NEWS
--At 7:51pm on Saturday the Little Falls Fire Department was dispatched to Mala Mills at 1100 4th Street NW on a fire alarm. Upon arrival firefighters found that there was fire in a pile of wood chips inside the building along with light smoke throughout the warehouse area. The fire was being controlled by the sprinkler system. Staff assisted by moving the pile of wood chips so firefighters could extinguish any hot spots. The fire is believed to have started due to a mechanical issue with an auger system that moved the wood chips. There was minor damage to the ceiling above where the fire originated. Camp Ripley Fire assisted the Little Falls Fire Department. Authorities were on scene for around 2 hours. No reported injuries.
--An 18-year-old was injured Sunday at 4:20pm on Highway 71 near Long Prairie in Todd County. Justice Boltjes of Brainerd was traveling on 71 approching Lake Charlotte when the vehicle lost control on an icy patch of highway and veered into the northbound lane and struck a semi-truck driven by 64-year-old Allen Bruder of Long Prairie. Bruder was not hurt. Boltjes was taken to the Long Prairie Hospital with what the State Patrol reported as non-life threatening injuries.
--Authorities say snowy, icy roads caused a multi-vehicle crash in Richmond. The crash happened Monday around 9:30am on Highway 23 near milepost 186. The Minnesota State Patrol says 73-year-old Wayne Sieben of Paynesville was westbound on Highway 23 when he lost control of his pickup on an icy bridge deck and slid into an SUV driven by 28-year-old Claire Swerine of Richmond. Sieben’s pickup then spun out and hit an SUV driven by 38-year-old Randi Schreifels of Cold Spring. Schreifels was taken to St. Cloud Hospital with injuries not considered to be life-threatening. Sieben and Swerine, along with Swerine's six-year-old passenger, received minor injuries in the accident and were not needing to be taken to a hospital.
--Back on Saturday just before 5pm the Stearns County Sheriff’s Office received the report of a side-by-side ATV that had fallen through the ice on the north end of Two Rivers Lake in Holding Township. 42-year old Cory Hanson and 44-year old Lori Hanson both of Avon, had been operating their 2017 Polaris Ranger side by side ATV on the far north end of the lake. While in this area they broke through a section of thin ice. Both were able to escape the sinking ATV and make it safely out of the water to a nearby icehouse. The ATV is submerged in what is believed to be approximately 27 feet of water. The area had recently had open water and not long ago frozen over due to waterfowl in the area. Hanson has made arrangements with a private tow service to have the ATV removed from the lake. The Stearns County Sheriff’s Office would like to remind everyone to be cautions on lake ice and to be sure of ice thickness in areas that they may be traveling on. Several lakes in the area, Two Rivers, Big Fish and Middle Spunk, to name several, have had recent waterfowl activity that would potentially cause areas of thin ice.
--On Christmas Night at 9:39pm Stearns County Sheriff’s deputies responded to 24634 County Road 17 in Krain Township for a building fire. A shed on the south side of the property was on fire. The Freeport Fire Department responded to the call and extinguished the fire. The eastern portion of the 30 X 60 shed was heavily damaged. Inside the shed was a wood furnace that heated the residence. It is believed the fire was ignited by or near the wood furnace. A 1980’s John Deere Tractor and miscellaneous tools were inside the shed and damaged. The property is owned by Leo and Bernadine Ettle.
--COVID 19 numbers in Morrison County keep dropping according to the county website with only 103 active cases on Monday's report. Little Falls zip code down to 40 cases, 20 cases in Pierz, Royalton 11, Swanville was at 8 cases Monday, no others over 5 cases each. State website reported only 1,087 new cases and 13 new deaths linked to the virus on Monday's report. There were 5 new cases in Morrison County on Department of Health report on Monday.
--33-year old Dallas Mark Schulke of Sebeka, has been charged with a felony count of possession of a fifth-degree controlled substance; methamphetamine. According to the complaint, a deputy with the Morrison County Sheriff’s Office allegedly received a report on October 26th about a suspicious vehicle driving into a property located on 330th Street in Morrison County. The property owner allegedly reported there was an unknown vehicle at that location with two people in it, and that they allegedly did not have permission to be there. The deputy drove to the scene and located a vehicle driving down the driveway of the property. He stopped the suspect vehicle and identified the driver as Schulke, who had a warrant out for his arrest and was taken into custody. During the arrest, Schulke was searched. The deputy located a small leather bag in Schulke’s pocket that contained drug paraphernalia and a small amount of methamphetamine, weighing in at .63 grams with packaging. A large amount of marijuana was also located in the vehicle, but both Schulke and the passenger denied that it belonged to them. If convicted, Schulke faces 5 years prison and/or $10,000 in fines.
NATIONAL NEWS
--President Donald Trump signed a $900 billion pandemic relief package Sunday which will deliver cash to businesses and individuals and avert a federal government shutdown. The massive bill includes $1.4 trillion to fund government agencies through September and contains other end-of-session priorities such as an increase in food stamp benefits. The President still feels $600 checks was too low.
BIRTH ANNOUNCEMENT
--Lucas and Molly Anderson of Rice, a baby boy born December 22nd.
DEATH NOTICES
--Karen Kuklok, age 77 of Royalton.
--Mark Hengemuhle, age 68 of Little Falls.
WEATHER
WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY 9AM TODAY TO 3AM WED.
TODAY= increasing clouds, snow showers 1-2 inches, high 21.
TONIGHT= snow likely, 1-3 inches by early morning, low 16.
WEDNESDAY= becoming sunny in afternoon, high 18, low near 0.
THURSDAY= sunny skies, high 21, low around 5 above.
NEW YEARS DAY= partly cloudy skies, high 25, low around 10
SPORTS
COL BB= Gophers beat up Michigan State last night 81-56 to improve to 9-1. The Gophers were put in the Top 25 yesterday for the first time since 2017 at #21. Gophers have #6 Wisconsin Thursday. The next 5 games for the Gophers are all against teams also in the Top 25 including Ohio State and Michigan.
MDH= The Minnesota Department of Health announced guidelines for winter sports, listen to LF Radio for details, full list will be on tomorrow's newletter at area businesses to read.