NEWS
--Congratulations to Little Falls Community High School Junior Allie Steinmetz who has been elected as Minnesota High School DECA President for 2017-2018. Allie will lead the over 3,700 Minnesota High School DECA students across the state. DECA is a high school business organization that prepares emerging leaders and entrepreneurs in marketing, finance, hospitality and management with over 215,000 participants nationwide.
--Kinship of Morrison County will receive a $12,000 grant from AT&T to support it's youth mentoring program during a presentation at the Kinship board meeting on Tuesday. The contribution will support Kinship’s youth mentoring program in its efforts to provide positive role models for at risk youth. Specifically, the money will fund three group mentoring activities that focus on career exploration. Kinship’s mission is to help at risk children in single parent homes form and foster long-term relationships with caring adult volunteer mentors. Research shows that quality mentoring relationships can improve a child’s social behavior, academics and relationships.
--The Crow Wing County Sheriff’s Office was involved in a multi-day investigation into individuals seeking sexual contact with juveniles. This proactive solicitation operation was conducted with agents from the Minnesota BCA, Brainerd Police and the Baxter Police. It resulted in four adult males being arrested. A number of cases remain open and several additional arrests are anticipated. Sheriff Todd Dahl would like to remind parents to be aware of what your children are viewing and who they are communicating with online. Arrested on charges of Solicitation of Children to Engage in Sexual Conduct were: 39-year old Mark Bundgaard of Breezy Point, 61-year old David Colvin of Brainerd, 56-year old James Brooks of Big Lake and 30-year old Michael Larue of St Paul.
--To restore or rebuild? The debate continues in Melrose as both sides of a divided congregation decide the fate of St. Mary’s Church. Over a year has passed since St. Mary’s Church in Melrose was set on fire. The blaze destroyed the west end of the church and much of the interior. Melrose Police Chief Craig Maus says the arson case is still ongoing. The Diocese of St. Cloud has decided the best course of action is to rebuild the church. A proposal to restore St. Mary’s was sent to the Diocesan Building Commission. They reviewed it for six weeks and replied with a five-page letter stating they would not be able to restore the church and not be able to use the four walls that the church used as their primary worship space. The Parish Council is in the process of working on developing a design for a new church. A group has formed, the Friends to Restore St. Mary’s, to gain more support to save the church. That group decided to take legal action. Their first court date will be Friday, with a mediation date set for December 6th. The group is also hosting an open public meeting tonight at the Melrose American Legion at 7:00pm. Anyone is welcome to come. St. Mary’s Church in Melrose was built in 1898. It was originally the home to St. Boniface Church. In 1958, St. Boniface and St. Patrick parishes merged together to form St. Mary’s.
--Little Falls poet/author Laura Hansen has a new book of poems called Deja Vu and there will be a book launch for it on Sunday from 2-4pm at Great River Arts in Little Falls. Hansen's first book Magic River in 2015 received lots of acclamation and her second book is expected to do the same. That's 2-4pm Sunday at GRA in Little Falls.
--The HomeFront Resource Center, on the campus of the St. Cloud Technical and Community College, announced it has received a grant of $10,000 from the Tee It Up for the Troops foundation in Burnsville. The HomeFront Resource Center provides information, resources, and referrals to veterans, service-members and their families. Additionally, the center hosts an annual Veterans' Award Ceremony to recognize the significant contributions of student-veterans and other veterans from Central Minnesota.
--A 29-year old Brainerd woman was injured in a two vehicle crash at 2:42pm Monday on Highway 25, near the intersection of Highway 18 in Brainerd. The Brainerd Police Department reported a vehicle driven by 56-year old Kathy Roloff of Brainerd was stopped in the center lane of Highway 25 to turn left into a parking lot. A vehicle driven by 29-year old Jessica A. Hardy of Brainerd was southbound on Highway 25, swerved out of traffic and struck Roloff's vehicle. Hardy was taken to Brainerd hospital with non life threatening injuries. Roloff was not taken to a hospital.
--A 61-year old Sebeka man was killed in a crash between semitrailers Monday in Grant County near Detroit Lakes. The crash was reported around 10:25am Monday. Joseph Cecil Hansel of Sebeka was driving a Freightliner semitrailer south on Highway 59, approaching Highway 27. Another semi driven by 63-year old Allen Lee Powell of Missouri was stopped at the semaphore and then proceeded to cross Highway 59. The semi pulled out in front of Hansel, who attempted to brake. Hansel struck the semi's right rear and was killed on impact. He was not wearing a seat belt. Road conditions were dry. Powell was not injured.
--The Nisswa Fire Department responded to a fire call just before 7:00am Friday at Clow Stamping Company in Merrifield. The call came in as a piece of equipment on fire. The building was evacuated and fire crews entered the building with air packs, hand tools and fire extinguishers. Firefighters were able to access the debris burning inside the dust collection system through a few pieces of sheet metal and extinguished the fire. There were no injuries. All of the workers were able to go back to work, except the welding department, where the ventilation system was located. That area needed to be cleaned.
DEATH NOTICES
--Mary L. Dircks, age 73 of Buckman.
WEATHER
TODAY= mostly cloudy, high near 40, mostly cloudy night, low 25.
FRIDAY= clouds early, snow develops after 4pm, high 35.
FRIDAY NIGHT= snow, heavy at times 2-5 inches, low 30.
SATURDAY= snow likely before 10am, then rain/snow mix, high 39.
SAT NITE= rain likely, wet snow after midnight, low 33.
SUNDAY= rain likely during day, high 41, snow and wind late, low 20
SPORTS
WS= The Houston Astros won their first World Series last night beating the Dodgers 5-1 to win the World Series 4 games to 3.
HS FB= Royalton at Esko tonight against Moose Lake Willow River, kickoff around 7pm on Q92 WYRQ and fallsradio.com
HS FB= Holdingford vs. Paynesville Friday 7pm on Q92 WYRQ.
HS FB= Pierz vs. New London Spicer Friday 8pm FM94 KFML.
HS FB= Upsala/Swanville vs. Mayer Lutheran Saturday 1pm FM94.