NEWS
--The City of Little Falls has a water shut off today on 1st Street Southeast in Little Falls starting at 8am and this could last through the day until 5pm. This includes 6th and 7th Avenue Southeast and Cherry and Highland. For more information call 616-5500.
--The Pierz City Council/Park Board Workshop scheduled for Tuesday will need to be rescheduled. The Morrison County Republicans are holding their party caucus that night at Pierz City Hall. This conflicts with the building usage and also the fact that they can't hold a meeting at the same time as the caucus. A new date and time for the City Council/Park Board workshop will be set tonight when the Pierz City Council holds their next meeting at 7pm.
--The Morrison County Commissioners meet Tuesday at 9am at the government center. During the meeting the Morrison County Sheriff's Office will hand out a life saving award and the board will distribute their awards of excellence. Public Works will discuss the Soo Line Trail grant application and other agencies such as Public Health, Social Services, Extension and Auditor/Treasurer at the meeting Tuesday.
--At a press conference Thursday attended by scores of avid attendees, PGA Tour Canada announced it is holding one of its 13 Mackenzie Tour events in Minnesota for the first time in its 7-year history. The CRMC Championship, set for August 17th to the 23rd at Cragun's Resort, is the brainchild of 77-year-old Sartell resident and founder Ron Sanders. This 72-hole event will be played Cragun's Dutch Course later this year.
--The Sauk Rapids-Rice school board Friday morning has narrowed a list of five superintendent candidates down to two finalists. The five candidates were brought in for interviews last week and the board has now settled on Thief River Falls Superintendent Bradley Bergstrom and Robbinsdale Executive Director Kristine Wehrkamp as the two finalists. Bergstrom and Wehrkamp will now be part of full-day interviews on today and Wednesday. The School Board will decide on the new superintendent by the end of the week. The new superintendent will assume the duties July 1st. Current Superintendent Aaron Sinclair announced he's stepping down at the end of the school year.
--A survey team with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Paul District, will begin collecting snow surveys throughout the region February 24th through March 6th. The team is taking the surveys to assist Corps’ water management officials in determining how much water is contained within the snowpack this year. This information is shared with other agencies such as the National Weather Service and the U.S. Geological Survey and helps determine what steps can be taken to reduce flood risks across the region. The team will begin in Forest Lake, Minnesota, and make a counterclockwise trip around the region. This area includes most of Minnesota and western Wisconsin. Additionally, Corps of Engineers park rangers are taking snow surveys in the Mississippi River Headwaters region. The snow survey process involves going to a predetermined location, collecting snow through a tube and weighing the melted snow to determine how much water is contained within the snowpack.
--Coborn's will close its Centennial store located at 2118 8th Street in St. Cloud at the end of March. The company said the lease on the building is set to expire soon, prompting an evaluation of the location. The company says they will work with store employees to place them in jobs at other area stores. The store closes March 28th.
--State officials say air quality test results are in from downwind of the Northern Metal Recycling facility fire in Becker and they show no signs of metals and low levels of particulates, such as dust and ash, in the air. The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency have been doing air quality testing. Those tests show that the air quality in Becker, Big Lake and the surrounding area is similar to locations in other parts of the state. None of the tests detected the presence of harmful chemicals in the air at locations affected by the fire, including Becker and Big Lake schools. State officials moved to shut down the recycling facility where a fire started Tuesday and burned for days, citing "imminent and substantial danger" to the public. The MPCA issued an administrative order prohibiting Northern Metal Recycling from accepting any scrap metal at the plant. The company says it "strongly objects" to the agency's decision. On Friday, Governor Tim Walz said he is considering a 30-day hold before the facilty can resume any opeartions so that all hot spots have been doused.
--Special agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives have teamed up with local and state officials to figure out the cause of the fire that completely destroyed the Press Bar and Parlor early Monday morning. Nearly 25 members of the bureau's National Response Team arrived in St. Cloud Friday at the request of the St. Cloud Fire Department and the ATF's St. Paul Field Division. During the investigation, the 10 block of 5th Avenue South will be closed to drivers, and pedestrians will have limited access to the south end of the block. There's no estimation on how long the investigation will take, or how long the street closure will be necessary. Teams of experts work alongside state and local officers to reconstruct scenes, identify fire origins, conduct interviews and sift through debris for evidence.
DEATH NOTICES
--Judith “Judy” Hennes, age 73 of Sobieski.
--Jeannette Oswaldson, age 92 of Onamia.
--Teresa D. Wagner, age 57 of Long Prairie.
--Lavern Chock, age 86 of Little Falls.
--Kenneth Eugene Apel, age 84 of Onamia.
--Verneille J. Berkhahn, abe 87 of Little Falls.
--Kenneth Truesdell, 79 of Staples formerly of Iowa.
WEATHER
TODAY= sunny skies, pleasant, high near 40.
TONIGHT= clouds increase, low 21.
TUESDAY= cloudy, flurries possible, windy, high near 30, low 10.
WEDNESDAY= sunny and colder, high 17, low around 0.
SPORTS
WRE= State Wrestling starts Thursday for teams, individuals Friday and Saturday. For team wrestling Royalton/Upsala takes on Tracy Milroy Balaton Thursday at 9am, win or lose they would wrestle again a second time on Thursday with the championships that night. Foley opens quarter-finals on Thursday against Hutchinson. For individuals that begin on Friday, Little Falls is sending 2 Gabe Nagel & Austin Litke, Pierz sends 2-Trevor Radunz & Tanner Young, Royalton-Upsala will send 4 wrestlers and Holdingford 3 and Foley sends 9 to state.
BHK= Alexandria defeats Little Falls 2-0 Saturday in the section semi-finals ending the Flyer season.
TWINS= Twins spring training baseball today at noon on Q92.