NEWS
–The Morrison County Sheriff’s Office
responded Saturday night around 8pm to a one vehicle accidents with
three juveniles on Forest Road in Green Prairie Township near the lake.
15-year-old Riley Ballou of Randall was east on Forest Road when his
vehicle left the roadway and struck a tree. The Little Falls Fire
Department was called to extricate the people in the vehicle. Ballou was
pronounced dead at the scene. 15-year-old Harley Gangl of Little Falls
was airlifted to St. Cloud Hospital from the extent of injuries and
16-year-old Derek Andres of Randall was taken to the Little Falls
Hospital and then transferred to St. Cloud for injuries. The crash is
under investigation.
–A Burtrum woman was injured in an
accident Saturday just after 11am in Morrison County. 18-year-old Alexis
Woitalla of Little Falls was traveling east on Highway 27 when her
vehicle struck another stopped in traffic which caused a chain reaction
of vehicles striking each other. In all four vehicles were involved in
the accident but only one of the drivers, 63-year-old Robin Meldaus of
Burtrum complained of neck and back pain and was treated at the area
hospital.
–On Friday the Rice Police and Fire
Departments responded to a fire at 50 Division Street North in Rice that
resulted in the death of one person. Around 9:00am a fire was reported
in a camper parked at the Janski Garage in Rice. Upon arriving at the
scene authorities found that there were three campers parked next to
each other and that all three of them were engulfed in flames.
Individuals familiar with these campers expressed concern that there was
a person known to stay in the campers and that this person may have
been inside one of the campers when the fire started. Upon arriving on
scene, Rice Fire Fighters worked to extinguish the fire. After
extinguishing the fire, fire fighters searched through the burned out
campers, finding one adult victim. The body of the victim was
transported to the Midwest Medical Examiner’s Office for positive
identification and an autopsy. The cause of the fire and cause and
manner of death for the victim remain under investigation at this time.
There is no evidence to indicate there is any danger to the public at
this time. Anyone with information about this fire is asked to contact
the Rice Police Department or Tri-County Crime Stoppers.
–A nativity scene with a long
tradition in St. Cloud is missing a very important piece. Someone has
stolen the statue of the baby Jesus. The
nativity is owned by the Stearns History Museum and is on display
outside the U.S. Bank building on West St. Germain Street. Museum
Executive Director Carrie Essig says they’ve had an agreement with the
bank to set-up the display for Christmas for many years and have never
had a problem with theft or vandalism. Somebody cut a cable and took the
statue sometime between Wednesday night and Thursday afternoon. They
have asked that whoever took the baby Jesus can bring it back to the
nativity scene, the Stearns History Museum, or the police department,
with no questions asked. Residents are to be on the lookout, if you
happen to find the statue discarded somewhere around town.
–The Minnesota State Patrol and Todd
County Sheriffs Office is investigating a serious injury accident that
occurred Saturday night around 8:20pm on Highway 71 near Bertha. No
other details on the accident have been released.
–Little Falls Community High School, Pierz Healy High School and Swanville High School all have holiday concerts tonight.
–Stearns County responded to a fatal
accident Sunday morning north of Avon. A pickup truck struck a horse and
buggy that was traveling on the shoulder of a county road. A 72 and 66
year old of Avon were both given lifesaving efforts at the scene but
pronounced dead. The pickup truck driver was not hurt. The names of the
victims in the crash have not been released. The investigation is
ongoing.
–The TV Show “48 Hours” on Saturday
featured the 1995 disappearance of Mason City, Iowa, television news
anchor Jodi Huisentruit. Huisentruit, a Long Prairie native who worked
as a news anchor in Alexandria in the early 1990s was the morning anchor
at KIMT-TV, the CBS affiliate in Mason City, when she disappeared on
her way to work on June 27, 1995. Authorities believe someone grabbed
Huisentruit, 27, just after 4am as she went to her red Mazda Miata in
the parking lot of her apartment complex. She has not been seen since.
The show featured “new information about the case and explores multiple
leads and theories about her abduction. The show can now be downloaded
from the CBS website for 48 Hours.
–Waite Park police are warning you of a
recent bomb threat email circulating the St. Cloud Metro area. Police
Chief Dave Bentrud says area businesses have received an email Thursday
saying a bomb is inside their building and if $20,000 in Bitcoin isn’t
paid by a certain time the bomb will explode. Authorities believe this
is a scam, based on the language used in the email being similar to
other email scams nationwide. Neighboring counties are also receiving
the same email. Police are reminding businesses who receive this email
to not send money and to contact your local police department right
away. If you do see a suspicious package, person or vehicle outside or
in your business, contact police immediately.
–Join KLTF Party Line on Wednesday for
the drawings of three dairy buckets from the Morrison County ADA,
Coborn’s Marketplace and Little Falls Radio from our 12 Dairy Recipe
Contest finalists. Partyline is heard weekdays at 10am on KLTF and
fallsradio.com.
DEATH NOTICES
–Peggy Ann Prososki of Little Falls passed away December 12th.
–Eileen E. Kaiser, age 85 of Royalton.
–Carol Wendland, age 81 of Little Falls.
–Riley Ballou, age 15 of Randall.
–David Adamek of Randall.
–Jeanne R. Stang, age 82 of Pierz.
WEATHER
TODAY= mostly sunny, high near 40.
TONIGHT= partly cloudy, low near 20.
TUESDAY= mostly sunny, high 43, low around 20.
WEDNESDAY= cloudy, high 40, freezing precip at night, low 23.
SPORTS
NFL= Vikings win 41-17 Sunday over Miami
in an all around win with plenty of running game and sacks to help the
cause. The Vikings are now 7-6-1 and go to Detroit on Sunday. Chicago
beat Green Bay Sunday to win the NFC North. The Vikings hold the 2nd
wild card spot. COL FB= The University of Minnesota Board of Regents
approved an extension for football coach P.J. Fleck on Friday making him
the Gopher coach through the 2024 season. Fleck will have the Gophers
in the Quicklane Bowl on December 26th at 3pm on AM960 KLTF.