NEWS
--A man is in custody on several charges after leading St. Cloud Police on a chase early Friday morning. Assistant Police Chief Jeff Oxton says just after midnight, officers found a vehicle at 13th Avenue and 18th Street South in St. Cloud. The car was being driven by 32-year old Lance Olson of St. Cloud. Officers tried to stop Olson, who was wanted on several charges, he refused to stop and a chase began. Police eventually lost sight of Olson, then found he hit another car at the intersection of 33rd Street South and Roosevelt Road. Olson ran on foot from that crash. The other vehicle was driven by a 36-year old man from St. Cloud, who suffered minor injuries. He was taken to the hospital. Officers found Olson in the 3100 block of Roosevelt and took him into custody. He's in Stearns County Jail on charges of Fleeing in a Motor Vehicle, 4th Degree DUI, Criminal Vehicular Operation, Driving After Revocation and failing to stop at an accident.
--Authorities are on the lookout for a suspect that burglarized a St. Cloud gas station. According to St. Cloud Police, a suspect broke into Schmidty's gas station around 11:00pm Thursday. The suspect allegedly smashed a glass door and fled heading north of the building. Officers searched the area but were unable to track down the suspect. The store was closed during the burglary. The suspect was wearing a long tan coat and black face mask.
--An Otsego woman crashed her car after fleeing police on Highway 23 Wednesday night. The chase started in Avon when an officer attempted to stop 23-year old Jade Rissell, and she sped away. Rissell was heading west on Highway 23 while fleeing police. The patrol ended the chase around 7:00pm, near 2nd Avenue in Waite Park, with a pursuit intervention technique. Rissell then lost control of her vehicle, crashing into a parked car occupied by 48-year old Jennifer Pull of Waite Park. Pull was taken to St. Cloud Hospital with non life threatening injuries. Rissell was not hurt.
--The wife of a man charged with the sexual assault of a minor has now been charged with aiding and abetting in the sexual abuse. 38-year old Nikki Hauser has been charged with 11 felony counts of aiding and abetting 1st degree criminal sexual conduct with a victim under 16-years old. 46-year old Shannon Hauser was charged in November with three counts of sexually abusing the same victim back in November 2017. According to the court complaints, Nikki Hauser aided in the abuse dating back to before 2011.
--A traffic stop in Baxter for a traffic violation for a non-illuminated rear license plate led to criminal charges for two people possessing a loaded 20-gauge short-barreled shotgun. 27-year old Larry Helmer Hanson of Duluth and 26-year old Lacey Michelle Puttbrese Davis of Detroit Lakes were charged Thursday in Crow Wing County District Court in Brainerd with a felony for possessing a machine gun and short-barreled shotgun. Hanson also was charged with a felony for having a dangerous weapon in possession of a controlled substance. Davis was charged with a misdemeanor traffic violation and possessing drug paraphernalia. The vehicle was stopped on the side of the roadway near the intersection and was determined to be a traffic hazard. The officer found that the driver, Hanson, had no insurance and his license was suspended. In searching the vehicle, officers located a loaded 20 gauge short-barreled; hypodermic needles and other drug related paraphernalia. Bail was set for both of them at $15,000 each.
--One person is dead, another seriously injured in a two vehicle accident Saturday night in Crow Wing County. Around 10:30pm, 24-year old Dekele Gurley was on Highway 6 in Perry Lake Township when 18-year old Cole Magnunson went through the intersection at the stop sign and struck the Gurley vehicle. Neither driver was hurt. Three passengers, 15-year old Samuel Jorgenson had life threatening injuries; 12-year old Thyra Jorgenson had non-life threatening injuries; and 49-year old Brenda Magnunson was dead at the scene. The accident is under investigation. No alcohol was detected.
--A semi driver was injured Friday night just after 8:00pm on Interstate 94 in St. Joseph Township of Stearns County. 58-year old Peter Budding of Manitoba drove into the median and was unable to correct himself out of it, thus causing the vehicle to roll over. The truck was filled with tater tots that became a mess on the roadway and took some time to clean up closing a portion of I-94 during this. The driver was treated for non life threatening injuries.
--A Freight truck left Interstate 94 at West Union in Todd County Saturday morning around 5:00am and struck several trees injuring the driver and passenger. 41-year old Cyrus Nimene of Brooklyn Park and his passenger, 30-year old Verterine Nicole McGhee of Minneapolis were both taken to the Sauk Centre Hospital. McGhee was later transferred to St. Cloud for treatment of her injuries.
--Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson has sued the Trump administration to stop a recent decision to terminate $130 million in annual payments that fund subsidized health insurance for working Minnesotans. The cut, which has not been widely reported, is the second hit to the federal funding streams for MinnesotaCare, which serves 87,000 low-income residents. MinnesotaCare enrollees will not be affected in the short run, but the cuts could create a long-term funding shortfall with the potential to threaten the future of the program. The state Department of Human Services projects that the combined federal cutbacks would cost Minnesota $742 million in state fiscal years 2018 through 2021, or roughly one third of the program’s projected expenses for that period, $2.2 billion.
--A reminder that the Little Falls City Council will host two meetings tonight, at 6:30pm. An update on Highway 27 Bridge improvements and then at 7:00pm on a half cent sales tax for the city of Little Falls and what it could be used for. All are welcome to attend.
ENTERTAINMENT NEWS
--”Beetle Bailey” creator Mort Walker died Saturday at age 94. He created the military based cartoon in 1950, and also created the comic strip Hi and Lois in 1954.
DEATH NOTICES
--Delroy Thommes, age 78 of Little Falls
WEATHER
TODAY= mostly cloudy, high 13, cloudy night, low 0.
TUESDAY= snow develops, gusty winds high 26, low 18.
WEDNESDAY= sunny and windy, high 20, low around -4.
SPORTS
HS GBB= Pierz at Holdingford tonight 7:15pm on FM94 KFML.
NFL= Super Bowl 52 is Sunday at 5:25pm in Minneapolis between New England and Philadelphia. Hear the action live AM960 KLTF.
NFL= AFC beat the NFC 24-23 in the Pro Bowl Sunday in Orlando.