NEWS
--According to the Minnesota Department of Transportation work will wind down soon in east Little Falls, as crews pave the final layer of blacktop road surface on Highway 27 between Front Street E and Ninth Street E the week of August 19th. Highway 27 east of the Mississippi River will be closed between Front Street E and 11th Street E. Detour uses Front Street SE, First Avenue SE, First Street SE, Fifth Avenue SE and 11th Street SE. All new lanes and sidewalks on Highway 27 east of the Mississippi River are scheduled to open by Monday, August 26th. Highway 27 west of the Mississippi River will remain an active work zone through September. The road is closed from Paul Larson Memorial Drive to Eighth Street W. Detour uses Morrison County Road 214 and Paul Larson Memorial Drive. The Highway 27 and Highway 10 bridges are open over the Mississippi River in Little Falls. Access is open to all businesses north and south of Highway 27. Use open side streets, business back or side entrances and sidewalks for access. Pedestrians will encounter sidewalk closures with detours. Commercial trucks must use the truck detour along Morrison County Road 214 and Highway 10. When complete in October, the $7.6 million improvement project will reconstruct or resurface two miles of Highway 27 between 15th Street SW and Ninth Street E, install new underground city utilities, curb, gutter and sidewalk, improve signals and adjacent entrance connections. MnDOT thanks the community of Little Falls for their continued patience during this improvement project.
--The Upsala Public School District in Morrison County was recently awarded a $25,000 grant to enhance its science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) curriculum through America’s Farmers Grow Rural Education, sponsored by the Bayer Fund. Upsala Public School District will use the Grow Rural Education funds to purchase a waterjet cutter to improve students’ CNC, design, and fabrication skills. With this equipment, students will be able to fast prototype, create, build, and cut creations and parts of their own design. Schools from across the country were nominated and selected by farmers to receive STEM grants through Grow Rural Education. Grow Rural Education has more than $18 million in grants to over 1,000 rural public school districts since 2011. To qualify for a Grow Rural Education grant, farmers nominated a school or school district to compete for a merit-based grant of either $10,000 or $25,000. School districts that were nominated then submitted a grant application describing their STEM-focused project. Grow Rural Education’s Farmer Advisory Council, consisting of approximately 30 farmer leaders from across the country, reviewed the finalist applications and selected the winning school districts, including Upsala Public School District.
--St. Cloud Police officers are on the lookout for a man who reportedly robbed a cookie shop at gunpoint. Officers responded to a call from Insomnia Cookies, located at 305 5th Avenue South on Wednesday just after 2:00am. An employee told police a lone male suspect came into the store with a gun and demanded money. The man reportedly took an undisclosed amount of money before fleeing on foot. The employee was the only person in the store at the time. She was unhurt. Officers searched the area but did not find the suspect. He's described as a black man, between 18-25 years old, around 6 feet tall with a thin build and short hair, dressed in baggy sweatpants and a black sweatshirt. Anyone with information is encouraged to call the St. Cloud Police or Tri-County Crime Stoppers.
--Around 7:15pm Tuesday the Crow Wing County Sheriff’s Office received a call from a female who was reporting that her husband, 70-year old Dale Vian of rural Pine River, had left around 2:00pm on a 4-wheeler and not returned and that she was concerned about his wellbeing. Deputies, along with the Crow Wing County Drone Team, Lifelink air ambulance, and the MN DNR responded to the area, which was in Gail Lake Township. Upon searching the area for about two hours, Dale Vian was located in a swampy area at about 9:30pm. He reported that his 4-wheeler had gotten stuck and that he became lost in the dark. Ambulance personnel checked Vian out and found that he was uninjured and cleared him at the scene. Crow Wing County Sheriff Scott Goddard thanks all first responder personnel and the public who assisted in this search.
--Two people were injured in a two-vehicle crash at 12:20pm Monday on Highway 210 at Inglewood Drive in Baxter. The Baxter Police Department reported Alyssa L. Daniels, 43, Pillager, was driving a Kia east on Highway 210, preparing to turn north onto Inglewood Drive, when her vehicle collided with a vehicle driven by Jamie M. Knoblauch Hauge, 65, Pillager, who was westbound on Highway 210. Hauge and his passenger, Tanya E. Hyatt, 51, Pillager, were injured and transported by North Memorial Ambulance to Essentia Health-St. Joseph’s Medical Center in Brainerd. Daniels was not injured.
--Two people were injured in a three-vehicle crash at 11:35am Monday on Golf Course Drive at Clearwater Road in Baxter. The Baxter Police Department reported 62-year old Jo Ann Smith of Crosslake was driving west on Clearwater Road when she failed to yield to a vehicle driven by 69-year old Thomas L. Hoelscher of Oakdale which was traveling south on Golf Course Road. Both drivers suffered minor injuries and were transported by ambulance to Essentia Health-St. Joseph’s Medical Center in Brainerd. A third driver, 91-year old Dale R. Yotter of Merrifield, had minor injuries but declined medical attention. Yotter was traveling north of Golf Course Road and made contact with the two vehicles at the intersection.
--Today is the final of the three days to register your student at the Little Falls Community Schools. You can register your student at the Little Falls High School from 12-7pm today. All students (new or returning) need to be registered for classes at Lindbergh, Lincoln and Dr. S.G. Knight Elementary, Community Middle and High School in Little Falls. That is today at the high school commons 12-7.
DEATH NOTICES
--Gladys Marie Benjamin, age 69 of Onamia.
--Lucillie (Kempenich) Sobania, age 82 of Little Falls.
--Robert Zuleger, age 72 of Pierz formerly Little Falls.
WEATHER
TODAY= partly cloudy, storms develop after 5pm, high 77.
TONIGHT= showers & storms likely before midnight, low 58.
FRIDAY= sunny skies, isolated shower, high 80, low near 60.
SATURDAY= isolated storms, partly sunny, high 78, low 54.
SUNDAY= sunny skies, high 75, clear night low near 50.
SPORTS
TWINS= Twins defense crumbles late with 2 errors then a homerun by Grissom of Milwaukee as the Brewers come back to win 6-5 Wednesday afternoon. Indians loss so Twins still in first place by a half game. Twins open a series at Texas tonight 6:30pm on Q92.