NEWS
--An Elk River man was killed Saturday morning on Highway 27 at Highway 238 west of Little Falls in Pike Creek Township. At 3:54am, the state patrol reported a Jeep driven by 28-year-old Caleb Elfering of Little Falls was eastbound on 27 when he struck a bicyclist who was laying in the eastbound lane. Authorities stated the driver did not see the man until he had struck him due to the very foggy conditions. The bicyclist was 35-year-old Michael Ostrom of Elk River and he was pronounced dead by the state patrol. They are investigating if Ostrom had been struck earlier or why he was laying on the highway before he was struck by the Elfering vehicle Saturday morning. Elfering was not injured in the accident.
--A 69-year-old Randall man is dead after a two-vehicle accident Sunday around 4:30pm on Highway 10 at Highway 115 in Randall. The State Patrol said at 4:32pm, Dennis Jaschke was on Highway 115 and made a left turn onto Highway 10 and collided with an oncoming vehicle on Highway 10 driven by 67-year-old Lorri Nieradzik of Black Diamond, Washington. Nieradzik and a passenger, 64-year-old David Nieradzik had non-life threatening injuries in the accident and refused hospitalization. The impact of the accident caused the vehicles and one with a trailer to overturn in a ditch. The State Patrol reported that Jaschke was taken to St. Cloud Hospital but pronounced dead.
--A 17-year-old from Randall was injured Sunday morning at 9:29am on Highway 10 at Aztec Road in Motley Township. Alexis Kuchinski was westbound on 10 when she apparently fell asleep and entered the ditch and overturned. Kuchinski was taken to the Staples Hospital and treated for non-life threatening injuries.
--An Iowa man injured August 21st at 8:39am in a motorcycle accident in Morrison County. 58-year-old Scott Kruse of Dallas Center, Iowa was on his motorcycle at Northbound Highway 10 at the Highway 27 ramp when he tried to avoid some debris on the road causing Kruse to lose control and and lay the bike down. He was treated at the Little Falls Hospital for non life threatening injuries.
--Severe thunderstorms moved through Morrison County Saturday late morning through the noon hour dropping heavy rains, damaging winds and very large hail the size of baseballs through North Prairie breaking windows, downing limbs and trees and dropping over 4-5 inches of rain in a short period of time. Buckman also reported 4-5 inches of rain, over 2 inches in portions of Little Falls, 1.5 inches near the high school and near the radio station and less amounts in other areas. Stearns County reported large hail and downed trees near Belgrade, St. Cloud and Sartell which damaged cars and roofs and many trees down and also caused flooding across portions of Stearns and Todd County where some rail totals were over 4-7 inches in only 15-25 minutes of times from the severe storms flooding roadways and fields. Tornado warnings were issued in Stearns, Todd, Benton and Mille Lacs but no official reports of any tornado touchdowns on Saturday. Then another round of severe weather late Saturday into early Sunday brought lots of lightning and heavy rains with another 1-2 inches in Little Falls bringing rain totals to 3-4 inches in spots locally and over 7+ inches to others that had heavy rains earlier in the day. The weather calls for drier conditions through Wednesday.
--Numbers at the Minnesota State Fair over the first few days are down by half from previous years. State Fair officials believe the weather is major factor for the lower attendance. The current Princess Kay of Milky Way will be on AM960 KLTF today at 8:30am.
--The Morrison County Sheriff's Office has posted surveillance video from the Heartland Tire burglary that occurred Tuesday morning around 4:30am. The videos that were posted shows the suspect was wearing a black face mask and dressed in black clothing. The suspect had a grey backpack and was wearing gloves. The video displays the suspect wearing white clothing, this is because of the background lighting. If you have any information regarding this burglary, please contact the Morrison County Sheriff's Office at 320-632-9233. The full videos posted are on the sheriff's office Facebook page.
--1,100 Minnesota National Guard troops are working to secure parts of the Kabul airport and help with other humanitarian efforts in Afghanistan. The Minnesota Guard's Task Force 1-194 mobilized in March to serve in Kuwait. Earlier this month the task force was deployed to Afghanistan with the mission of securing vital sectors of Hamid Karzai International Airport. In addition, Task Force 1-194 Soldiers are providing humanitarian assistance to U.S. citizens, special immigrant visa holders, and their families. "The Soldiers of Task Force 1-194 were called upon to execute a challenging mission, and they have done so with professionalism," said Army Lt. Col. Jake Helgestad, Task Force 1-194 commander. "They have shown strength, compassion, and resolve despite danger and difficulty." This initiative follows through on America's commitment to Afghan citizens who have helped the United States. This unit consists of batallions with soldiers out of Camp Ripley, Brainerd, St. Cloud and other communities across the state.
--Congratulations to 11 year old Isaac Schmidtbauer, his sister, 8-year-year Anna, and cousin, 11-year-old Jayce Gruber teamed up to find the lucky Oktoberfest Medallion early on Friday morning. The team found the Medallion under a light pole near Pierz Co-op on 4th Avenue Southeast. The three plan to split their winnings of $500 in Pierz Bucks. Isaac and Anna are the children of Chad and the late Kelly Schmidtbauer. Jayce is the son of Anna and Nick Gruber. A special thank you to all that attended Pierz Oktoberfest yesterday including the Parade and park festivites that went on in Pierz.
ENTERTAINMENT NEWS
--Actor Ed Asner as died at age 91. Asner starred as Lou Grant on the Mary Tyler Moore Show and won an Emmy for role on “Lou Grant”.
DEATH NOTICES
--Charles “Chuck” D. Jordan, age 63 of Rice.
WEATHER
TODAY= sunny and pleasant, high 75, clear night, low 53.
TUESDAY= sunny and pleasant, high 76, clear night, low 57.
WEDNESDAY= sunny and warmer, high 82, storms in the overnight.
SPORTS
CLASS C= Sobieski stayed alive with a 6-5 win yesterday over Isanti. Waconia eliminated Foley 3-0 Friday and Watertown eliminated Avon Sunday 8-1. Sobieski will take on Dumont Saturday at 11am in Waconia in the Class C State Tournament on AM960 KLTF.
TWINS= Josh Donaldson's 1st inning homer was all the Twins needed to win 2-0 Friday over Milwaukee. Twins win 6-4 on Saturday but lost 6-2 on Sunday to the Brewers. Twins are at Detroit for a makeup game today at 12:30pm on Q92 WYRQ.
VIKINGS= Kansas City beat Vikings 28-25 Friday in preseason play.