NEWS
--The Morrison County Sheriff's Office stated that the testing of the warning sirens on Friday had to be canceled due to the inclement weather. They will be testing the sirens at a later date.
--A suspect has been arrested in a robbery early Friday at a gas station in Garrison. At 3:54am Friday the Crow Wing County Sheriff’s Office received a silent panic hold-up alarm from the Holiday Gas Station in Garrison. Responding deputies learned a masked male suspect entered the store wielding a knife and robbed it of an undisclosed amount of cash. The suspect, who fled the store on foot, was later found walking on Highway 169. He was arrested and is being held at the Crow Wing County Jail pending formal criminal charges for aggravated robbery.
--The Minnesota State Patrol reported a two vehicle accident on Highway 10 and Aztec Road near Motley in Morrison County Friday morning at 10:58am. 55-year-old Shaba Bitegetsimana of Boise, Idaho truck the back end of a pickup driven by 39-year-old Joseph Dawson of Sebeka. Shaba sustained non life threatening injuries and was treated at Staples Hospital. Dawson was not injured.
--A Sauk Rapids woman has been sentenced for orchestrating a murder-for-hire to kill her husband. A Benton County judge has sentenced 51-year-old Maria Foster to 15 years in prison. She previously pleaded guilty to 1st-degree aiding and abetting attempted murder. Foster gets credit for having already served 260 days in the county jail. According to the criminal complaint, Foster picked up her husband from the airport in August and had him sit in a specific chair in the garage. When she went to get him coffee, 21-year-old Christian Kane came at the husband from behind and stabbed him multiple times in the chest, neck, and back. Kane told authorities that had told him her husband was abusive and wanted Kane to kill him. She also told Kane that he and 26-year-old Katrina Hunt and a child could move into the house once her husband was dead.
--The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension has ruled out drowning, hypothermia, and physical trauma as possible causes of death for a man whose body was found in St. Cloud’s Heritage Park early Tuesday. The Midwest Medical Examiner’s Office announced the results of its autopsy of 39-year-old David Eugene Salinas Friday afternoon. A toxicology report is still pending. St. Cloud Police Department officers tried to arrest Salinas the prior afternoon when they were called out to a parking lot in the 200 block of 33rd Avenue South for a man possibly doing drugs in a vehicle. Salinas ran and a Taser was deployed. Only one prong attached to his pants pocket, meaning he was not shocked by the weapon. Salinas got away from the officers who chased on foot. Salinas was found by a person just before 8am Tuesday who was walking on a nearby trail at the park. The BCA says its agents are reviewing video cam footage from the Monday arrest attempt. Salinas was wanted for multiple felony warrants and had fled from the Minnesota Department of Corrections. The investigation into the death is still active by the BCA.
--The Little Falls Area Chamber of Commerce has announced their May Employee of the month is Marie Ryan. She has been a pharmacist for 2 ½ years at CHI St. Gabriel's Hospital. Congratulations to Marie Ryan, May employee of the month.
--The Randall Area Business Group invites all to come to Randall during their city wide Garage Sale Days Wednesday through Friday along with supporting the residents and businesses of Randall.
--A second suspect was charged in connection with an April 16 drive-by shooting in Brainerd. Ayden Furlong-Mulligan, 18, was charged Friday, April 28, in Crow Wing County District Court. Furlong-Mulligan is accused of driving the vehicle from which Ridge Kinney, 21, Baxter, as a passenger, allegedly fired several shots at a man in another vehicle on the 700 block of West College Drive. Furlong-Mulligan was charged with felony premeditated aiding and abetting first-degree attempted murder, felony aiding and abetting second-degree attempted murder in a drive-by shooting, felony aiding and abetting attempted first-degree assault resulting in great bodily harm, felony aiding and abetting second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon/firearm and felony aiding and abetting a dangerous weapons crime involving a drive-by shooting. Kinney was charged with multiple charges including a first-degree attempted murder charge as the case continues to be investigated in Brainerd. The victim sustained serious injuries and the loss of an eye from the shooting but will recover.
--Amazingly, no one else was hurt, and a 72-year-old man is expected to recover after suffering a behind-the-wheel medical emergency and crashing into a yard Wednesday morning. According to police, at about 10am, the driver was heading west on Veterans Drive when he lost consciousness and veered into a wooden fence, into the base of a tree house, continued through the yard and smashed into a garage in the neighboring yard. The driver was rushed to St. Cloud Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
–Highway 10 through East St. Cloud will be down to one lane starting today. The Minnesota Department of Transportation says drivers should expect delays in the construction zone between Benton Drive Southeast and 15th Avenue Southeast. Highway 23 continues to have periodic lane closures between Wilson Avenue and 25th Avenue Northeast as crews construct temporary lanes and crossovers and repair the road surface. Mn Dot had reported a number of projects are already underway and please remember to slow down in work zones where fines double or even triple if you are caught speeding.
--A Brainerd man has been sentenced to 12 and a half years in prison for possession with intent to distribute controlled substances. Elwell pleaded guilty to one count of possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance. On April 26th of last year a Minnesota State Patrol Trooper traffic stopped 29-year-old Kyle Elwell at a gas station in Motley. Elwell was arrested on an active warrant. Before the arrest, Elwell threw a pouch with approximately $8,000 cash onto the ground. The State Trooper in a search found a bag with 51 fentanyl pills, approximately 834 grams of methamphetamine, a digital scale, and an unserialized “ghost” handgun.
WEATHER
TODAY= sunny and breezy, high 53.
TONIGHT= clear and breezy, low 38.
TUESDAY= sunny and breezy, high near 60, low near 45.
WEDNESDAY= sunny and very mild, not as windy, high near 70.
SPORTS
TWINS= after a long rain delay Friday the Twins held off a late run by Kansas City to win 8-6. Kansas City beats the Twins Saturday with a couple of late runs 3-2. Twins finish the weekend with an 8-4 Sunday win to take the series over KC. Twins have today off.
WILD= Dallas beat the Wild 4-1 on Friday ending the season for the Minnesota Wild as Dallas wins the series 4 games to 2.