NEWS
--Congratulations to Aaron Sinclair of Little Falls Community Schools who was named the District Leader of the Year Award winner at the 2022 Digital Convergence Awards in Charlotte, North Carolina. On Tuesday evening Sinclair was named the “Change Management District Leader of the Year” award winner. This nationwide award goes to the district leader who has demonstrated effective leadership through second-order change using the Digital Convergence Framework. Congratulations Aaron Sinclair on this honor.
--A missing St. Cloud teenager has been found and is safe. The Stearns County Sheriff's Office says they have found 14-year-old Cameron McNeal, however, they haven't provided any other details. He went missing on January 19th but has been found safe.
--A Browerville woman suffered non life threatening injuries in a single vehicle crash on Wednesday. At 7:47am 20-year old Kirsten Trutwin was heading west on Highway 10 at Holt Road in Cushing Township when the vehicle left the roadway and rolled in the ditch. According to the report from the Minnesota State Patrol, Trutwin was treated at Lakewood Health for her injuries.
--Two people were hurt in a two-vehicle crash in Staples Wednesday afternoon. The incident happened on Highway 10 near County Road 38 just after 12:00pm. The Minnesota State Patrol says a van was going south on County Road 38, turned onto Highway 10, and began accelerating. Authorities say a car was heading west on Highway 10 and collided with the van west of the intersection. The driver and passenger in the car, 82-year-old Wayne Hotchkiss and 79-year-old Carolyn Hotchkiss of New York Mills were taken to Staples Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. The driver of the van, 60-year-old Debby Wanner of Motley, was not hurt.
--An investigation is underway into a fatal accident at a 3M plant in western Minnesota. Authorities in Alexandria say a female employee got caught in some machinery early Tuesday during an overnight shift. The Minnesota Occupational Safety and Health Administration is trying to determine how the worker became trapped. A statement from company officials at 3M’s headquarters in Maplewood said emergency response protocols were enacted in response to the incident, and the local police and fire departments and OSHA were notified. The worker’s identity has not been released.
--A 62-year-old from Federal Dam was injured in a one vehicle rollover in Cass County. At 10:28am Wednesday, Jane Topper was traveling on Highway 2 at Portage Road when she left the roadway and struck the ditch rolling the vehicle. Topper was taken to the Bemidji hospital for her injuries sustained in the accident. Topper was the only occupant in the vehicle at the time of the rollover.
--Yesterday marked one year after a man walked into the Allina Health Clinic in Buffalo and opened fire, killed one staff member and wounded four other people. Allina Health on Wednesday to show their support for the victims and their families had a system-wide moment of silence is scheduled for 11am at all facilities not just the one in Buffalo. Last night Buffalo Crossroads and Buffalo Hospital were both lit up purple to honor the community from 4-11pm and many in the Buffalo community wore purple in solidarity to remember lives lost and those injured from the shooting one year ago.
–A Chicks for Bricks fundraiser is tonight 5-8pm at Zion Lutheran Church in Little Falls. Proceeds go into the fund to continue to pay the cost of the Fellowship Hall built some time back. This will be the last Chicks for Bricks dinner before the Lenten season next month.
--Sartell residents chose not to approve a 1.5% food and beverage tax after voting Tuesday in a special election. The tax would have been charged to customers buying food and alcohol in a ready-to-consume state at places like bars, restaurants, coffee shops, fast food and delivery restaurants, and would have been used to upgrade recreational amenities like parks in the city. The ballot failed by a 462 to 232 vote, according to unofficial results released Wednesday morning from the city of Sartell. Results of the ballot will be reviewed and certified by the city council at their meeting February 14th. The tax would have been charged to the customer, not the establishment, and did not include grocery stores, off-sale liquor stores, gas stations or general stores. According to 2020 data, Sartell was estimated to collect about $300,000 annually from the tax if it had passed.
--A St. Cloud man is accused of attempting to break into a home to take items by kicking and damaging the front door. 19-year old Drevion Xavier Hemingway faces one felony count of first-degree attempted burglary, one felony count of first-degree criminal damage to property and one misdemeanor count of motor vehicle tampering. A man reported an attempted burglary and break in at his Sauk Rapids residence that occurred around 12:40am February 2nd. The couple inside checked their Ring camera and saw a man kicking the door around nine or 10 times, trying to open it. The damage is believed to be valued at more than $1,000. The man also checked his vehicle and found it had been gone through and was missing a knife valued at around $50. The video footage was posted online, and people provided tips on who the man in it might be, leading to Hemingway. Hemingway was located on the 5th and placed under arrest. The shoes Hemingway wore during his arrest matched the shoes in the Ring surveillance video. During an interview, he admitted to kicking the door of a house. He also admitted to going to the residence and looking through a vehicle. After looking through the vehicle, he began kicking the house’s front door to attempt to get in and get money or electronics.
WEATHER
TODAY= cloudy turning breezing, rain/sleet/snow late day, high 34.
TONIGHT= rain changing to snow 1-2 inches late, low around 14.
FRIDAY= snow and wind early, falling temps down to -15 at night.
SATURDAY= sunny and cold, high 4 above, low -10, wind chills -25.
SUNDAY= snow showers at times, high 18, low around -3
SPORTS
SKI= Congratulations to the Little Falls Boys Nordic Ski team advancing to state next week with a 1st place finish in sections yesterday. Connor Grant was 1st overall, Ethen Yorek was 3rd in the pursuit race while Elliott Oberton and Edward Sobiech finished 2nd in the relay portion. The girls finished 6th yesterday as a team. The State Tournament is next Wednesday and Thursday in Biwabik.
HS BHK= Little Falls at Detroit Lakes tonight, early start time, puck drops at 6pm, pregame at 5:30pm on Q92 WYRQ.
LFCHS= Little Falls Community High School Senior Tyler Olson, the son of Lee and Kelly Olson of Little Falls, has committed to play football next year at St. Scholastica in Duluth.
OLY= The United States got three gold medals in the past 2 days, two in snowboarding including Chloe Kim winning her 2nd straight gold in the halfpipe and Nathan Chen winning gold in the men's figure skating event. The U.S. have 9 total medals, 3 gold, 5 silver and 1 bronze, while Austria and Norway lead overall with 12.