NEWS
--The Morrison County Sheriff’s Office reports that on Thursday at approximately 12:24pm, a Morrison County deputy noticed a vehicle driving over the fog line traveling north on Highway 10, just exiting the city limits of Royalton. The deputy made a traffic stop and during the course of the investigation, the deputy became suspicious of potential illegal drug activity. The deputy conducted a search of the vehicle and located a hypodermic needle and approximately 13.9 grams of suspected Methamphetamine. The driver was identified as Dominic Lafriniere, age 49, from Mahnomen. Lafriniere is currently on parole for 1st Degree Possession of Methamphetamine. He was taken into custody and is being held at the Morrison County Jail pending formal charges for 3rd Degree Possession of a Controlled Substance. Sheriff Larsen credits the deputy and advised that his office is committed to pursuing illegal narcotics and maintaining the safety and well-being of our residents.
--Another tragic reminder of lake ice at this time. An 82 year old from Bemidji died when his ATV he was on went through the ice on Pike Bay of Cass Lake in Cass County on Friday. A passenger was treated at the scene but the 82 year old was pulled from the water, life saving efforts were initiated but he later died. Another reminder that the ice if very soft in many lakes and rivers.
--Morrison County Sheriff Shawn Larsen announced that his office, in cooperation with all local police departments in the county, have recently completed the annual Predatory Offender Registration verifications for Morrison County. Each year the sheriff’s office organizes a verification check for all predatory offenders who are on the registry and residing within the county. It is important to note that Minnesota only began registering predatory offenders in 1991 and did not assign risk level until 1997. Only those offenders who have been sentenced to prison and who were released after the first of January, 1997 have been assigned a risk level. Offenders sentenced to probation or juvenile offenders are not assigned a risk level. Level 1 offenders are those deemed by Department of Corrections officials as those least likely to re-offend while Level 3 offenders are considered most likely to re-offend. During the most recent round of checks 54 predatory offenders were checked by the Morrison County Sheriff’s Office, Pierz Police Department, Motley Police Department and Royalton Police Department. Of that number; 18 were Level 1 offenders, 8 were Level 2, 1 was Level 3 and 27 offenders were not assigned a risk level. 42 predatory offenders were checked by the Little Falls Police Department, which are not part of the breakdown. All but two individuals were found to be compliant with conditions imposed upon them. 41-year-old Casey Christopher Allen, and 44-year-old Larry Allen Rolla are pending charges for failing to register their current addresses, which is a felony.
--A woman who was wanted on a murder charge for a fatal drug overdose more than three years ago has been jailed in Stearns County. Twenty-eight-year-old Ashley Kapol was wanted on a number of warrants, including a 3rd-degree murder charge in the fatal overdose of a St. Cloud woman in June 2020. Stearns County authorities found and arrested Kapol on December 28th. She's due back in court on January 17th. Kapol is accused of giving laced fentanyl to a woman on 2020 that led to her death on June 20, 2020.
--Little Falls School Board meets today at 5pm at Middle School then the meeting on Elementary banding at 6pm at the High School.
--The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) today announced nearly $4 million in grants to 16 community and nonprofit organizations, the latest in the agency's broader effort to help grow Minnesota's workforce. The grants are for two funding programs, Southeast Asian Economic Disparities Relief and Getting to Work, that help remove barriers Minnesota workers may face on their path to finding and retaining good-paying jobs. One of the recipients is Tri County Community Action Partnership in Little Falls receiving $100,000 for financial literacy, car maintenance and credit counseling. The full list is available on the on the DEED link on the state of Minnesota website mn.gov.
--Court proceedings were disrupted Thursday, after bomb threats were emailed to the Crow Wing County Judicial Center and several other district courthouses across the state. Crow Wing County Sheriff Eric Klang sent an email to county staff Thursday morning stating an unsubstantiated bomb threat was received around 9am. After a short recess during a virtual court hearing Thursday morning, Crow Wing County District Court Judge Erik Askegaard reported they were delayed due to a bomb threat. He said the email was not seen as a credible threat and was sent to multiple state district courts, churches and mosques in the state. He then recessed court proceedings to give court personnel the opportunity to make arrangements to relocate. Askegaard’s virtual court hearing resumed after about a 10 minute recess. Crow Wing County Sheriff’s Lt. Craig Katzenberger said in light of the threat there would be a higher-than-usual law enforcement presence at the courthouse for future days. Klang reported they found nothing suspicious as of late Thursday.
--A truck driver was hurt Saturday morning at 4:50am on Highway 27 in Long Prairie Township of Todd County. 51-year-old Dirir Haji of Minneapolis slid on a snow patch of road in his freight truck and rolled the vehicle in the ditch. He was treated for non serious injuries.
--Two people were taken to the hospital when the pickup they were in collided with a tree. The Minnesota State Patrol says the incident happened at about 1am Friday near Sauk Centre. Twenty-four-year-old Joshua Pena of Brownsville, Texas was driving north on Highway 71 when the pickup went into the ditch and hit the tree. Pena and his passenger, 24-year-old Ruiz Sebastian of Brownsville, Texas, were both taken to Sauk Centre Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
--There is a blood drive at the St. Francis Convent Tuesday 1-7pm, Wednesday 12-6pm and Thursday from 8:30am-2:30pm. You must register ahead of time for an appointment by calling Sister Julien today at 320-632-0663 or go online to redcrossblood.org.
DEATH NOTICES
--Wallace “Wally” Czech, age 91 of Royalton
--Duane Robert Schmidt, age 89 of Little Falls.
WEATHER
TODAY= snow likely, 1-2 inches by evening, high 27.
TONIGHT= snow ending, partly cloudy late, low 13.
TUESDAY= partly sunny, high 24, low around 7 above.
WEDNESDAY= snow likely 1-2 inches, high 20, low 11.
SPORTS
NFL= Detroit ends the Vikings season as Lions win 30-20 on Sunday. The Vikings finish 7-10. Lions finish 12-5 host playoffs this weekend.