NEWS
--The Morrison County Sheriff's Office Emergency Management wants to remind everyone that Severe Weather Awareness Week is April 12-16th. On Thursday, April 15th, they will be participating in the Statewide Tornado Drills with sirens being activated at 1:45PM and 6:45PM. Outdoor warning sirens will sound in a simulated tornado warning. The tornado drills allow everyone in the community to practice their emergency plans for tornadoes. The first drill is intended for institutions and businesses. The evening drill is intended for second shift workers and families. There is no such thing as an “all-clear” siren. Each day of the week highlights an important seasonal weather safety topic: Monday- Alerts and Warnings; Tuesday- Severe Weather, Lightning and Hail; Wednesday- Floods; Thursday- Tornadoes and Friday- Extreme Heat. More information on Severe Weather Awareness Week can be found at the Department of Public Safety website and their severe weather link.
--Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life their Morrison County chapter has rescheduled their MCCL Dinner that was to be in January for Sunday, April 25th at the Falls Ballroom. Tickets are $18 and pre-ordered only and TODAY is the deadline for that by calling Sue Houdek at 630-7045 or your mailing has to be postmarked by April 12th. There will be speakers, essay award winners from Morrison County students, you can donate baby items and drop them off to help expecting mothers plus a chicken and ham dinner. The event begins at 12pm with dinner at 12:45 on April 25th but again tickets and calling for tickets must be in by today at 630-7045.
--The Royalton School Board has selected three finalists to return for a second interview for the school district’s superintendent position. The finalists are: Kristine Wehrkamp, executive director of community education and high school activities director supervisor, Robbinsdale. Michael Neubeck, middle school principal, Mahtomedi. Daniel Ludvigson, superintendent/elementary principal, Elgin/New Liepzig Schools, North Dakota. The finalists were selected from a pool of 15 candidates, based on criteria established by the School Board. The School Board has scheduled interviews for the finalists starting this afternoon, Monday, April 12. Interviews will be held in person at the school in Royalton. All interviews are open to the public.
--Ice-out reports received this year by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources indicate local bodies of water are free of ice almost two weeks earlier than normal that includes the Brainerd Lakes area. Cheri Zeppelin, a DNR regional information officer based out of Grand Rapids stated that they have an Ice Out page on the DNR website and in most cases the ice wsa out on north central and all of southern Minnesota Lakes by April 8th. Far northern Minnesota is only at about 25% of lakes still with ice on it which has an average ice out there around April 28th but expected to be earlier if temperatures stay near or above normal. Zeppelin said North Long, Round Lake, Gladstone Lake and White Sand Lake, for example, are just some of the Brainerd area lakes people have reported now as being “ice-free.”
--The Pine Grove Zoo has scheduled their annual spring clean-up for Saturday, May 1st from 8-10am. They need help raking leaves, trimming trees, hauling branches in the zoo and picking up garbage at Pine Grove Park. All under 16 must be accompanied by an adult, all must bring own gloves for the help. Call 616-5595 for information.
--Morrison County website showed a bit of an uptick late last week in numbers of COVID-19, 192 cases Friday, 67 Pierz, 56 in Little Falls.
--The Little Falls Fire Department was called out Saturday morning just before 9:30am to 798 Highland Avenue on a report of a house fire. Upon arrival we found smoke coming from the second floor windows. Law enforcement informed us that the male resident suffered some injuries and went to the hospital via personal vehicle. Firefighters were able to extinguish the fire in a second floor bedroom. The fire was contained to that room with some light smoke damage throughout the rest of the upstairs. The Fire Department was assisted at the scene by Little Falls Police and Mayo Clinic Ambulance. The cause of the fire is under investigation. The condition of the resident is unknown.
--Three large road construction projects in central Minnesota begin today. As mentioned last week, Division Street (Highway 23) will have lane closures and detours in St. Cloud and Waite Park today through the summer working on Division around County State Aid Highway 75 and 15th Avenue North through St. Cloud. Interstate 94 will begin lane barriers being up at the I-94/I-494 interchange at Maple Grove starting today. The left lane will be a thru-only lane for westbound traffic with no exit until Highway 241 in St. Michael. The two right lanes will provide exit access at Weaver lake Road, Maple Grove Parkway, and Highway 101 in Rogers. This I-94 work will then continue westward this summer to Highway 24 in Clearwater. There may be nighttime lane closures and the lane shifts will be in place through September. Also Mn Dot is starting the next phase of a four year project to widen lanes from Foley east to Milaca along Highway 23 and more work to start this week on that project which will cause delays with flaggers and lane shifts at times. During the rest of the year more projects are planned along Highway 71 in Browervile and later summer on Highway 115 between Randall and Camp Ripley. Please remember to slow down in work zones. For a compete list of projects from the Minnesota Department of Transportation you can go the mndot.org website and click on construction update.
ROYALTY NEWS
--Prince Phillip the husband of Queen Elizabeth II has died at age 99.
BIRTH ANNOUNCEMENT
--Alec Zack and Korlyna Keeher of Little Falls, a boy born April 7th.
DEATH NOTICES
--Carol A. Fallert, age 60 of Little Falls.
--Leanne R. Talshahar, age 40 of Little Falls.
WEATHER
TODAY= showers likely, especially afternoon, breezy, high 42.
TONIGHT= rain changes to snow, half inch by morning, low 29.
TUESDAY= snow showers, to rain, windy and colder, high 37, low 30.
WEDNESDAY= partly sunny, high 48, clear night, low 31.
SPORTS
TWINS= Seattle beat the Twins Saturday 4-3 in 10 innings. Then Twins blow a 6-0 lead Sunday and lose 8-6 in the end to the Mariners losing their first home series in 2021. Twins open a series with Boston today at 12:30pm on Q92 WYRQ.
COL HK= Massachusetts shut out St. Cloud State 5-0 Saturday to win the Frozen Four College Hockey Championship for 2021.
VL= Get Victory League scores at fallsradio.com then Victory League.