NEWS --Morrison County Authorities arrested multiple people in connection with shots being fired at a home near Swanville. Morrison County Sheriff Shawn Larsen says they were called Friday to a report of shots fired at a home in Swanville Township. No one inside the home was injured and deputies saw that shots had broken the windows of the residence. When they arrived authorities talked to witnesses that said they saw a car fleeing the scene with four people in it. Deputies found one suspect in Flensburg and found the suspects car at another home in Browerville in Todd County. Police used a search warrant at the home and arrested three people in the home in connection with the shooting and two more on drug charges. Arrested were 36-year old Shawn Steffansen from Taylor, 49-year old Anthony Pistachio from Iona and 30-year old Ashley Richardson from Iona. All are awaiting charges from the earlier shooting. Todd County Sheriff's also arrested 36-year old William Giroux from St. Cloud and 27-year old Kayla Pistachio-Fuller from Iona on controlled substance crimes. All were awaiting their first court appearances coming today.
--The Little Falls Area Chamber of Commerce has named their January Employee of the Month as Julie Kapsch. Kapsch is has been the Assistant Director for the past 12 years of Hands of Hope Resource Center. As the employee of the month Julie receives a number of gifts from chamber businesses. Congratulation to the January employee of the month, Julie Kapsch.
--Crow Wing County Sheriff Office has arrested a Pine River man on mail theft charges. 32-year old Owen Colby Swenson was arrested on Christmas Eve and charged with 14 counts of mail theft, along with a probation violation. Swenson’s arrest stems from an investigation that started on Christmas Eve around 4:40pm when the Crow Wing County Sheriff’s Office received a notice of a residential alarm at a house located on the 8000 block of Big Whitefish Narrows, in Ideal Township. Deputies arrived at the house and found that the door to the residence had been forced open and appeared to have been burglarized. While officers were investigating this burglary, a Cross Lake Officer reported that he was out with a vehicle on CR #1 and had identified the driver as Owen Swenson. Upon further investigation, a large amount of mail was found inside of Swenson’s vehicle. The mail was addressed to several different people in the area. Deputies believed that Swenson had stolen mail out of numerous mailboxes along with stealing packages that had been delivered to residences. Swenson was arrested and brought to the Crow Wing County Jail. Investigators believe that Swenson had stolen mail from mailboxes in the Kego Lake Road area along with residences in the CR #134 area and other side roads. They have been contacting homeowners to check their residences. Sheriff Dahl is asking people living in this area that if they believe they are missing packages that had been mailed and never received to contact his office at (218) 829-4749.
--Two people were hurt Friday night in a collision in Benton County. Around 9:30pm, 37-year old Ismail Adan of St. Cloud was crossing Highway 23 at 14th Avenue and collided with 17-year old Breanna Jenson of Princeton, who reportedly ran a red light. Both drivers sustained non life threatening injuries.
--Today on Community Events, details on fundraiser-world record attempt of Ice Carousel this Saturday, today at 8:45am on KLTF.
--Due to Monday's New Years holiday, the Little Falls City Council will meet tonight at 7:30pm at City Hall with a work session at 7pm.
--Camp Ripley sent out their year in review. This past year has seen a great deal of leadership changes at command. The Command team operating on Camp Ripley changed hands with the retirement of Col. Scott St. Sauver in September. Colonel Brian Melton assumed the role as Garrison Commander and the installation welcomed Brigadier General Lowell Kruse as the Senior Commander on Camp Ripley and Assistant Adjutant General – Army for the Minnesota National Guard. Also Major General Rick Nash finalized his career later in 2017 as he turned the command of the Minnesota National Guard over to Major General Jon Jensen, former Commander of the 34th Infantry Division. The installation hosted a regional, multi-branch Combat Support Training Exercise (CSTX) all while supporting the logistical movement for elements of the 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 34th Infantry Division as they took part in several exercises in Europe. Camp Ripley had over 349,000 DoD and 61,500 civilian man days of training on the installation. The increase in man hours is attributed to out of state organizations, law enforcement agencies and state partners utilizing the resources of the 53,000 acre state-owned regional training facility to complete their annual training tasks. The Minnesota National Guard environmental program on Camp Ripley also contributed to the overall strength of the installation. The team earned a prestigious award from the Army and Chief of the National Guard Bureau for their work with the Sentinel Landscape and environmental stewardship on Camp Ripley. The completion of our Center Range facility will provide combat vehicle crews a wider variety of training opportunities as the complex battlefield changes.
--Today, Senator Al Franken is expected to leave his Senate post after announcing he was resigning last month from a number of allegations of sexual misconduct against him. Minnesota Lieutenant Governor Tina Smith is expected to take the oath in the Senate on Wednesday in Washington DC. She was appointed by Governor Mark Dayton to replace Senator Franken until a special election later this November. The winner of the election will then finish Franken's term which was not originally up for reelection until 2020.
DEATH NOTICES --Henry “Hank” Kostreba, age 83 of Opole. --Sandra Ginter, age 62 of Little Falls. --Robert “Bob” Louis Forsyth, age 94 of St. Cloud formerly Elrosa. --James “Jim” Karnowski, age 87 of Little Falls.
WEATHER TODAY= becoming cloudy, snow in PM hours, high 12, low -6. WEDNESDAY= sunny and cold, high near 2, low around -15. THURSDAY= partly sunny and cold, high 3 above, low around -14.
SPORTS NFL= Vikings hold off Chicago 23-10 Sunday to clinch a first round bye in the NFL playoffs that start Saturday. The Vikings will host a divisional playoff game January 14th at 3:40pm. Playoff teams in the NFC are Philadelphia, Minnesota, Los Angeles Rams, New Orleans, Carolina and Atlanta. The AFC teams are New England, Pittsburgh, Jacksonville, Kansas City, Tennessee and Buffalo. HS GBB= Pine City at Pierz tonight 7:30pm on FM94 KFML.