NEWS --A Brainerd teenager was seriously injured Saturday around 10:20am on Highways 25 and 18 in Brainerd. Justine Peterson was airlifted to the Twin Cities with serious life threatening injuries. The other driver in the accident 43-year-old Nicholas Larson of Brainerd was not injured. Peterson turned onto 25 and collided with Larson.
--Motorists will encounter a detour and delays on Highway 24 in Clear Lake as the road closes between Highway 10 and State Street at 9:00am Wednesday. All lanes of Highway 24 are scheduled to open by 3:30pm that afternoon. A short, signed detour will direct motorists along Highway 10, First Avenue E and Church Street, while Highway 24 is closed. All local businesses will remain accessible throughout the closure. The closure is needed while crews repair the Highway 24 railroad crossing just east of Highway 10.
--Police are looking for the man who held up a north St. Cloud convenience store. It happened at the SuperAmerica in the 700 block of 33rd Avenue North at about 8:30pm Thursday. The man entered the store wearing a hood over his head and a bandana over his face. He demanded money from the lone clerk working in the counter area. The suspect never showed a weapon, however he held his hand in his pocket as though he may have one. He is described as a white man, about 5’10” tall, with a slender build. He was wearing a grey hooded sweatshirt, grey pants, and grey shoes. He left the store running in a northern direction. There were no customers inside the store. The clerk was not hurt. Anyone with information is asked to call the St. Cloud Police Department or Tri-County Crime Stoppers.
--A Sauk Rapids detached garage caught on fire Thursday morning. Fire crews were called to 2618 10th Street Northeast shortly after 11:00am The Sauk Rapids Fire department says no one was hurt in blaze. The cause of the fire is unknown. The garage was a total loss.
--The Stearns County Sheriff’s Office was dispatched to a personal injury crash Friday around 6:45am on County State Aid Highway 75 near St. Joseph. 31-year-old Sadie Stommes of Avon was attempting to turn north onto a county road when she was struck by a vehicle where the driver fled the scene on foot. 22-year-old Lawanza Montgomery of St. Paul was located near a St. Joseph business by police and was found to be injured. He along with the other driver, Stommes were taken to the hospital for their injuries. Formal charges of fleeing a peace officer, and leaving an accident scene are pending through the county attorney's office against Montgomery.
--St. Cloud police arrested a man Thursday night who is accused of firing five gunshots at a television inside a residence in St. Cloud. 36-year old Willie Dumont White could face charges of reckless discharge of a firearm, domestic assault and being a felon in possession of a firearm. Police were called just before 10:00pm to a residence in the 10 block of 20th Avenue South after a report of gunshots being fired. Nobody was injured in the incident, which happened when White became upset and shot the television. Officers recovered a handgun at the 20th Avenue South residence believed to be the one used in the shooting.
--Local Little Falls comedian Jason Schommer will release his first comedy album Confessions of a Local Celebrity,” at a release party and comedy show, Saturday, February 25th at 7:30pm at Great River Arts in Little Falls. Tickets can be purchased online at www.greatart.org or by phone at (320) 632-0960.
--Charges are pending against 29-year old James Maldonardo of St. Cloud and 28-year old Amanda Rockenbach of Sauk Rapids for their involvement in a residential burglary on 450th Street, south of Bowlus, in Morrison County. At 11:09am Friday a homeowner called the Morrison County Sheriff’s Office and reported that he just interrupted his step-son and a female burglarizing his residence. The homeowner stated the two suspects fled from the residence with scrap metal and copper that they stole from the out buildings on the property. According to the Sheriff’s Office, deputies arrived and were able to view surveillance video of the burglary, showing the suspects stealing items from the property. The Morrison County Sheriff’s Office alerted area scrap metal dealers about the theft. A short time later, Northern Metal Recycling in St Cloud called the St. Cloud Police Department stating the suspects were at their business trying to sell the items. The Police Department responded and detained the two suspects until Morrison County deputies arrived and placed them under arrest for the burglary. Both James Maldonardo and Amanda Rochenbach were taken to the Morrison County Jail where they are being held pending formal charges for burglary.
--A 32-year-old Pillager man posed as a 22-year-old and had a sexual relationship with a 15-year-old girl. Nicholas Paul Odenthal is a convicted sex offender who faces two counts of third-degree criminal sexual conduct in Stearns County. He made his first court appearance on the charges Friday. Odenthal has a 2008 conviction in Crow Wing County for sexually abusing a child younger than 13. He was sentenced to 21 months in prison for that offense.
--One person was hurt in a chain reaction accident Friday around 6:20pm on Highway 15 in Stearns County. 61-year-old Benedict Walz was stopped at a red light on Highway 15 and 12th Avenue in St. Cloud when he was rear-ended by a vehicle which caused two more vehicles to strike the one in front of them. Walz was the only one of the drivers or passengers to have any sort of injuries. He was treated at St. Cloud Hospital and later released.
--Parent Teacher Conferences today 3:45-6:45pm at Little Falls Community High School. Only conferences for the 3rd Quarter.
DEATH NOTICES --Anna “Tootie” Simon, age 87 of Buckman. --Walter James Weyaus Sr., age 68 of Hinckley. --Marilyn Anna Bieganek, a resident of Harding. --Rosella “Sally” Ross, age 94 of Staples. --Kenneth J. Heid, age 74 of St. Cloud formerly of Pierz.
WEATHER TODAY= sunny skies, high 42, partly cloudy night, low 24. TUESDAY= partly sunny, windy and colder, high 34, low 10. WEDNESDAY= sunny skies, high 27, clear night, low around 14.
SPORTS GHK= Brainerd/Little Falls beat Buffalo/Maple Lake 5-3 Saturday in girls hockey playoffs. Back in action Tuesday night on Q92 WYRQ. COL= Gophers beat Rutgers 72-63 won 4 in a row in basketball. MN= Wild wins 6-3 over Detroit, Wolves win over Chicago on Sunday NFL= former Vikings kicker Blair Walsh was signed last week to become the kicker for the Seattle Seahawks. SKI= Little Falls at state nordic ski meet Thursday in Biwabik.