NEWS
--At 1:25pm Tuesday the Morrison County Sheriff's Office received a report of a two vehicle accident at the intersection of 133rd Street and 270th Avenue about one mile south of Pierz in Pierz Township. 23-year old Kyle Soltis of Freeport was travelling south on 270th Avenue as 50-year old Kristin Lochner of Pierz was travelling west on 133rd Street. Soltis failed to yield at the stop sign and was struck by Lochner's vehicle. Soltis was taken to St. Gabriel's Hospital by ambulance with unknown injuries. Lochner was not injured.
--Brian Bernander of St. Ottos Care Center stated on KLTF Wednesday that they did have a staff member contract COVID-19 in recent weeks and that person was doing the isolation period but since then no other cases have been confirmed at the Care Facility. He stated that visitor restrictions are still in place and according to the CDC Guidelines are likely to continue through at least the middle of summer and maybe longer but now until the July 4th Holiday restrictions remain at St. Otto's. If you have questions on the restrictions or the facility call 632-9281.
--Todd County stated that during the week of May 24th through May 30th, the Todd County Sheriff's Office responded to 216 calls for service. The following were the types of calls: 61 traffic stops, 9 traffic complaints, 20 civil process, 17 suspicious activity type complaints, 2 ATV complaints, 5 disturbances/domestics, 7 welfare checks, 3 damage to property complaints, and 4 accidents. One of the accidents occurred on May 30th a motorcycle accident on County 11 near the intersection of County 96. Zachary Leen of Sauk Rapids, was traveling north on County 11 when his motorcycle left the roadway. Leen was airlifted from the scene to St. Cloud Hospital with serious injuries. On May 28th, Stacy Hiemenz of rural Long Prairie reported that someone had struck a fence post near her residence and the sheriff's office helped put out an oven fire at 511 Gillis Avenue South on May 25th where no injures were reported.
--A judge has blocked a chain of central Minnesota bars and restaurants from offering sit-down dining in violation of Governor Tim Walz's peacetime emergency order during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Stearns County judge on Tuesday issued a temporary injunction sought by Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison against the owner of the ``Shady's'' chain. Shady's owner earlier had planned to reopen a bar in Albany last month, but announced he was not reopening after he was blocked by a court order. Ellison says all Minnesotans 'can be relieved that the Court has put their health first.'' Walz has since allowed bars and restaurants to offer outdoor dining.
--A Lightning strike is believed to be the cause of house fire in Stearns County. Around 2:45pm Tuesday Stearns County Sheriff’s deputies responded to a house fire at 19607 County Road 40 in Farming Township. The homeowner, 52-year old Daniel Fennell of Avon, was in his garage when he heard a loud bang and saw a bright flash out of an opened overhead garage door. Fennell could smell smoke and noticed some siding on his house was melted. Fire personnel arrived and extinguished the fire. The fire was contained to the roof and ceiling. There was heavy smoke and ceiling damage inside the house. No one was injured.The cause is believed to be from a lightning strike.
--A reminder that Pierz Area Commerical Club voted to cancel tonight's Rock Roll and Stroll event in Pierz. The club is hoping to have the car shows on first Thursday in July, August and Sept.
--Severe weather Tuesday caused a number of issues across mostly southern Minnesota. The National Weather Service was investigating the possibility of three tornadoes touching down in Blue Earth and Waseca Counties Tuesday. Straight Line Winds nearly 100 miles per hour were reported in Mower County, baseball size hail, and torrential rainfall was also reported across the southern part of the state. Some fire departments in southern Minnesota and the Metro Area were called out for powerpoles on fire and houses struck by lightning. In Central Minnesota no warnings but high winds dropped tree limbs in areas and lightning was to blame for an outage of internet, phone, cable and for some cell phone customers unable to use their phones for many many hours into the overnight for many Tuesday night.
--There were no changes in the COVID-19 numbers Wednesday in Morrison County which was still at 48 positive cases of COVID-19. Statewide there were 372 new cases and 14 more deaths from the virus reported on Wednesday by Minnesota Department of Health. Age demographics show that over 5,000 cases are between the ages of 30-39 and another 9,000+ cases are between the ages of 20-29 and also 40-49. However, out of the 1,086 reported deaths linked to COVID-19 only 74 deaths are under the age of 60 and of those there have been no deaths reported under the age of 30.
--Attorney General Keith Ellison reported that three additional officers in the George Floyd incident in Minneapolis, Tou Thau, J. Alexander Kueng, and Thomas Lane have now also been charged in the death of Floyd with aiding and abetting murder in the 2nd degree charge and Attorney General Ellison has increased the charge against the officer seen putting his knee into Floyd's neck, Derek Chauvin to 2nd Degree Murder, he was first charged with third degree murder and manslaughter charges. Also Governor Tim Walz yesterday extended the curfew for Minneapolis and St. Paul from 10pm last night to 4am this morning and again from 10pm tonight through 4am Friday morning and said he may keep it going further.
--The Pierz City Council will meet Monday night at 7pm at Pierz City Hall. Pierz Mayor Dave Fischer will be the guest today on KLTF Community Focus at 8:30am and online at fallsradio.com.
DEATH NOTICES
--Elizabeth “Betsy” Luberts, age 64 of Sauk Rapids.
WEATHER
TODAY= becoming sunny, high 81.
TONIGHT= storms likely, some strong in evening, low 56.
FRIDAY= sunny skies, breezy, high near 80, low near 50.
SATURDAY= sunny and cooler, high 74, low around 50.
SUNDAY= storms likely, some severe, high 79, low near 60.
SPORTS
NBA= The NBA Wednesday stated they have approved the 22 team playoff format in principal to resume games for the NBA starting July 31st and lasting into October and thus moving the start of the next season around Christmas time. The 22 games would mostly be played in Orlando with no fans. The players union still has to decide.
MLB= unlike the NBA and NHL no progress has been made by Major League Baseball stating the players union have voted down the 114 game season and the 50 game season with playoffs. No counter offers are being and baseball this year remains in limbo. Baseball owners and players are going back to the drawing board.