NEWS
--The Randall Fire Department and Central Lakes College Fire and EMS will be partnering with a controlled structure fire Saturday at the address of 143 East 6th Street in Randall. The training will be held from approximately 8:00am-12:00pm and the burning will be most of the day on Saturday. As a result East 6th Street in Randall will be closed most of the day from Minnesota Avenue to Highway 115 in Randall. The public should not be alarmed if you see a large number of emergency personnel in this area on Saturday, as it is a planned training exercise open to many local agencies.
--Next week graduation ceremonies begin for area schools. Pierz and Royalton graduation ceremonies are at 7:00pm on Friday May 25th. Swanville graduation is the same night May 25th at 8:00pm. Pillager graduates on May 25th. Upsala graduates on Saturday, May 26th at 1:30pm while the Little Falls graduation ceremony is at 2:00pm on Sunday, May 27th. Holdingford is on June 1st and Foley is June 2nd.
--Several clean up days are scheduled this Saturday, May 19th. The city of Lastrup will be hosting a cleanup day for residents living within the city limits from 8:00-10:00am at the Lastrup Ballpark. The city of Flensburg is hosting a cleanup day for residents living within the city limits from 8:00-10:30am at the Flensburg Fire Hall. Also, Lakin Township is holding a cleanup day for residents living outside the city limits but within the township from 8:00am-12:00pm at the Lakin Town Hall. All three of these cleanup days are this Saturday.
--St. Cloud State University has named their new president. Robbyn Wacker was named as the new president by the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities's Board of Trustees Wednesday. She will be appointed July 1st. Wacker succeeds Ashish Vaidya, who has served as interim president of St. Cloud State University since 2016. He took over following the unexpected death of Earl H. Potter III, who had served as president of the university since 2007.
--Albany area residents and those who travel Highway 238 through Albany are invited to an informal open house to learn about the upcoming project to reconstruct a segment of Highway 238 near North Lake in Albany. The project requires Highway 238 to close for about 14 weeks. The public open house will be held next Thursday, May 24th, from 5:00pm to 6:30pm at Albany city hall. Open house attendees will be able to learn about the project’s construction details, detour or other planned traffic changes and schedule, view a layout of the project, speak with project staff, get questions answered and take home project information. The project will begin June 4th, and is scheduled to be completed mid-September. The 14-week road closure and detour is scheduled to begin June 11th. The project will reconstruct about one-half mile of Highway 238 between Railroad Avenue and the southeast side of North Lake, install new underground utilities and improve pedestrian infrastructure.
--The name of the driver who died in an accident Tuesday morning in Sauk Centre Township has been released. 40-year old Catalino De Leon Alvarado of Rockville died as a result of injuries sustained in an accident Tuesday morning. Authorities believe Alvarado applied the brakes late while approaching an intersection. He traveled through the intersection striking a yellow warning sign. He continued into the ditch striking a tree which caused the car to flip on its roof and into the Sauk River in Rockville. The crash is still under investigation.
--Listen to all three local stations streamed online at fallsradio.com
--An 18-year-old Grey Eagle man is facing charges for reportedly engaging in sexual contact with a 12-year old girl. Reece Anthony Heinze was charged Monday with one count of felony first degree criminal sexual conduct. Officers were driving through Greenwood Cemetery off Stearns County Road 17 in Sauk Centre Township. When officers approached the car, they saw Heinze and a girl in the back seat both were putting on clothes. The girl informed the officer that Heinze had sexual contact with her and that this had happened three or four times before. If convicted of first degree criminal sexual contact with someone under the age of 13, Heintze could face 30 years in prison and/or a $40,000 fine. Heinze's next court date is scheduled for July 20th.
--A 33-year old Pillager man was sentenced to five years in prison for having a sexual relationship with a 15-year-old girl in St. Cloud. Nicholas Paul Odenthal was sentenced Thursday, May 10, in Stearns County District Court in St. Cloud on two counts of third-degree criminal sexual conduct. The Pillager man pleaded guilty to the charges in October of 2017. The Stearns County Sheriff's Office on Jan. 27, 2017, began investigating allegations of sexual assault involving Odenthal. During a traffic stop, a sheriff's deputy learned Odenthal was a predatory offender and saw two 15-year-old girls in the vehicle with him. It was learned one of the underage girls was in a sexual relationship with Odenthal. The Pillager man has a 2008 conviction in Crow Wing County for sexually abusing a child younger than 13. In that case, he was sentenced to 21 months in prison.
--The Minnesota National Guard and the Minnesota Military Museum are showing an advance screening of ‘Going to War’, at the Camp Ripley Education Center before its nationwide release this Memorial Day. The screening will be played at the Camp Ripley Education Center on Thursday May 24, 2018 at 2pm, 4:00pm and 5:30pm. There will be light appetizers beforehand and brief discussion after the film. In ‘Going to War’, renowned authors Karl Marlantes and Sebastian Junger help make sense of this paradox and get to the heart of what it’s like to be a service-member at war. The program will air on PBS Memorial Day weekend. To reserve your seat for the event get free tickets by going to the war-screening website which can be contacted through Camp Ripley or the Military Museum.
DEATH NOTICES
--Constance “Connie” Jutz, age 76 of Glencoe.
WEATHER
TODAY= sunny start, high 78, showers & storms by late day.
TONIGHT= showers/storms early, then clearing, low 54.
FRIDAY= sunny and windy, high near 80, storms late night, low 48.
SATURDAY= showers likely, windy and cooler, high near 60, low 40.
SUNDAY= sunny skies, high 68, clear night, low 48.
SPORTS
TWINS= Cardinals hold off Twins Wednesday 7-5 to split the two game series. Twins are off today, host Milwaukee Friday night.
TODAY IN HISTORY
IN 1620= the Merry Go Round was introduced in Turkey.
IN 1845= the rubber band was patented.
IN 1846= the saxophone was created by Antoine Sax.