NEWS
--Strong storms moved through central Minnesota Wednesday morning between 12-4am. Dropping 1-3 inch rain totals. Some heavier hit areas were west of Little Falls, reports of trees down near Swanville, a turkey barn roof was taken off near Flensburg, Pillsbury near the Todd/Morrison County line reported power out and trees down. In Little Falls some small branches were knocked down and trash bins toppled over. In Pierz, there were reports of trees down from the high winds. Little Falls Radio received one and a half inches while some areas had close to 3 inches of rain. Severe storms rocked portions of Stearns County also with winds in excess of 70 miles an hour knocking out outbuildings, ripping up corn fields from Brooten, St. Rosa and Holdingford. There were reports of damage across Melrose with structures like water towers, silos and outdoor buildings destroyed completely from the strong winds. Crow Wing County also reported hundreds of power outages from the storms that brought very large hail, heavy rain and gusty winds yesterday morning which also caused trees to fall on homes. Another round of strong storms are possible Friday and Saturday.
--The Little Falls Community High School has announced their 2017 Homecoming Court and Class Representatives. Finalists for Homecoming Queen are Erika Bassett, Alexandra Becker, Aria Kapsner, Rachel Loukinen and Maria Moe. Finalists for homecoming King are Sam Himley, Austin Norton, Aaron Sanoski, Mitchell Schirmers and Logan Schuett. Class reprensetatives for the 2017 homecoming court include Freshmen Mariah Stoner and Dane Couture; Sophomores Camilla Johnson and Cormac Shanoff; Juniors Kailey Ginter and Josh Jennings. Homecoming Coronation is Monday, October 2nd at 7:00pm and a Homecoming Parade on October 6th at 2:00pm. Little Falls hosts Foley on October 6th in their homecoming game. Listen to Flyer Football all season on AM960 KLTF.
--Crews have been working to reinforce the hydro dam in Brainerd near the former Potlatch site. This past week, concrete overlay over the existing tainter gate spillway began. Jackhammers have been clearing debris and there is a large piece of equipment working the gate spillway to make more efficient. The project will continue through the fall. Hopes are for it to be completed by November before the first major snow storm of the season.
--A 78-year old woman was injured in single vehicle crash on Crow Wing County Road 103 in Cross Lake. Carol Repp of Pequot Lakes was injured around 7:00pm Sunday and taken to the hospital with apparent minor injuries in the accident.
--A Cold Spring man was hurt in a one vehicle crash. The Stearns County Sheriff’s Office says it happened just before 8pm Tuesday on County Road 8 near Rockville. Responders found an SUV in the ditch. The driver was found conscious and did not appear to be wearing a seat belt. He was identified as 54-year-old Peter Taft of Cold Spring. He was taken to St. Cloud Hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
--Swanville High School has chosen its homecoming queen and king candidates. The queen and king will be crowned Sunday at 7pm in the auditorium. There will be a homecoming volleyball game Thursday, versus Upsala and the football game Friday, versus Browerville/Eagle Valley. The candidates include are Brooklyn Thieschafer, Lawrence Mettler, Rebecca Taylor, Simon Bryce, Crystal Kaun and Peyton Jackson.
--Today on the AM960 KLTF Up Front program, Pete Stauber will be the guest. Stauber is running as a GOP candidate for the 8th Congressional District currently held by Congressman Rick Nolan.
--Police are searching for information about a shooting that left a St. Cloud teenager hurt. St. Cloud Police were called to an alley in the 300 block of 8th Avenue North just after 11:00pm Tuesday to a report of gunshots. When authorities arrived they found no suspects or damage from the shooting. Police were called to St. Cloud Hospital Emergency Room after reports of an 18-year old girl with injuries resulting from a gunshot. The teenager told police the injuries were a result of being hit by a bullet that came through the rear door of the car she was in. The injuries were non life threatening. Police inspected the car and found a bullet hole in it. Police say the teenager and the person who brought her to the hospital were not very cooperative, but they were able to determine the teenager was shot during the incident earlier in the night on 8th Avenue. The investigation is ongoing. Police do not believe this is random.
--More than 100 snowplow operators from the Minnesota Department of Transportation and the city of Minneapolis are training during the next two weeks at Camp Ripley to learn how to safely and effectively plow snow. MnDOT’s snowplow operator training program, known as SPOT, is a two-week session that highlights a variety of safety measures, plowing techniques and best practices. The session provides trainees with updates on new equipment and policies and procedures related to winter highway maintenance operations. As part of SPOT, MnDOT maintenance supervisors and other staff provide classroom and hands-on training and share their experience and insights with the trainees. MnDOT has trained more than 1,700 snowplow operators since the training began in 2004. MnDOT will conduct a second SPOT session in the second half of October, where an additional 105 MnDOT snowplow operators will be trained.
--Pillager announced their homecoming royalty. Noah Caruso was named Homecoming King. They also announce a prince who is Camdan Balk. Their Queen is Hailea Books while Princess is Alaina Bouc. The others in the royalty party are Joshua Doss, Colton Hardy, Levi Nagel, Gillian Kuehl, Olivia Stanifer and Brenna Bollig. Pillager plays United North Central (Sebeka/Menagha) this Friday in football for the homecoming game.
--Essentia Health is hosting an open house today from 4-6pm to tour their new facility off of Highway 25 in Pierz. Live music, food catered in, kids games and more today at the new clinic in Pierz. All welcome.
--Highland Senior Living in Little Falls is having their 7th anniversary party today from 4:30-6:30pm. Food, music and more, all welcome.
WEATHER
TODAY= sunny start, increasing clouds, warmer, high near 80.
TONIGHT= storms after midnight, some heavy, low 68.
FRIDAY= storms early, hot and humid, high 89, more storms late
SATURDAY= storms likely, some severe, high 75, low 66.
SUNDAY= steady rains likely, cooler and windy, high 66, low 55.
SPORTS
TWINS= a 6 run 4th inning capped off an 11-3 win for the Yankees as they sweep the Twins in New York this week. The Twins (78-74) are at Detroit tonight 5:30pm pregame on Q92 WYRQ.
NFL= Rams at San Francisco tonight 7pm on KLTF.