NEWS --A Pierz teacher has been nominated for the Minnesota Teacher of the Year award which is handed out May 7th in Bloomington. Jessica Rocheleau recently received and accepted the nomination along with 131 other candidates for the award. Education Minnesota Teacher of the Year award will be decided by a 25 member board to name semifinalists later this year and then again narrow it down to finalists for May 7th. Others up for the award from central Minnesota public schools include Karla Johnson of Brainerd, Jennifer Honek of Isle Public Schools, Karrie Fredrickson of Sartell-St. Stephen and Cory Zimpel of Sauk Rapids-Rice. Congratulations to all the nominees and again to Jessica Rocheleau of the Pierz Public Schools.
--Firefighters from the St. Cloud Fire Department were called to a fire Thursday evening at the St. Cloud Collision Center. The fire department had five engines on scene around 8:00pm. There was no one was in the building during the time of the fire. The fire is believed to have started in the drying unit of a painting booth. The fire marshals are still investigating the incident. The fire damaged the painting booth, the car that was in the painting booth and a portion of the roof. Early damage estimates may total over $100,000.
--Let's Go Fishing which takes children, seniors, families and others out for a great day on the river fishing is looking to expand into the St. Cloud area and needs volunteers to be captains of the boat on the trips. A meeting will be at 4:30pm Wednesday at the Little Falls Carnagie Library. If you can help out please attend the meeting. For more information, call Aaron Olson at Kinship of Morrison County at 632-8806. Aaron also mentioned to mark your calendar now for the next Soup and Chili Cookoff for Kinship on March 28th.
--Minnesota 8th District Congressman Rick Nolan has joined Republican Congressman David McKinley of West Virginia to introduce legislation allowing employees of federal prisons to carry firearms while commuting to and from work. The bill requires that a storage area be provided to employees to store their personal firearms while on the job.
--Police are asking for your help as they search for the suspect who held up an east St. Cloud convenience store at gunpoint. The incident happened just after 7:00pm Wednesday at the Super America in the 10 Block of 14th Avenue Northeast. Officers determined that a man had entered the store displaying a handgun and demanded money from the lone female clerk working the counter area. The suspect is described as a white man about 6′ 1″, weighing about 180 pounds, wearing a red winter jacket with a white stripe down the sleeve, a winter hat with ear flaps, sunglasses, a black bandanna over his face, and gray sweatpants. The suspect left the store on foot in a westerly direction with an undisclosed amount of cash. No one was hurt. Anyone with information regarding the incident is urged to contact the St. Cloud Police Department at 320-251-1200, or Tri-County Crime Stoppers at 1-800-255-1301.
--There is a legislative update with District 9 Senator Paul Gazelka and District 9B Representative Ron Kresha Friday morning at 9:00am at Little Falls City Hall. For quesitons and info call 632-5155.
--This week is Catholic Schools Week. Join AM960 KLTF Party Line live at Mary of Lourdes Middle School Tuesday at 10am and at Holy Trinity School in Pierz Wednesday at 10am AM960 KLTF.
--Wreaths for the Fallen.org along with hundreds of volunteers Saturday took down and removed the wreaths at the Minnesota State Veteran's Cemetery north of Little Falls. The event Saturday morning saw the 4,700 wreaths removed, after the wreaths were placed on the graves back in December before the Christmas holiday. Plans are already in place for the 2017 wreath placing ceremony this December. If you wish to donate, have a wreath in memory of a fallen veteran at the cemetery, or want more information please contact John Thomas at Wreathsforthefallen.org.
--More issues with vehicles through the ice occurred Saturday in Stearns County. First around 3:30pm on Great Northern Lake in Wakefield Township as an ATV went through the ice. Minutes later around 4:15pm a snowmobile went throught the ice on the same lake. Both drivers from the accidents had one passenger each and were all checked out at the scene but refused hospitalization.
--The Pierz school bands were selected to perform the national anthem at the Minnesota Twins vs. New York Yankees game on July 18th at 7:10pm. Tickets for the game are available through the band for $20 each and an additional $10 to ride the bus if you choose.
NATIONAL NEWS --Executive Order signed by President Donald Trump on Friday aimed at securing U.S. borders and trying to combat terrorism. President Trump made good on a campaign promise when he called for a “complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States” in 2015 when running for office. Friday’s order effectively bans citizens of seven predominantly Muslim countries from coming to the U.S. for the next 90 days and suspends the U.S. refugee admission program for 120 days. The order also reduced the amount of refugees admitted in 2017 from 110,000 to 50,000. "This is not an easy thing to process," Zam Zam Ahmed said. Ahmed is a paralegal at the Immigrant Law Center who has been living in the U.S. for 12 years under the Visa program. Canadian officials on Saturday stated they would take any refugees that the U.S. were not allowing in.
DEATH NOTICES --Maxine Bjornoos, age 89 of Randall. --Rita Wunderlich, age 88 of Royalton. --Jean Beek, age 90 of Pillager --Gerald Naber, age 62 of Little Falls. --John W. Hanenberg, age 86 of Little Falls.
WEATHER TODAY= snow likely, high 35, 1-2 inches by afternoon. TONIGHT= snow before midnight, ½ inch, low 27 TUESDAY= light snow, breezy, high 30, low 10. WEDNESDAY= sunny and colder, high 15, low around 0.
SPORTS NFL= AFC beat NFC in the Pro Bowl 20-13 Sunday. The Super Bowl this Sunday has New England vs. Atlanta 5:30pm on AM960 KLTF. COL HK= St. Cloud beat Bemidji State 2-1, Duluth beat the Gophers 3-2 Friday to advance to Northstar Championship on Saturday. Gophers won 3rd place 4-0 over Bemidji State Saturday. Duluth won the final Northstar Cup 2-1 Saturday in overtime over St. Cloud State. TWINS= former manager Tom Kelly to get a statue at Target Field.