NEWS
--Little Falls City Administrator Jon Radermacher spoke on KLTF Wednesday on city projects. Jon said that snow trucks had to remove snow the last few nights for the first time in a while and with 12-13 inches of snow in the past days it will take at least another or two nights to complete. When the snow melts they will be going into construction season with the largest project on 4th Street Northeast that will start this year and likely have to be completed next year. There are some smaller projects that will begin later in the summer also. The Clubhouse work continues and hopes to be completed by June. Radermacher met with those at the State Capitol recently still on working the sales tax vote into place by 2026 for Little Falls and Rail Grade Separation but that still is likely to be 3-5 years away at least. Jon spoke on the Rosenmeier Home which the Convention and Visitor Bureau left when they went on to merge with the Chamber last year and now is vacant. He said they spoke at the recent meeting on how to handle the home like other items the city that they own like Linden Hill, Senior Center that are ran by other organizations and that they will continue to hear items related to it but for now still looking for some seekers to come inside it. The city has changed their e-mail addresses so check with Little Falls if you have been trying to email them and not getting access to the administrator or others, questions call 320-616-5500.
--A 59-year-old Holdingford man was seriously injured in a snowmobile crash Tuesday night. According to the Stearns County Sheriff’s Office, a 911 call came in just after 6:20 about the crash in Holding Township. Authorities say Jeffrey Stoermann drove over a hill, and when he got to the bottom, there was a lip that caused his snowmobile to go airborne. After it landed, Stoermann could not correct in time and drove into a wooded area at a high rate of speed and hit a tree. Stoermann was transported to the St. Cloud Hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries. Police say Stoermann had extensive experience in operating snowmobiles and was wearing a helmet at the time of the crash, but alcohol is believed to be a contributing factor. The crash remains under investigation.
--A Freeport woman is facing a stint in federal prison after pleading guilty to drug trafficking charges in North Dakota. Thirty-three-year-old Deanna Marie Gerads is accused of working for Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán’s Sinaloa cartel. Gerads was taken into custody by Mexican immigration authorities on August 1st and deported to the U.S. from Mexico, where she had been hiding. She pleaded guilty in federal court Tuesday to conspiracy to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute controlled substances before Chief District Court Judge Peter D. Welte. Gerads is scheduled to be sentenced on July 2nd. The case is part of Operation Unfinished Business II, which focused on international drug trafficking. So far, 18 people have been charged in North Dakota and tied to the seizures of over 100 pounds of methamphetamine, nine pounds of fentanyl powder and 120,000 fentanyl pills. Officials say they seized 150 pounds of methamphetamine, nine pounds of fentanyl powder, and 120,000 fentanyl pills destined for Minnesota and North Dakota. Macalla Lee Knott and Melanie Quick of St. Cloud have also been charged in connection to the case.
--Morrison County Sheriff Shawn Larsen will be the guest today on the AM960 KLTF Up Front program starting at 9:05am.
--Governor Tim Walz spoke from Owatonna High School Tuesday on his State of the State Address. He called on the Legislature to enact new gun control measures to make schools and communities safer, while touting the achievements of last year’s legislative session. He mentioned in southern Minnesota they have made big investments in education and workforce development and to use it as an example for how the rest of the state can make progress. The local business community and voters teamed up a few years ago to raise the money after decades of talk about replacing a century-old building. Walz called for prompt action to strengthen requirements for safe storage of firearms, require better reporting of lost and stolen guns, and raise penalties for “straw buyers” who purchase firearms for people who can’t legally have them because of their criminal records. Walz referred to the killings of three first responders in Burnsville last month by a convicted felon who allegedly obtained his guns by having his girlfriend buy them. Such purchases are a felony with tough penalties under federal law, but just a gross misdemeanor under state law, punishable by no more than a year in jail. Lawmakers who want to change that say local prosecutors are reluctant to file such cases because of the low penalties. He noted that the 2023 Legislature passed new protections for abortion rights. On that theme, Walz pledged to protect the rights of families to use in-vitro fertilization, citing a court ruling against IVF in Alabama that has turned into a potent political issue nationwide. Walz said it’s personal for him. He and his wife, Gwen, had to turn to it to conceive their first child. Republican legislative leaders said afterward that they’ve supported tougher sentences for straw buyers for years but have been thwarted by Democrats before.
--Heavy snow across much of the state had the Minnesota State Patrol busy over the last few days. As reported earlier this week, the State Patrol reported over 400 accidents and another 400+ spin outs on the roadways. Then from Monday night through Tuesday night another 257 vehicle spin outs with another 31 jack knifed semi trucks, 466 accidents and another 28 injured from those accidents luckily unlike Sunday into Monday where 3 people were killed, there were no fatalities Monday into Tuesday on Minnesota state roads.
WEATHER
TODAY= sunny skies, high 33. Clouds increase tonight, low 13.
FRIDAY= cloudy, snow early, light rain later in day, high 40, low 29.
SATURDAY= cloudy and breezy, high 41, low 25.
EASTER= cloudy, rain and snow later in day, high 40, low 26.
SPORTS
TWINS= Twins open the 2024 Regular Season this afternoon at Kansas City against the Royals, pregame 2:30pm, then a day off on Friday, back on Saturday at 2:30pm and then Sunday Inside Twins begins at noon all live on Q92 WYRQ for Twins Baseball.
HOLY THURSDAY
--Today is considered Holy Thursday according to Catholic/Christian faiths Jesus Christ has the Last Supper with his Apostles, beginning what is the Eucharist of Bread and Wine, then after he is praying in the garden where he is arrested by guards leading to all the events into Good Friday the day Christ is Crucified.