--A Little Falls man died in a rollover crash in Eden Prairie on Saturday morning. It happened shortly after 7am on Interstate 494 at Valley View Road. The Minnesota State Patrol says a semi hauling potatoes was going south on 494 when it drifted into the right shoulder and into the ditch. Authorities say the truck then rolled over onto its roof. The driver, 58-year-old Mark Edward Batters of Little Falls was pronounced dead at the scene.
--Royalton Mayor Andrea Lauer announced last week citing to help her family during a trying time she has resigned as Mayor effective November 3rd. Brenda Weiss-Pesta was currently mayor pro tem, she will take over as mayor and complete Lauer’s term the next election year for Mayor which was in November, 2022.
--On Sunday morning at 5:53am the Little Falls Fire Department was dispatched to 11141 Iris Rd in Little Falls Township on a detached shed on fire. A Deputy arrived shortly after we were dispatched and said the shed and a camper next to the shed were fully involved in fire. Firefighters found the 20x26 foot shed along with two campers parked next to the shed on fire. Assistance was requested from Royalton Fire Department. The shed and both campers were a total loss. The cause of the fire is under investigation.
--Two St. Cloud men were arrested after a drug bust Wednesday morning. Just after 5am the Central Minnesota Violent Offender Task Force used a search warrant at a home in the 10 block of 22nd Avenue North. Authorities say they found more than 90 grams of cocaine, 8 ounces of THC wax, fentanyl pills, and 9.5 pounds of marijuana. 22-year-old Andy Roberts and 25-year-old Michael Garner both of St. Cloud were arrested at the scene. Roberts faces multiple drug charges and being a felon in possession of a gun. Garner also faces a weapons charge.
--The St. Cloud Fire Department responded to a fire Thursday.
Authorities say the fire started just before 2pm at the Dunn Brothers Coffee shop inside the Coborn's on Cooper Avenue. Authorities say the fire was an accident. No one was hurt, but the damage is estimated at $20 thousand. St. Cloud Health and Inspections allowed the business to reopen.
--A Sauk Rapids man has pleaded guilty to coercing three girls ages 15-years-old at the time to have sex with him in a high school and at the library. Twenty-two-year-old Deshun Nathan has pleaded guilty to three felony counts of 3rd-degree criminal sexual conduct involving a victim between the ages of 13-15. The girls reported Nathan, 19-years-old at the time, had "friended" them on the social media app Snapchat prior to the sexual assaults. The charges state in one instance, a victim was walking to class at Tech High School when she was cornered by Nathan and another boy. The two convinced the victim to have sex with them in an electrical room. Nathan gained access through a master key he had stolen. The girl said several classmates approached her the next day saying they saw a video of the incident as the two suspects had recorded the sex acts. A second girl told police Nathan convinced her to perform a sex act in the same electrical room and also recorded the assault. A third girl said she was invited to Nathan's Sauk Rapids apartment where they had sex and again in the nursing room at the St. Cloud Public Library.
--The Morrison County Commissioners meet Tuesday at 9am at the government center boardroom.
--The Pierz City Council meets tonight 7pm at Pierz City Hall.
--The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources are reminding hunters that you are required to bring any deer older than one year that was killed within a CWD zone to a DNR site for testing. Voluntary sampling stations will be open outside of the opening weekends within the CWD zones. The DNR has also put movement restrictions into place, meaning that in areas where CWD has been found, the whole carcasses of deer, including fawns, must stay within those zones until a “not detected” CWD test result is received. Dumpsters will be provided for hunters to dispose of the heads and spines of the deer following quartering or butchering. For more information on the sites go to the MN DNR website.
--Three people are dead following a crash on a heavily-used highway in northern Minnesota late Thursday. The State Patrol says a GMC Yukon was traveling north on Highway 371 near Backus shortly after 11 p.m. when the driver of a Chevy Uplander, headed eastbound on 16th Street NW, failed to stop at a stop sign and struck the GMC broadside. Killed in the incident were the driver of the GMC, 55-year-old Jeffrey Wertish of Ellendale; his passenger, 59-year-old Robert Charles Nelson of Carver; and the driver of the Chevy, 34-year-old Lenny Steffen of Backus. The lone survivor of the crash is a passenger in the GMC, 25-year-old Jared Wertish of Ellendale. He was transported to Essentia Healthcare in Brainerd. At this point the state patrol website says it is unknown if alcohol or drugs were involved in the fatal collision.
--Two men were arrested after an armed robbery in St. Cloud Thursday afternoon. Police were called to the area of 14th Street South and 6th Avenue South at about 4:20pm for an armed robbery in progress. Officers arrived to find a man who had been robbed and pistol-whipped. The suspects had fled the scene prior to officers arriving on the scene, but the officers were able to track down the two men and take them into custody.
DEATH NOTICES
--Faye Marie Pepin, age 88 of Motley.
--Sandra L. Frank, age 74 of Brainerd.
--Garrett Bartkowicz, age 70 of Swanville formerly of Upsala.
--Roger Theodore Block, age 69 of Hillman.
WEATHER
TODAY= mostly cloudy, cooler, high near 50.
TONIGHT= clear skies, cooler night, low 27.
TUESDAY= sunny skies, calm winds, high 52, low near 30.
WEDNESDAY= rain likely, breezy high 46, low 35.
SPORTS
HS FB= Belgrade Brooten Elrosa held off Upsala/Swanville Friday at Fargo 52-44, New London-Spicer scored 21 unanswered points to beat Pierz 28-24 on Friday and Eden Valley-Watkins routed Royalton Friday 42-6 which eliminated all three football teams from playoffs.
CC= Ethan Kowalczyk finished 10th Saturday at the State Cross County Race in Northfield in Class A boys, Nathan Tax of Pierz finished 56th. Erin Borash of Royalton finished 83rd in the Class A Girls race Saturday- while Staples Motley finished first as team for Class A girls. Wyatt Baum of Little Falls finished 88th in the Class AA Boys at the meet Saturday in at St. Olaf College.
COL FB= Illinois stunned the Gophers 14-6 on Saturday.
NFL= Vikings lose in overtime yesterday 34-31 to Baltimore Ravens.