NEWS
--The City of Little Falls have posted yellow no parking signs for the daylight hours today and Friday around the city. The yellow no parking signs are due to crack sealing being done on a number of city roads during the daylight hours. Again there are now a number of yellow no parking signs around the city and please follow them or face citations or being towed for crack sealing to be completed.
--A former Mille Lacs Band police chief was convicted last week of sexually assaulting a child from about 2009 to 2015 and is accused of abusing a different child in the early 1990s. Russell J. Bankey of Garrison was charged in January 2022 with one felony count of first-degree criminal sexual conduct. The charges came after a woman told investigators she was sexually assaulted by Bankey, now 75, for a handful of years beginning in 2009 when she was 6 or 7. According to court documents, the woman recorded a phone call with Bankey in August 2021 where he admitted to the abuse and apologized. On Thursday, a jury found Bankey guilty of the first-degree felony count and agreed there is an aggravating factor that could establish the basis for a longer sentence. He's being held pending sentencing on August 25th. He served as a deputy with Mille Lacs County from the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s when he was appointed police chief for the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe.
--Minnesota business owner Paul Ehlen died in a single-engine plane crash on Tuesday at the airport in Hamilton, Montana. The aircraft, a Curtiss Wright P-40E, had a mechanical failure on takeoff, according to a statement by Precision Lens. It crashed on private property on the north edge of the Stock Farm in Hamilton. Ehlen, the pilot and sole occupant, died on impact, according to the Ravalli County Sheriff's Office. He was the owner of Precision Lens in Bloomington.
--A St. Cloud couple was hurt in a crash in Kimball Tuesday afternoon. It happened at the intersection of Highway 15 and Highway 55 just before 1pm. The Minnesota State Patrol says one of the cars was heading north on Highway 15 and a second car was westbound on Highway 55 when the two collided in the intersection.
The patrol says 69-year-old Gerald Hegman and his passenger 67-year-old Wanda Hegman, both of St. Cloud, were treated at St. Cloud Hospital for non-life-threatening injuries. The driver of the other car, 19-year-old Boyd Hollan of Milaca was not hurt.
--Police in northeastern Minnesota say a body of a man was found inside a freezer chest at a home that hasn't been occupied for months. Police say a 911 caller reported finding the body in a freezer located in the basement of a home located on the 300 block of N. 4th Ave. in the Iron Range town of Biwabik. The victim has been identified by the Midwest Medical Examiner's Office as Brandon Lee Buschman, 34, of Babbitt. The medical examiner found no signs of trauma or injury and results of a toxicology report won't be available for several weeks. It is unclear how long the body was in the freezer.
--The pilot of a crop-dusting airplane died when it crashed into a field in Minnesota. The Polk County Sheriff’s Office said the crash was reported around 8:30pm Tuesday in a field near the town of Crookston in the northwestern corner of Minnesota. Emergency crews found the pilot alone inside the plane. He was dead at the scene. An investigation is underway.
--Linden Hill in Little Falls is hosting a free concert on the lawn event tonight from 6-8pm. Come for the music, the concert to attend is free though there are concessions you can purchase at the event.
--The investigation continued Tuesday, June 27, into the death of a Fort Ripley woman whose body was found Sunday on a road in Fort Ripley Township. At 5:41am Sunday the Crow Wing County Sheriff’s Office received a report from a passerby who thought there may be a body lying in the roadway off Highway 371. Deputies responded and found the body of 49-year-old Angela Marie McClelland on Killian Road. Investigators believe McClelland died after being struck by a vehicle and the Crow Wing County Sheriff's continue to survey the accident area. No new information is being released on the case.
--A fugitive wanted by state officials in northern Minnesota is now accused of gunning down a man in a vehicle in a small town east of Detroit Lakes. A warrant was issued Monday for 40-year-old, Michael Croud, on a charge of second-degree murder for a deadly shooting over the weekend. Becker County deputies were called to the shooting in Pine Point Township, about 24 miles northeast of Detroit Lakes, around 6:30pm on Sunday. At the scene, officers found a victim, identified Tuesday as 35-year-old David Hanks Jr., who had been shot multiple times outside an SUV. Croud was already a wanted fugitive for failing to abide by the conditions of his supervised release from prison. Authorities say Croud "absconded" from supervision on June 5. As of Tuesday, Croud is still on the run. The sheriff's office is asking anyone with information on Croud's whereabouts to call deputies at 218-847-2661.
--A 27-year-old Brainerd man faces several felony assault charges following a June 11 incident in which he’s accused of beating a woman “for days.” 27-year-old, Jordan Christopher Colgan was charged June 14 in Crow Wing County District Court with serious felony second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon, two counts of felony third-degree assault causing substantial bodily harm, and felony domestic assault. According to court records, Colgan is accused of assaulting a woman June 11 at a Brainerd residence. When Brainerd Police officers arrived at the residence they found the woman had multiple bruises all over her body and blood coming from a cut on her face. Colgan had fled prior to officers arriving. The woman told officers Colgan became upset when she tried to wake him up. He dragged her across the room by her hair, rubbed her face into the floor and at one point held a machete about 2 feet in length to her neck and threatened to cut her with it. Colgan was arrested June 12 at a Brainerd gas station. He is being held in the Crow Wing County Jail on $300,00 bail or bond without condition and with a domestic assault-no contact order in place.
--Sunday is Bowlus Fun Day beginning with Outdoor Polka Mass at 10am, parade at 11:15am, water fights with local fire departments competing 2:30pm, polka music in the afternoon and live music at night, lots of games, food, a train to ride around town and fireworks at dusk Sunday in Bowlus.
WEATHER
TODAY= AM fog, pm storm possible, some sun and haze, high 85.
TONIGHT= clearing skies, low around 55.
FRIDAY= sunny and cooler, high 79, low around 60.
SATURDAY= sunny and warm, high 87, clear night, low 63.
SUNDAY= sunny and warmer, high 90, clear night, low near 60.
SPORTS
TWINS= Atlanta beats The Twins 3-0 yesterday to get the sweep. The Twins (40-42) have today off, at Baltimore on Friday night.