NEWS
--Judge Peter Cahill opened Friday's court session with several major decisions that will impact the trial of Derek Chauvin. The most pressing ruling was that Chauvin's trial will not be delayed or moved to another venue. "I don't think there's any place in Minnesota that has not been subjected to extreme amounts of publicity in this case," Cahill stated, noting that he believes even jurors who have been exposed to news of the incident can be fair. Another major ruling involves admission of evidence and testimony in the May 6, 2019 arrest of George Floyd, an interaction that is very similar to the one on May 25, 2020 that led to Floyd's death. Cahill ruled that officer body cam video from the 2019 incident will be allowed from the time an officer approached the vehicle with a gun drawn to the time Floyd was out of the vehicle and handcuffed. He also said photos from 2019 of pills in the back seat of a squad car will be admitted, saying drug ingestion could have combined with a heart condition to play a role in Floyd's 2020 death. Cahill said the cause of Floyd's death is a major sticking point, with the defense maintaining Floyd died of drug intoxication while prosecutors say it was due to asphyxiation from Chauvin's knee on his neck. "The cause of death is clearly an issue here," Cahill said, before noting Floyd's stressful reactions to being forced out of a vehicle at gunpoint in both incidents, and the possibility he had ingested drugs. Another important issue Cahill addressed involves the planned prosecution use of expert witness Dr. Sara Vinson, who was expected to testify that Floyd's reactions to the police interaction that ended in his death were consisted with claustrophobia and anxiety. Cahill said he will not allow that testimony, or let the defense suggest that Floyd was "malingering" to cover up the presence of drugs, calling it speculative. The judge said no testimony about Floyd's emotional state can be introduced, calling it irrelevant. “Mr. Floyd's emotional behavior is not relevant to cause of death once he’s pulled out of the squad car,” Judge Cahill opined. The jury selection process appears to be close to a conclusion with only two alternate jurors needed before opening statements get underway at the end of March. Three more people were selected Thursday, which brought the jury pool to 12. Earlier in the week, two previously seated jurors, a Hispanic man and a white man, were dismissed after telling the judge that news of a $27 million dollar civil settlement with George Floyd's family would affect their ability to be fair. The other jurors previously seated stated that they would still be able to remain impartial in the trial, and those selected since the announcement have said the same. The jurors seated so far are four white women, two white men, two multiracial women, one Black woman and three Black men. The trial of Derek Chauvin, a former Minneapolis police officer charged in the death of George Floyd, is scheduled to begin on March 29.
--The Little Falls City Council will hold a special council meeting at noon on today at City Hall to discuss the facilitator for the city council strategic planning session.
--The Pierz City Council will also meet tonight at 7pm at City Hall.
--The Morrison County Commissioners meet Tuesday at 9am at the government center boardroom. With a number of county reports.
--The next free grocery giveaway is Tuesday from 3-5pm at Living Hope Church north of Little Falls on Haven Road. No registration is necessary, enter from the north and leave the south please. (be advised that in the past, the truck could be late, so be patient).
--Morrison County has seen one of the states highest increase in numbers of COVID-19 in the past 2-3 weeks. Since March 7th there has been nearly a 40% increase in numbers and Public Health is reminding those to please follow the restrictions that remain in place as many have started to ease, with nicer weather means more events to be done and they need to continue to be done safely. On Friday there were 162 active cases where back on March 7th there were only 30-35 active cases. Pierz has seen the biggest increase from being in the single digits to nearly 80 cases in a matter of weeks, Little Falls has stayed fairly steady between 25-35 cases, other cities have had smaller increase but remain under 20 total cases. The state totals have remained low, but there are 5-7 counties that have been on the spotlight and Morrison is one of them with averages of 2-5 new cases early this month to now the average of 17-23 per day on the report.
--Governor Walz has ordered flags at half staff today in honor of the lives lost last Tuesday in the shooting in Atlanta at an Asian spa.
--A combination of seasonably warm temperatures, dry air aloft, and gusty south wind elevated fire weather conditions across parts of central and east central Minnesota and west central Wisconsin over the weekend. Some rain fell yesterday and colder and wetter conditions are forecasted this week but at time Saturday the dewpoints was in single digits with highs in the 50s, plus strong winds, when combined with the lower relative humidities will result in elevated fire weather conditions. A reminder that you should use caution if burning, and always check with local officials for the status of burn bans in your county. Little Falls Fire Chief stated recently that the Little Falls DNR are issuing burning permits.
DEATH NOTICES
--Kimberly Dawn Slater, age 59 of Little Falls.
--Raymond J. Dudycha, age 88 of Cushing.
WEATHER
TODAY= sunny skies, calm winds, high 52.
TONIGHT= increasing clouds, rain after midnight, low 40.
TUESDAY= rain likely, half inch possible, high 44, more rain at night.
WEDNESDAY= rain/snow early, 1 inch possible, ending late, high 37.
SPORTS
WRE= Wrestlers that advanced to the State Tournament this week which this year is only the final 8 from each Class instead of 32 as in prior years with no wrestlebacks, are Gabe Nagel from Little Falls wrestles Thursday afternoon, Trevor Radunz from Pierz wrestles with 4 wrestlers from Foley on Friday afternoon, Royalton Upsala sends five individuals Saturday and their team. The team semi-finals is at 9am at St. Michael while Will Gorecki, Sawyer Simmons, Jacob Leibold, Gabe Gorecki and Mason Novitski are there as individuals at 2pm Saturday with also Drew Lange and Tate Lange of Holdingford. Good luck to the wrestlers and follow the action on Q92 this week.
HS= it turned out to be a very busy weekend in High School Sports as over 200 playoff games were played Friday. From there Little Falls boys hockey hosts Sartell in playoffs Tuesday at 7pm on Q92 WYRQ Pierz girls advanced to take on Albany in basketball Tuesday night at 7pm on FM94 KFML. Swanville girls won Friday, Upsala boys won Saturday and will play later this week in playoff action.
SCSU= St. Cloud State Wrestlers win their 5th National Championship out of the past 6 tournaments last weekend in St. Louis, Missouri.