NEWS
--Congratulations to Elissa Pawlu for being named a 2021-22 State ExCEL Recipient. ExCEL stands for Excellence in Community, Education and Leadership is a unique recognition program sponsored by the MSHSL designed exclusively for Minnesota high school juniors who are active in school activities, who shows Leadership qualities, and who are model citizens. Elissa is the daughter of John and Elene Pawlu, she is involved in: Volleyball, Basketball, Track, Peer Helping, WEB, Band, Pep Band, FFA, 4H, Big Brother/Big Sister and Youth Group. Profiles of each Recipient will be aired throughout the broadcast of the winter tournaments on KSTC Television in the Twin Cities. Elissa will be honored at Halftime on March 19th at 2pm during the state Girls Basketball tournament.
--St. Cloud police have released the name of the woman who died in a house fire earlier this week. She was 34-year-old Kaitlyn Hitchcock. The preliminary cause of death is related to injuries sustained from the smoke and fire. Police say at this time the fire is not considered to be suspicious and is believed to be accidental. The exact cause of the fire is still under investigation. The fire call came in Monday at about 4:30am on 100 block of 17th Avenue South in St. Cloud.
--Three central Minnesota cities have received state funding to improve water service and protect local waterways. Last year, the Minnesota Public Facilities Authority awarded over $180 million to 26 cities for various public works projects. In August, Melrose received over $6.3 million to improve their wastewater treatment plant and Eden Valley was given over $3.2 million to replace sanitary sewer and watermain. In November, Royalton was awarded more than $2.2 million to replace aging watermain, hydrants, and valves, and to build a storm sewer collection system along with a sedimentation pond.
--Betty Whiteout and Ctl Salt Delete are top winners in the name the snowplow contest put on by Minnesota Department of Transportation. Third was the Big Leplowski, then Plowasaurus Rex and Scoop Dog was 5th. Betty Whiteout got over 40,000 online votes for the top pick while Ctl Salt Delete second with over 21,000 votes.
--A St. Cloud man charged with seven felonies including allegedly assaulting a women and her son despite court orders to stay away from them has reached a plea agreement on the charges. 24-year-old Jeffery Jennings Jr. has pleaded guilty to two counts of violating a Domestic Abuse No Contact Order (DANCO). The other five charges were dismissed as part of the agreement. The agreement also calls for a prison term of just under two years. Jennings Jr. gets credit for 25 days already served. According to the complaint, Jennings Jr. assaulted the women over a period of 15 days at his south St. Cloud apartment. Jennings allegedly assaulted the woman on a daily basis at one time and also abused her child during that time period. Court records show both the mother and the boy had bruises and visible marks on them. Jennings Jr. has previous domestic-related convictions in both Stearns and Chippewa counties.
--The Minnesota Fishing Hall of Fame has announced its inductees for 2022, and this year’s roster features four anglers and two organizations. Inductees in the Individual Legends category are Marty and Scott Glorvigen and their digital media platform, Wired2Fish; Al Baert, founder of the Minnesota Fishing Museum; Gregg Thorne, entrepreneur and partner in Elliott Fishing Rods; and Joe’s Sporting Goods. Congratulations to the 2022 inductees. The Minnesota Fishing Hall of Fame is located at the Fishing Museum site in Little Falls.
--The Little Falls City Council meets tonight at 7:30pm at City Hall.
--A Hillman teenager was injured Friday in a two vehicle accident near Bock in Mille Lacs County. 16-year-old, Avery Grimm from Hillman received non-life threatening injuries in the accident but was not taken to the hospital. The driver of the other vehicle, 90-year-old Roger Schipper of Milaca was transported to the hospital in Princeton, also with non-life threatening injuries. The report states that at about 12:57pm Friday, Schipper was westbound on Highway 23, and Grimm was eastbound on Highway 23 in a pickup truck that was pulling a car trailer. Schipper made a left-hand turn in front of the pickup, causing a collision at the intersection off of Highway 23.
--Hundreds of community members and activists gathered outside the Hennepin County Government Center Saturday afternoon for a protest following the shooting death of Amir Locke by the Minneapolis police on Wednesday. Demonstrators held signs calling for justice for Locke, who was killed early Wednesday morning inside a downtown Minneapolis apartment while law enforcement executed a no-knock warrant. The protest poured into the streets where the hundreds of demonstrators began marching as they called for the immediate firing and prosecution of the officers involved in the shooting. Many protesters were also calling for the removal of Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, with some expressing concern about the continued use of no-knock warrants. In November 2020, Frey and then-Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo announced a new policy regarding no-knock warrants, requiring all MPD officers to announce themselves and their purpose before entering a residence. There would be exceptions for some circumstances, they said, such as hostage situations. On Friday, Mayor Frey announced a moratorium on no-knock warrants in the city in response to Locke's death.
--Congratulations to the Royalton BPA on a successful Regions. The school reported that 15 of 20 students will be advancing to the State Leadership Conference coming up in March.
DEATH NOTICES
--Peter Prokott, age 96 of the Upsala area.
--Jeanette Podraza, age 72 of Swanville.
--Elizabeth "Bess" Weidenbach, age 88 of Little Falls formerly Randall.
WEATHER
TODAY= flurries at times, partial sun, high near 20.
TONIGHT= cloudy skies, temps steady in the teens.
TUESDAY= mostly cloudy, warmer, high 38 and breezy, low near 23.
WEDNESDAY= sunny, high near 30 early then falling to 0 at night.
SPORTS
NFL= Team AFC held off Team NFC in the Pro Bowl yesterday in Las Vegas 41-35. This Sunday is Superbowl 56 in Los Angeles as the hometown Rams take on the Cincinnati Bengals. Kickoff scheduled at 5:30pm, full coverage starts at 1pm Sunday on AM960 KLTF.
TODAY IN HISTORY
IN 1914= Charlie Chaplin debuts “The Little Tramp” character.
IN 1935= first edition of the game Monopoly goes on sale the Uncle Moneybags character is created by creator's Charles Darrow uncle.
IN 1936= Felix the Cat cartoons first air at movie theaters.
IN 1940= Walt Disney's Pinocchio debuts in theaters.
IN 1964= over 3,000 screaming fans welcome the Beatles to New York City on their first American visit to be on Ed Sullivan Feb 9th.
IN 1974= Mel Brooks “Blazzing Saddles” debuts in theaters.