NEWS
--The former St. Francis Campus Credit Union in Little Falls CEO who pleaded guilty to a felony count of credit union fraud after a five year investigation has received an eight year prison sentence and must pay restitution of $2,513,360.77. Margurite Mary Cofell, former president/manager/CEO of the St. Francis Campus Credit Union in Little Falls was sentenced Tuesday in U.S. District Court in St. Paul. Cofell will serve her time in Waseca or a nearby Minnesota facility. A forensic auditor hired by the National Credit Union Administration alleged Cofell's embezzlement scheme caused a loss of more than $10 million, leading to the collapse of the credit union. Before the St. Francis Campus Credit Union in Little Falls was shut down, it had 3,400 members with assets of about $51 million. Members of the credit union were transferred to the Central Minnesota Credit Union.
--Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, along with Governor Tim Walz and Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan, today announced that the State of Minnesota is suing e-cigarette manufacturer JUUL Labs, Inc. The lawsuit, filed in Hennepin County District Court, alleges among other counts that JUUL has violated multiple state consumer-protection laws, breached its duty of reasonable care, and created a public nuisance. The complaint that Attorney General Ellison filed today describes how JUUL developed products with higher, more potent, and more addictive doses of nicotine than conventional cigarettes and other e-cigarettes — then not only failed to disclose that to its customers, but represented that its products are a safe alternative to cigarettes. The complaint also describes in detail how JUUL developed sleek-looking products and sweet, popular flavors that were designed to appeal to youth, and how its vast, targeted, and highly effective youth-oriented marketing campaign closely follows the Big Tobacco marketing playbook of decades past in deceptively luring young people into using and becoming addicted to its products. Indeed, JUUL’s co-founder has stated that even before JUUL launched its products, they studied Big Tobacco’s marketing strategies in detail. In 2017, the Minnesota Department of Health reported than nearly 90 percent of Minnesota teens had seen at least one advertisement for vaping in the last 30 days. The complaint also asserts that JUUL was negligent in its duty to correctly verify its customers’ ages, as required by Minnesota law, and deliberately turned a blind eye to the fact that its controls were not working and underage Minnesotans were purchasing their products. Little Falls Community High School last night had a presentation on vaping.
--A St. Cloud man is charged with 1st degree aggravated robbery after allegedly robbing another man at gunpoint Saturday. St. Cloud Police were called to the intersection of 22nd Street South and Clearwater Road where a man said he had been robbed. According to the charges, the man said he was at a friend's house when he showed two other men a wad of cash. When the victim went out to smoke, he said the two men came out and held him up at gunpoint, took his cash and his cell phone. The suspects then left in a maroon van. The victim said he got into a vehicle and followed the van. Ultimately, both vehicles had crashed into the ditch and the suspects fled on foot. The victim used the find my iPhone app which determined his phone was near McKinley Place and University Drive South. Officers responded and made a traffic stop. The passenger in the vehicle was identified as 21-year old Curtis Gilliam. Police say they located the victim's phone in Gilliam's pocket and arrested him.
--The 9th Annual Randall Holly-Day event is tonight starting at 4pm at the VFW with Santa, Santa's workshop and then at 5pm with trolley rides and the lights of love tree at Bingo Park in Randall.
--The Morrison County Department of Public Works would like to notify Soo Line Trail Users that the Soo Line Recreational Trail is no longer open for use by ATV’s. The trail is now open for use by snowmobiles, fat tire bikes and cross-country skiers. Also Public Works is reminding ATV and snowmobile that the recent ordinance does not allow ATV or snowmobiles to be operated in a public park. Anyone with questions should call Public Works at 632-0121.
--A lawsuit against the city of St. Cloud over the sale of land in Heritage Park to build the new Costco store has been dismissed. Jon Austin has been a spokesman for the group Citizens for Government Accountability who filed the lawsuit. He says the Stearns County judge dismissed the lawsuit this week due to a technicality. The two sides met in court back on October 25th where the city along with Costco asked the judge to dismiss the case. Austin says the group could file an appeal of the judge's decision, but they need time to decide whether they want to do that. The group of St. Cloud residents suing the city over the sale of land in Heritage Park to developers to build the Costco Store have made themselves public back in September. They are Chris Rice, Andy Fritz, P-IKE Investments, Chris Coborn, Mike Steil, and Tim Torborg The lawsuit was filed in August of 2018 by a group calling themselves Citizens for Government Accountability. Costco, in court documents, joined the lawsuit in December of last year because the plaintiffs are suing only the city, even though they knew Costco and the city had signed a purchase agreement.
--The Horsin' Around Parade and events will take place Saturday in Harding. Crafts in the church basement, concessions outside in front of the church and the holiday style parade with horses and trailers decked out in lights starts at 5pm Saturday in Harding.
--Join AM960 KLTF Party Line at 10:05am today from Coborn's Marketplace in Little Falls for the kickoff of the Dairy Recipe Contest. Listen to hear from Coborn's Marketplace, The Morrison County ADA and Little Falls Radio on how to win $50 dairy buckets from the participating sponsors of the Dairy Recipe Contest.
WEATHER
TODAY= cloudy, freeze fog possible, high 32.
TONIGHT= clearing skies, colder temps, low near 0.
FRIDAY= sunny early, clouds late day, high 19, low around 13.
SATURDAY= cloudy, breezy, warmer, high 35, low near 25.
SUNDAY= cloudy, high near 30, snow develop after dark.
SPORTS
HS BHK= Little Falls at Wadena tonight at 7pm on Q92 WYRQ.
HS GBB= Little Falls at Pierz Friday at 7:15pm on FM94 KFML.
HS BHK= Little Falls at Fergus Falls Saturday 4pm on Q92 WYRQ.
NFL= Dallas Cowboys at Chicago Bears tonight 7pm on KLTF.
Little Falls Radio will be live on location on Friday from the Little Falls Bakery and Deli, Touright Bicycle Shoppe and Sears “Your Hometown Store” to talk shopping local and holidays sales. Corey Fink will broadcast live from each of the stores beginning at 10am Friday on both Q92 WYRQ and FM94 KFML and streamed online at fallsradio.com.