NEWS
--Six people were arrested for outstanding warrants after three units from the St. Cloud Police Department raided a home on the northeast side of the city on Tuesday. A press release says members of the Community Response Team, SWAT, and Violent Offender Task Force were investigating potential drug sales at a home in the 400 block of 6th Street. Fifteen people were detained, with six people eventually brought in due to existing warrants. Alrondin Armel McMorris, 28, is accused of possession of drugs and recklessly firing a gun in Benton and Stearns Counties. Amy Lynn Heller, 30, is wanted after failing to appear in Stearns County court related to a drug charge. Christina Nicole Roketa, 40, was sought for a gross misdemeanor for possession of drugs in Stearns County. Hassan Ayan Mohamed, 28, has been charged with felony theft in Hennepin County. Victor Joseph Mertz, 22, has an outstanding charge for felony theft in Scott County. Wendell Lorin Springfield, 33, failed to appear in Stearns County court related to violating a domestic abuse no-contact order and vehicle theft. Officials say that everyone arrested was taken to the Benton County Jail. The knock-and-announce warrant was served just after 1:30pm Tuesday afternoon for the arrests.
--Law enforcement is warning the public about a cell phone update that’s causing concern for parents. Apple recently launched its iOS 17 operating system, and the revision includes a feature from the company NameDrop that allows phones to exchange contact information by getting just a few inches apart. Apple says both sides must agree to the transfer. The download’s default setting turns the feature on automatically for people in the phone’s contact list. Benton County Sheriff Troy Heck advises parents to change that. “I would go in and I would turn off this feature, just to be on the safe side. We all know that sometimes electronics do strange things, and I would be most comfortable as a parent, making sure I had as many roadblocks in the way of some stranger obtaining the phone number and name of my child.” Heck says something like this has the potential to be abused. “There are a lot of strange people out there that might take advantage of this technology. And it’s always good to be prepared and to have safeguards around your kids.” To disable the feature, go to the iPhone’s settings, then to general, AirDrop, bringing devices together, and change it to off.
--Crane Meadows National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) and the Friends of Crane Meadows invite residents to build a bird feeder to take home with them. All are invited to the Backyard Bird Feeder Event this Saturday from 9a-noon. All materials and instructions to build the bird feeders are provided for free, though participants can make a donation to the Friends of Crane Meadows to continue to support this type of programming. The Backyard Bird Feeder event is held at the Sedge Meadow Classroom at Crane Meadows NWR, located at 19502 Iris Road in Little Falls. Due to a limited number of kits, there will be a limit of one fly-through bird feeder per family. Additional suet feeders will be available for purchase from the Friends of Crane Meadows. For more information, visit the refuge website at fws.gov/refuge/crane-meadows, call the refuge at (320) 632-1575 or inquire by email to cranemeadows@fws.gov.
--A reminder that the Christmas Tours continue through Sunday at Linden Hill, Fishing Museum and Rosenmeier House each day through Sunday and the Lindbergh House and Museum Friday-Sunday only. Get the details at fallsradio.com on the community calendar.
--Frosty roadways led to a number of spin outs and crashes on Wednesday morning. A deadly crash had closed the northbound lanes of Highway 169 near Elk River. The Minnesota Department of Transportation says Northbound Highway 169 at Sherburne County Road 74 between 237th Avenue Northwest and 239th Avenue Northwest, about one mile north of Elk River was closed for many hours on Wednesday morning. At least one person was killed. The State Patrol reported vehicles off of roadways in parts of the state due to slippery conditions along with slippery sidewalks causing some falls out there yesterday morning.
--Yesterday on KLTF Party Line Father Jimmy Joseph and Jeff Czech spoke on St. Edwards Catholic Church in Elmdale. Back on July 18th a fire significantly damaged the sanctuary and the sacristy destroyed many items. The repairs have been going on for months and since then the ceiling, floors, alters, statues and other items continue or have been restored. Father Jimmy said that painting is being done on all the 39 statues right now in the Twin Cities by one painter. Insurance costs are high to replace some items for the church and that is why the St. Gregory the Great Knights of Columbus #12604 will have a fundraiser spaghetti dinner 4-7:30pm on Friday night to help the restoration costs at St. Edwards. The meal is a free will offering and will be held at St. Mary's in Upsala. All are invited to come and help in getting the church back on its feet. Father Jimmy could not give a definite time-line on when the church will reopen for parishioners to come and enjoy Mass again. They hope with the work and prayers sometime around the Lenten season but not set in stone. If you cannot attend the event and wish to donate to the cause you can go to 238catholic@sytek.com or call 320-573-2132.
--The Little Falls Area Chamber of Commerce is now accepting nominations for 2023 Small and Large Business of the Year and Volunteer of the Year. Deadline to submit nominations will be at the end of the year on December 31st. Award announcement will be made at the Annual Meeting scheduled for later next year. You can fill out the nomination form online at the chamber website or contact the chamber at 320-632-5155. There is a link to the form on the Little Falls Radio Facebook page.
DEATH NOTICES
--Marlene B. Knopik, age 87 of Sullivan Lake.
--William “Bill” Morse, Jr., age 83 of Little Falls.
WEATHER
TODAY= partly cloudy skies, breezy, high 34.
TONIGHT= clear skies, cooler, night, low 14.
FRIDAY= sunny skies, high near 30, clouds increase, low 20.
SATURDAY= flurries at times, cloudy, high 34, low 23.
SUNDAY= light snow at times, cloudy, high 36, low near 17.
SPORTS
HS BBB= Holdingford at Pierz tonight at 7:15pm on 94ROCKS.
TODAY IN HISTORY
IN 1940= Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball are married, the marriage would last until the I Love Lucy show ended after the 1956 season.
IN 1971= “Brian's Song” aired for the first time on ABC TV.
IN 1993= NFL announced Carolina and Jacksonville get NFL teams.