NEWS
--Congratulations to the 2021 Morrison County Dairy Princesses crowned Saturday night at the Falls Ballroom. They are Shelby Krebs of Sobieski, daughter of Marsha and Donald Krebs, Teresa Karst, daughter of Janelle and Richard Karst of Pierz, Kloe Kapsner, daughter of Troy and Rebecca Kapsner of Pierz and Victoria (Tori) Wagner, daughter of Amy and Tom Wagner of Hillman. Those four will now head to the regional event in May to decide the 12 finalists for Princess Kay of the Milky Way. The other finalists, Valerie Gall, who was named Miss Congeniality, Alexis Woitalla and Jasmine Dickmann will help the Dairy Princesses at events as Dairy Ambassadors over the next year. The motto for the 2021 Dairy Princesses is “When Women Farm, They Inspire Other Females On and Off the Farm”. Thanks to all you helped put on this event.
--Ron Kresha stated that you can starting calling today for a free meal from the Little Falls Ministerial Association. Kresha said that you can call 320-761-6133 today and please let them know if you are going to pick up the meal or need it delivered. Saturday and Sunday are being used for those dates for pickup and delivery of the meals. If you can volunteer to help put meals in vehicles, deliver to those in need call Ron also at 761-6133 and if you can still help in the donation process call Jason Swedeen at 632-2100. Kresha wants to thank of the community support on each of these meal projects and also to the Falls Ballroom who are planning for around 900 meals to be distributed or picked up this weekend.
--The Morrison County Sheriff’s Office received information from a resident that they were contacted by a male subject claiming to be from their office. The phone number displayed on the reporting party’s caller ID was our agency’s actual number. The scammer informed the reporting party that he was going to freeze his assets unless he immediately purchased gift cards and read him the numbers off the back. The scammer called back and was able to retrieve the numbers off the back of the gift cards. The scammer did threaten to show up at the reporting party’s residence if he was unable to get the gift card information that he requested. This scam and other scams continue to circulate. The scammers use a ‘Spoofing’ technique which falsely displays a legitimate phone number. The Sheriff’s Office will never call anyone and threaten to freeze their assets. In addition, their agency will never ask for gift card numbers or threaten arrest over the phone. You can always contact the Morrison County Sheriff's Office if you have any questions 632-9233.
--A Sauk Rapids man is dead after crashing his pickup near Freeport Wednesday night. The Stearns County Sheriff's Office identifies the driver as 91-year old Donald Pflipsen. Dispatchers got a call just after 11:30pm from a man who said his daughter was driving home along County Road 11 about three miles north of Freeport when she saw headlights in a field. The man said he went to check on the scene and found a pickup on its roof and an unresponsive man inside. Freeport Fire and Rescue extricated Pflipsen and began life-saving efforts. Pflipsen was brought to Melrose Hospital where he was later pronounced dead. The sheriff's office says Pflipsen left the roadway after negotiating a sharp curve near Woodview Road, hit a field approach, went airborne and landed on the roof.
--There were 1,714 new cases Friday on the state report of COVID-19 and 7 new deaths including 1 person in their 60s in Morrison County. Morrison County had 16 new cases on the report on Friday, 18 new cases on Saturday and only 6 new cases on Sunday on the report.
--Yesterday on Polka World Today on KLTF Laverne Bzdok announced the winners of the Share Sunday Raffle where the proceeds go the Boys and Girls Club and the Morrison County Food Shelf. Due to restrictions they were unable to have the in person talent show event this year. Of the 125 tickets sold, the winner of $700 was Kaylee Ginter of Little Falls, 2nd prize of $200 was Anita Miller of Little Falls and the 3rd prize of $100 went to Pat Mackinac of Little Falls. Thanks to all that gave and the hope of being back inside again in 2022.
--Morrison County Veterans Service Office Kathy Marshik wanted to make the public aware of a Federal program being offered through FEMA as a result of the passage of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. This program will cover burial expenses of individuals who have passed away due to COVID-19. Please keep this program in mind for assisting your veterans and families as it sounds like it can provide up to $9,000 for each COVID-19 related which could provide a bit of financial relief to the families. To find out more information regarding the program please go to the FEMA website click on the coronovirus tab and then funeral-assistance. This has not officially begun just yet, it appears that FEMA will start to accept applications in April so keep checking back on their website for the appropriate applications and how to submit in April to help with the costs.
--After two and a half weeks of jury selection, the Derek Chauvin trial will move into the opening statement phase this morning with the international spotlight still shining on a heavily fortified Hennepin County Government Center. Judge Cahill has said he expects the trial to last anywhere from two to four weeks, at least. Chauvin is the Minneapolis Police Officer accused in the death of George Floyd.
ENTERTAINMENT NEWS
--Author Beverly Cleary died on March 25th at the age of 104. Best known for her Ramona Quimby and Beezus books.
WEATHER
RED FLAG WARNING AND WIND ADVISORY THRU DAY.
TODAY= partly cloudy and windy, high 73, gusty winds to 40mph.
TONIGHT= cloudy, scattered rain/snow mix overnight, breezy, low 28
TUESDAY= sunny and windy, colder, high 34, low around 14.
WEDNESDAY= sunny and chilly, not as windy, high 31, low near 20.
SPORTS
BHK= The Little Falls Boys Hockey team got seeded #4 in the State Tournament Class A quarter-finals and will play the last game of the session Tuesday against the #5 seed Delano at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul. Activities Director Kevin Jordan Friday stated that the MDH requirements limit attendance to this game to a total of 250 spectators. All of our allotted tickets to this game will be distributed to the team and their families. There are no tickets available to the general public. Beginning on April 1st, the MDH requirements change. With a WIN on Tuesday, a limited number of tickets will be available for later games. Listen to Tuesday's game 8pm live on Q92 WYRQ.
WRE= State Wrestling Tournament wrapped up Saturday, Kimball beat Royalton-Upsala 45-26 in team semi-finals, Kimball then won the Class A title. Friday Pierz's Trevor Radunz when 2-1 and placed 5th, Saturday- Royalton-Upsala's Jacob Leibold when 1-2 and finished 4th, Gabe Gorecki when 1-2 and finished 4th and Mason Novitski at Heavyweight went 1-2 and finished 6th at the state tournament. Gabe Nagel of Little Falls finished state-runner up last Thursday.