NEWS
--The City of Little Falls has reopened 4th Street Southeast and Northeast of Highway 27 as of Friday. The detour was lifted some time ago on Highway 27 and 4th Street from 5th Avenue Southeast reopened over a week. But now there is not barricades on 4th Street Southeast or Northeast by the City of Little Falls. More work is expected along the stretch of highway but should not mean another closure at least on the southeast portion of 4th Street in Little Falls.
--Formal charges have been filed against the driver of an SUV that rolled on Highway 10 near Little Rock Lake and ejected a passenger. That passenger, 17-year-old Nurban Ruvelsi-Perez died when he was ejected into the roadway and was struck by an oncoming pickup. The driver of the SUV, 27-year-old Aler Gomez-Lucas of Rockville is now charged with two counts of criminal vehicular homicide and one count of DWI. According to the criminal complaint filed in Benton County District Court, a second passenger told authorities that Ruvelsi-Perez and Gomez-Lucas had been drinking prior to the crash and that Gomez-Lucas had been driving fast when he lost control of the vehicle, causing it to roll. Court records allege a breathalyzer test at the scene showed a preliminary blood-alcohol content of 0.178. A blood sample taken at the hospital was sent to the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension for analysis. The crash happened at around 3:30am Friday, August 11th on eastbound Highway 10 near Little Rock Road. The driver of the pickup had not been drinking and is not expected to be charged with a crime.
--Two motorcyclists was injured Friday in Stearns County. Around 12:40pm, 65-year-old Nancy Monroe-Tay of Olympia, Washington was on Interstate 94 in St. Joseph Township and collided with another motorcycle driven by 67-year-old Dennis Taylor of Olympia, Washington. Both riders skidded on the roadway and were taken to St. Cloud Hospital for treatment of their injuries.
--On Sunday, five Soldiers from the Minnesota National Guard’s Brooklyn Park-based 1903rd Acquisitions Team held a departure ceremony before leaving on a nine-month deployment supporting Operation Enduring Freedom. "The 1903rd Acquisition Team will be deploying to Djibouti to support Navy Supply by providing contracting support for supply and services for locations in Djibouti, Somalia, and
Kenya”. The 1903rd Acquisitions Team will depart for Djibouti, where they will assist with providing contract administrative service support at Camp Lemonier, Djibouti. The Soldiers of the 1903rd have trained over the last 18 months for this mission. This is the third deployment for the team. They deployed in 2009 and again in 2017.
--Minnesota’s unemployment rate is up to 3%, rising by 0.1% in July. People are pouring back into the labor force, with 3,935 more people looking for work, but the state lost jobs again, shedding 400 positions last month. Fewer jobs and more people actively searching for them increased the unemployment rate. There is still room for the trend to continue. The state’s labor force participation rate is 68.5%, significantly less than the 69.9% seen in February 2020. St. Cloud is one of the hardest hit areas. The Department of Employment and Economic Development tracks the one-year change for various cities. Since July 2022, the St. Cloud region added only 1,148 jobs, a change of 1.1%. That ties Fargo-Moorhead for the lowest change. The Twin Cities are up 1.8%, Duluth is at 2.5%, Rochester registered an increase of 2.8%, and Mankato saw 6.9% job growth. The state average was 2.1%.
--The Little Falls Police Department reported a string of theft reports on 1st Street Southeast and 1st Avenue Southeast last week. Reports started on Tuesday, with two reports of thefts at homes between 12:30pm-3pm where in one case an attempted break-in was in progress, suspects fled the scene before authorities arrived. The Police Department did not state if anything was taken another report of items taken from a vehicle was issued around the same time also reported on 1st Avenue Southeast. Police remind those to lock of items inside the vehicles and at home, in garages, outbuildings and sheds when left unattended. Call suspicious activity in at 616-5570.
--A 34-year-old from Clarissa was killed Saturday morning on Highway 10 in Clear Lake Township of Sherburne County. The accident report said around 1:20am a vehicle driven by Lindsey Soiseth of Lake Lillian was on Highway 10 and rear-ended a slower moving vehicle driven by a 23-year-old from Clear Lake. A passenger in the first vehicle, Jordan Kramer was not wearing a seatbelt and died at the scene. The driver and two other passengers were taken to St. Cloud Hospital, a 38-year-old passenger from Clarissa had life threatening injuries while the other two were non serious injuries. The other driver and passenger were treated at the scene but did not need to be hospitalized. Authorities stated that three of the four in the first vehicle were not wearing seatbelts as the other two were.
--Former Minnesota Governor Al Quie has died at the age of 99. Al Quie represented southern Minnesota's 1st District in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1958 to 1979. He returned home and defeated Democrat Rudy Perpich in the 1978 gubernatorial race. Quie did not seek reelection in 1982. But Quie, a man of deep Lutheran faith, remained active after leading office, serving as a leader of the national Christian ministry Prison Fellowship. In 2006, he led a commission that recommended steps to keep the state's judiciary independent and nonpartisan after some Republicans sought to bring politics into judicial elections. Quie reported died of natural causes.
WEATHER
TODAY= partly cloudy skies, high near 80.
TONIGHT= chance of T-storms overnight, humid, low 65.
TUESDAY= sunny and warm, more humid, high 88, low 68.
WEDNESDAY= sunny and hot, humid, high 92, low 64.
SPORTS
TWINS= Pablo Lopez shuts down the Pirates Friday for a 5-1 win for the Twins. Pirates score late to beat Twins 7-4 on Saturday. Twins then take the series with a 2-0 win on Sunday over Pittsburgh. The Twins have today off, at Milwaukee on Tuesday night.
VIKINGS= Tennessee beat Vikings 24-16 in preseason play Saturday with Vikings not playing any starters. The Vikings host Arizona this Saturday in the final preseason game,
CLASS C= Plato beat St. Stephen 5-1 Friday ending their season. Sobieski scored 3 in the 9th to tie the game with Metro Sunday only to lose it in the 10th inning 4-3 and are eliminated in Class B. Avon gets a 4-0 shutout win on Sunday over Red Wing. Buckman will play Kimball Saturday night at 7pm at the State Tournament and Avon will play Hibbing in the 2nd Round at State Sunday at 4:30pm. Nisswa routs Carver 14-2 in 7 innings and will take on Cannon Falls Sunday morning at 11am at the State Tournament. Hear the action live on AM960 KLTF and online at fallsradio.com.