NEWS
--Two young children were injured Friday morning in a two-vehicle accident on Highway 115 at Grouse Road north of Little Falls. 50-year-old Keith Schaffer of Little Falls was west on 115 when he turned left in front of 38-year-old Kristina Sanchez of Detroit Lakes. Neither driver was hurt. Sanchez had three passengers in the vehicle including 4-year-old Amanda Sperry and 1-year-old Craig Huckfeldt, who both sustained non life threatening injuries.
--Global home appliance manufacturer Electrolux will be discontinuing a portion of its chest freezer production line at it's St. Cloud facility. The reason stated is declines in demand for large horizontal chest freezers prompted the company's decision to eliminate the manufacturing line in St. Cloud in late 2017. The St. Cloud location had discontinued production of small chest freezers in 2015. The St. Cloud facility employs approximately 1,000 people. Most are represented by the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers Local Lodge 623 in St. Cloud.
--Minnesota hunters registered nearly 69,000 deer on the first weekend of the state’s firearms deer season. The Department of Natural Resources said Thursday the preliminary numbers were down 3 percent from opening weekend last year. While the total firearms harvest was up 16 percent in northeastern Minnesota, it was down 28 percent in southeastern Minnesota and down 7 percent in the rest of the state. DNR big game program leader Adam Murkowski says it’s too soon to say if the unusually warm temperatures last weekend were a factor in the lower harvest outside the northeast. As conditions change and hunting continues, he expects to get a better sense of how the season was progressing. The DNR projects the total harvest at 165,000-185,000 deer, up from just over 159,000 last year.
--Four men were arrested and could face charges that they solicited sex from officers posing as young girls as part of an undercover sting in early November in St. Cloud. Officers posted online ads that led to subjects offering money to have sex with girls they believed were juveniles. The interested men were arrested when they showed up at a St. Cloud hotel expecting services. The men arrested in the sting were 39-year old Ryan Mulliner of St. Cloud, 25-year old Samuel Kalkbrenner of Amery, Wisconsin, 61-year old Dwight Lorensen of Litchfield, and 25-year old Bradley Nelson of Foley. All were booked and released at the scene. They could face charges of felony solicitation of a minor.
--A 19-year-old from Crosby was injured Friday around 8:30 on Highway 6 in Cass County. Cody Nelson was northbound when his vehicle drifted off the road. He was taken to Deer River Hospital.
--A St. Cloud man is jailed for investigation of a robbery that happened about 7:35pm Wednesday in the 2200 block of Division Street in St. Cloud. The victim said a man offering to sell him a laptop threatened him with a gun and took money and property from him. About 2:00am Thursday while officers were investigating another incident, they located the suspect's vehicle in the area of Ninth Avenue and Sixth Street North and arrested 22-year old Casey Scott Schmitz of St. Cloud. Schmitz is in Stearns County Jail and could face charges of aiding and abetting aggravated robbery.
--The Pierz City Council meets tonight at 7:00pm and the Little Falls School Board meets Wednesday night at 5:00pm at the county government center boardroom.
--Little Falls senior Tyler Moore, who earned all-state honors at the Class 2A state cross country meet by finishing 15th overall will sign a letter of intent to run next season at the University of Mississippi. Moore will sign his letter tomorrow morning at 7:45am in Room 123 at Little Falls High School.
--A busy Friday of accidents including a family of three injured in Stearns County on Highway 23, A Bemidji woman injured in an accident in Cass County on Highway 371, four people injured in an accident on Highway 71 near Park Rapids, an Onamia man injured in an accident in Pine County. There were also fatal accidents in southern Minnesota Friday that claimed at least two lives.
--A Brainerd woman faces a felony domestic assault charge after a fight Monday with her roommate. 26-year old Tashya Mahala Swenson is charged in Crow Wing County District Court with felony domestic assault by strangulation. She is also charged with gross misdemeanor interrupt, interfere, impede or disrupt 911 call and gross misdemeanor domestic assault.
--A father and son were assaulted, with the father needing to go to the hospital, early Thursday in south St. Cloud. The two were in the area of Ninth Avenue and Sixth Street North when four males beat them and took property. No weapons were used during the incident, which happened at 1:10am Thursday. The 51-year-old man was taken to St. Cloud Hospital with injuries that were described as non life-threatening. The 28-year-old son was treated at the scene for minor injuries. No arrests have been made in the incident.
--A Brainerd man is facing two felony charges after threatening his girlfriend's mother with a stolen handgun Tuesday. 21-year old James Edward Johnson is charged in Crow Wing County District Court with felony second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon and felony receiving stolen property. He is also charged with gross misdemeanor receive, ship or transport weapons/ammo as a felon and gross misdemeanor giving a peace officer a false name.
--A garbage truck caught on fire in Waite Park Wednesday afternoon. Police and fire crews were called to Willow Grove Circle shortly after 1:30pm. The West Central Sanitation truck was completely engulfed by the time crews arrived. The fire started due to a mechanical issue. While putting out the fire, hydraulic fluid leaked from the truck onto the road. The St. Cloud Fire Hazmat Team was brought in to control the leak and make sure no chemicals entered the sewer system.
DEATH NOTICES
--Francis Calvin Zetah, age 85 of Motley
WEATHER
TODAY= partly sunny, high near 50, cloudy night, low 37.
TUESDAY= sunny and very windy, high 57, clear night, low 30.
WEDNESDAY= sunny skies, high 52, clouds increase late, low 37.
THURSDAY= cloudy, high 50, low 40
SPORTS
HS FB= Pierz rolls 34-0 over Greenway to advance to state semi's Saturday at 4:30pm on FM94. Eden Valley Watkins ended Royalton's season 29-12 Friday. Also Friday Pillager lost and Rocori won then on Saturday Browerville won to advance to semis, Alexandria lost.
COL FB= Nebraska beat the Gophers Saturday 24-17, Gophers 7-3.
NFL= Washington beat Vikings Sunday 26-20, Vikings now 5-4.