wagon. There is a wine and chocolate walk Saturday 1-5pm at Linden Hill with very limited tickets left earlier this week. Call 616-5580 if any remain. There is a virtual concert Saturday night by the Legacy Chorale of Greater Minnesota, all are welcome to go to Youtube live and then Legacy Chorale of Greater Minnesota to see their You Raise Me Up concert online this year due to restrictions. The concert begins at 7pm. They also have a virtual auction to view items to bid on and the last bids will be collected by 7:45pm and announced online. On Sunday there will be live concert outside Linden Hill by singer songwriter Michael Shynes and comedian Jason Schommer at 2pm. Tickets are $20 and need to purchased prior to the event on Sunday. Details on the concert and site are at fallsradio.com community calendar. Also on Monday there will be pillow cleaning outside the Red Rooster in the parking lot in Genola from 7am-3pm. All are welcome to come and get their pillows cleaned and fluffed for the winter. Pillows can be purchased at the event being put on by the Pierz American Legion Auxiliary. More details at fallsradio.com.
DEATH NOTICES
--Lowell C. Drager, age 74 of Swanville.
--Gerhardt E. Zeck, age 94 of Little Falls.
WEATHER
TODAY= morning frost, then party cloudy, high 48.
TONIGHT= increasing clouds, snow showers after 4am, low 33.
SATURDAY= snow showers, then rain showers likely, high 46.
SAT NITE/SUNDAY= clearing skies, low 30, sunny day, high 51.
SUN NITE/MONDAY= clear night with frost 28, partly sunny, high 65.
SPORTS
NFL= Vikings scheduled at Houston Sunday at noon in NFL Week 4.
MSHSL= The Minnesota State High School league will proceed with a 'maximized' winter sports season in 2020-21. The schedules for dance, wrestling, basketball, hockey, adapted hockey, boys swimming and skiing will be reduced by 30% this season. Schedules will be released in the coming days with practices beginning November 9th for Dance and then later for all other high school sports for winter.