NEWS
--Twelve Stearns County 911 dispatchers were awarded the Medal of Merit Tuesday for their work during the Crossroads Mall attack. Five of the 12 were scheduled to work on the night of September 17th and the other seven came in without being called. Zachery Braegelmann, Leah Held, Katie Dusig, Joel Richter, Cassandra Goltz, Aaron Rosenberger, DeAnna Heinen, Lora Swanson, Dawn Heines, Joanne Weeres, Carla Otte and Brent Bechtold all earned the Medal of Merit for their dedication to safety. Stearns County Sheriff Lieutenant Bob Dickhaus says the dispatchers passed information on to authorities as smoothly as possible during the attack. Over a nearly two hour period dispatchers handled over 250 incoming calls related to the attack. While answering the incoming calls, dispatchers also called nearby businesses to alert them of the dangerous situation and called emergency responders. All except two dispatchers, Carla Otte and Brent Bechtold, were awarded the medal in person.
--Following a damaging storm last fall, Camp Ripley and the Minnesota National Guard set plans in motion for the rebuilding of housing and maintenance structures on the installation. The replacement strategy for outdated and damaged buildings is integrated into their long-range development plan to ensure Camp Ripley is able to meet future mission requirements," said Deputy Garrison Command Lt. Col. Chad Sackett. "Camp Ripley had damage to 77 buildings, four of which suffered major damage including roofs torn off or moved off of concrete foundations," said a spokesperson conducting the investigation. The storm temporarily affected operations on the installation as well as uprooted trees, destroyed security fences, federal, state and private vehicles in addition to communications and simulations training equipment. "Reconstruction of the four significantly damaged buildings will begin next summer and consist of the demolition, redesign and construction projected to be complete by summer 2018," coming from design and project management supervisor with the Facilities Management Office.
--The Minnesota State Patrol continues DWI enforcement efforts through the end of the year watching for impaired drivers. On Friday, the Department of Public Safety urged motorists to please watch speeds, to pull over when you see flashing lights of emergency vehicles and buckle up. This comes after 7 people died in accidents in southern Minnesota Tuesday into Thanksgiving last week and over 600 accidents occurred within that time span from ice and snow that fell in eastern and southern Minnesota. Over 300 of the accidents alone were on Highway 169. Rain is forecasted today which again will make for sloppy conditions. Rain likely to change to freezing precipitation and to snow by early Tuesday causing traffic headaches.
--Crow Wing County Sheriff Todd Dahl has released the name of the deer hunter who was found deceased in Ross Lake Township on November 19th. The hunter has been identified as 65-year old Ronald John Carlson of St. Louis Park, MN. Initial autopsy results indicate that foul play was not involved and that Carlson died from an apparent medical condition.
--The Pierz Minnesota Honor Society is hosting a blood drive on Thursday from 8am-1pm at the Pierz High School MAC.
--Christmas at the Little Falls Attractions continues through this coming Sunday. This includes Linden Hill, Rosemeier House, Fishing Museum and Charles Lindbergh Historic Site. Details fallsradio.com.
--The Brainerd and Pillager fire departments were called to a residence near Pillager for a chimney fire Friday afternoon. The home sustained moderate damage to the top level. No other info released.
--Two people were hurt Saturday morning on Highway 371 due to icy roads near Baxter. Just after 8:30am, Brenda Chilson of North Branch slid into the guardrail on the highway. She and her passenger, Jeffrey Chilson of Bloomington sustained non life threatening injuries.
--The Holdingford School District is continuing to hold listening sessions to discuss facility needs. Members of the community, school district staff and consultants will discuss a variety of potential areas of improvement for the district. Some of the topics are additional early childhood classroom space, special education space, traffic flow and parking lot, roofing needs, additional gym space, accessibility to the community and security. The next session will be next Monday December 5th at 6:00pm. Another session will be held Wednesday December 14th at 7:30pm. The district strongly encourages residents to attend and join the discussion about the current needs of the district. Those who can’t attend one of the sessions is asked to call (320) 746-2196 to learn more about district facilities and to obtain a questionnaire regarding the potential improvements.
--The Pierz City Council meets tonight 7:00pm at Pierz City Hall.
NATIONAL NEWS
--Florence Henderson, actress best remembered as Carol Brady, the mom on the Brady Bunch died Thursday at age 82.
--infamous Cuban Leader Fidel Castro died Friday at age 90.
BIRTH ANNOUNCEMENT
--Kyle and Nicole Girtz of Pierz, a baby girl born on November 22nd
--Abby Marie Ley of Little Falls had a baby boy on November 23rd.
--Ryan and Christine Yorek of Royalton, a girl born November 24th
DEATH NOTICES
--Karen Schultz, age 45 of Little Falls.
--Benedict “Ben” Lapos, age 71 of Sobieski.
WEATHER
TODAY= rain likely, strong south winds, high near 50.
TONIGHT= rain changing to snow after midnight, low 32.
TUESDAY= snow early, then rain and windy, high near 40.
TUES NITE= cloudy, few snow showers, low around 30.
WEDNESDAY= freeze fog early, rain/snow mix at times, high 35.
SPORTS
NFL= Detroit defeated Vikings 16-13 on a last second field goal. Vikings are now 6-5 and will host Dallas next Thursday night. Dallas beat Washington 31-26 to go to 10-1 on Thanksgiving Day.
NFL= Green Bay at Philadelphia tonight on MNF- 6:45pm on KLTF
COL FB= Wisconsin rallied in 2nd half to beat Gophers 31-17. The Gophers finish 8-4 on season and now await to see what bowl bid.
PREP BOWL= 2016 Champions in Football, 9-man Grand Meadow, Class A Minneapolis North, Class AA Caledonia beat Eden Valley Watkins 61-12, Class AAA Rochester Lourdes, AAAA Benilde St. Margaret's, 5A Elk River and 6A Totino Grace.
HS BHK= Alexandria at Little Falls Tuesday 7:15pm on Q92 WYRQ
HS GBB= Pierz at Upsala Tuesday 7:30pm on FM94 KFML.