NEWS
--The Little Falls City Council held a special meeting Thursday to approve an ordinance to allow the sale of goods and services to take place in the public right of ways beginning Monday. Business owners who wish to take advantage of this opportunity need to contact Little Falls City Hall for proper permits and insurance information. The city did put a restriction if using the public right of ways it can't be between 11:00pm-7:00am. Because of COVID-19 restrictions, walk in visitors are not allowed at Little Falls City Hall at this time but they can be reached by phone at 616-5500 weekdays between 8-4:30pm. This is today begins the next phase of the Stay Safe Order in Minnesota. Bars and Restaurants may open today if they have outdoor seating with social distancing guidelines and can only have up to 50 patrons at one time in that seating area. Hair salons, barber shops and some other person to person services may reopen today but the patrons and workers must all wear masks, only 25% of fire code capacity can be in the building and no walk ins appointments only so call ahead to see what is opening today. Campgrounds were able to reopen on Friday with restrictions in place.
--Governor Tim Walz early Saturday authorized a full mobilization of the Minnesota National Guard after a 4th night of protests and violence in Minneapolis and St. Paul and by Sunday morning 4,100 members of the National Guard had been mobilized in the Twin Cities even after he signed implementing a temporary nighttime curfew that will provide safety for Minnesota residents Saturday and Sunday nights. Though quieter nights happened, hundreds of arrests were still made the last two nights for those not following the curfew but no where near the issues that occurred last Wednesday through Friday. Curfews were not limited to Minneapolis and St. Paul, mayors across the state can issue their own curfews. On Friday fired Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was arrested after George Floyd’s fatal arrest that sparked protests, rioting and outcry across the city and nation and charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter. On Sunday, the Governor announced that Attorney General Keith Ellison will lead the George Floyd investigation. Sunday the rallies were mainly peaceful until a near tradegy occurred when a tanker truck barreled down I-35W on the closed highway and nearly ran over the protesters. The driver was pulled out and injured at the scene, taken to the hospital and treated and then arrested on assault charges. After that police cleared the scene and allowed no others on the highways and bridges into the evening. The Department of Public Safety stated no serious injuries were reported however others stated that injured persons were taken to hospitals by private vehicles. Also on Friday hundreds of people came out to a memorial at Lake George Friday night for George Floyd, A crowd broke off after the memorial and held a peaceful demonstration and walk through downtown St. CloudThe memorial, which was held 5-7 p.m., was organized by local group UniteCloud. The group asked members of the community to bring flowers, which will be brought to the memorial spot in Minneapolis for Floyd. As of Saturday St. Cloud police reported that some citations were issued Friday for protests but no arrests made.
--As of Sunday morning 46 positive cases of COVID-19 in Morrison County, St. Otto's Care Center has reported 1 positive case in their facility to be the second Assisted Living facility to report a positive case, (Diamond Willow earlier reported a staff member), Todd County continues to increase at 322, Stearns is just over 2,000 cases.
--COVID-19 continues to play a factor on our area attractions this year. Marnita Van Hoecke of the Pine Grove Zoo stated that until the Governor lifts restrictions for zoos, parks, museums etc. they cannot open to the public. For now the restrictions are in place until mid-June but as other orders this could still change before that date. The zoo did welcome their latest attraction recently which are monkeys have come to the zoo to join the otters, kangaroos, zebras, tiger and bears and more. Marnita stated that if you have a membership for the zoo they will be extending months to your membership as the zoo was unable to open in April and May. For more information contact the zoo at 616-5595. Mary Warner of the Morrison County Historical Society stated they are still closed to the public at this time and have gone more digital for their events in early June. Linden Hill in Little Falls is also awaiting word on when they can start their historic tours and events, right now scheduled (tentatively) for July 1st. Events including their June Evening in Black and White event has been cancelled. There Garden Tour is scheduled for later in July but again they will wait for the latest guidelines that have to be followed. All Minnesota Historic Sites and Museum remain closed during the Stay Safe order and right now have not heard not the next plans on when to reopen that includes the Charles A. Lindbergh Historic Site and Museum. The Charles A. Lindbergh State Park is open but also have to follow the social distancing and CDC guidelines for parks.
--A St. Cloud man was hurt in a two vehicle crash in Douglas County. The incident happened around 5:15pm along Highway 29, south of Alexandria. The Minnesota State Patrol says 34-year-old Katee Campion, of Alexandria, was heading south on Highway 29 when she was rear ended by another vehicle. She was taken to Alomere Health with non-life threatening injuries. The driver of the second vehicle, 35-year-old Matthew Ploof of St. Cloud, was also taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
--The National Weather Service is calling for warmer conditions with highs in the 80s and even some 90s for the first week of June. This comes when restaurants in Minnesota start the outdoor dining part of the next phase against COVID-19 in the state of Minnesota. The warm weather is in the forecast through the first half of June.
DEATH NOTICES
--Reverend Nicholas J. Landsberger, age 84 died in St. Cloud.
--Shelly L. Schwendeman, age 63 of Little Falls.
WEATHER
TODAY= morning thunderstorms, isolated strong possible before noon, then hazy and humid afternoon, high 88.
TONIGHT= clear skies and muggy, low 64.
TUESDAY= sunny and humid, high 87, storms late, low near 60.
WEDNESDAY= isolated storms early, then sunny, high 82, low 57.
SPORTS
MLB= The Major League Baseball Players Association delivered a return-to-play proposal to MLB on Sunday that includes a 114-game season, deferred salaries in the event of a canceled postseason and the option for all players to opt out of a potential 2020 season due to coronavirus concerns, The 114-game season, which under the union's proposal would run from June 30 to October 31st but is expected to be immediately dismissed by the league with the possibility of having no postseason or only have the top two teams go to World Series.