NEWS
--The Morrison County Sheriff's Office reported Friday that the owner of the stolen semi in Randall last week is offering a $5,000 reward to anyone who has information that leads to an arrest. Please contact our office at (320) 632-9233 if you have any information. The purple semi-truck was taken from the Casey's parking lot last Tuesday afternoon or early Wednesday morning. Pictures and information from the incident are posted on the Little Falls Radio Facebook page.
--The Upsala School District announced that voters will head to the polls Tuesday, August 8th to let their wishes be known about a district referendum. There are two questions on the ballot for Upsala’s referendum vote. The first question must pass before the second question will be considered. School District Question 1 is: shall the school board of Independent School District No. 487 (Upsala Area Schools) be authorized to issue its general obligation school building bonds in an amount not to exceed $4,675,000 to provide funds for the acquisition and betterment of school sites and facilities, including improvements and upgrades to HVAC, electrical systems and roofing, the installation of dehumidification improvements, and the acquisition and installation of replacement boilers? School District Question 2 is: “If School District Question 1 is approved, shall the school board of Independent School District No. 487 (Upsala Area Schools) also be authorized to issue its general obligation school building bonds in an amount not to exceed $4,060,000 to provide funds for the acquisition and betterment of school sites and facilities, including the construction, remodeling and equipping of early childhood classroom spaces and a career and technical education classroom (shop) addition; the construction and equipping of fitness classrooms, storage facilities, and district support spaces; and the completion of accessibility improvements?” The scope of this referendum is significantly smaller than the two previous referendum proposals that failed. Those elections were in May 2021 and November 2021. Again the first question must past or the second question will be null and void. If the first question passes then the 2nd question can be addressed. For more information on voting August 8th contact the Upsala School at 320-573-2174.
--A Wright County man is dead after an ATV crash Wednesday afternoon. The sheriff's office was called at approximately 1:40pm to investigate a missing ATV rider. The caller indicated 63-year-old James Bistodeau of Otsego had gone riding and did not return. Law enforcement found Bistodeau and his crashed machine at 2:15pm. Life-saving efforts were unsuccessful and the sheriff's office says he was pronounced dead at the scene. The preliminary investigation determined that evidence found at the scene showed Bistodeau had been riding, lost control, and crashed.
--A 20-year-old Brainerd man accused of sexually assaulting multiple children in Crow Wing County pleaded guilty in one of two criminal cases against him. Ethan Lance Flory pleaded guilty Wednesday in Crow Wing County District Court to one count of second-degree criminal sexual conduct with the victim being younger than 14 and the perpetrator being greater than 36 months older. He was sentenced to a stay of adjudication. With a stay of adjudication, the court does not place a conviction on the accuser’s record. Instead, adjudication is withheld on certain conditions which oftentimes requires probation. If those conditions are met, the charge is ultimately dismissed and there is no conviction on his record.
--A missing man was found safe at the Two Rivers Campground near Royalton. The Benton County Sheriff’s Office reports they received a call Thursday night at about 8pm. The caller claimed an inebriated man had told his fiancee he intended to hurt himself and went into the woods with a handgun. An initial search didn’t find the man, so officers from the Rice and St. Cloud Police Department, as well as the Morrison County Sheriff’s Office and Minnesota State Patrol, joined the search with canines, drones, watercraft, and a helicopter. The man was found, unharmed, at about 1:30am Friday and sent to St. Cloud Hospital to be evaluated.
--One person was injured when the vehicle they were driving left Highway 371 at Gull Lake Dam Road and rolled multiple times landing on its side. 19-year-old Kennedy Norwood of Brainerd was northbound when the vehicle drifted off the roadway around 8:38am. Norwood was taken to the Brainerd Hospital for treatment of injuries.
--An Amber Alert was issued late Saturday night for a 2 year old boy from Becker who was apparently abducted by a family member who did not have custody of the boy. Around 6am Sunday the boy was reportedly found safe and the man was in custody by Becker police.
--One of the gunmen accused in a quadruple shooting last summer has been sentenced. In February, Daquan Christopher Savon Ledbetter was found guilty on nine counts, including four charges of aiding and abetting attempted first-degree murder. Ledbetter and co-defendants Jamarcus Morris and Bryant Garth fired their guns 33 times, according to investigators. According to the criminal complaint, on July 5th, 2022, two groups met and argued at each other from a distance. The next day, the three pulled into an apartment building parking lot nearby and opened fire on the group that was gathered on 11th Street South. A 15-year-old boy was shot in the neck and shoulder, a 19-year-old was hit in the elbow, and two 21-year-olds were also shot. Ledbetter was not arrested until the following month after a standoff with the U.S. Marshals Service in Chippewa County. Ledbetter had already been convicted of felony crimes in Stearns and Sherburne County prior to the shooting. Ledbetter was sentenced for the most serious of the crimes, including one count of possession of a dangerous weapon, which will be served concurrently with the other convictions. He was also sentenced on four counts of aiding and abetting attempted first-degree murder. Those sentences were ordered to be served consecutively, for a total of just over 63 years in prison. Ledbetter was given credit for 353 days already served.
DEATH NOTICES
--Cameron Larson, age 27 of Paynesville formerly of Swanville.
--Robert “Bob” Breitling, age 76 of Brainerd.
WEATHER
TODAY= sunny skies, warmer temps, high 85.
TONIGHT= partly cloudy skies, low 57.
TUESDAY= sunny and warm, high 86, storms overnight, low 62.
WEDNESDAY= AM storms, hazy sun, PM storms, humid, high 90.
SPORTS
TWINS. Royals win in a walk off grand slam Friday 8-5 in 10 innings. Saturday Royals outslug the Twins to win 10-7. Royals win a pitcher's duel on Sunday 2-1 to sweep the Twins and take the series. The Twins have today off, take on St. Louis Tuesday.