NEWS --41-year-old Matt Varilek officially takes over today as the new President of the Initiative Foundation based in Little Falls. Varilek was the outgoing chief operating officer for the U.S. Small Business Administration in Washington DC. Varilek takes over the post vacated by Kathy Gaalswyk who was the foundations first and only President until today who took over some 30 years ago when the foundation was formed. Varilek said his hope is to continue the successes that Gaalswyk and the Foundation have established and keep it going.
--January 1st means some changes in Minnesota and some new laws. On January 1st Minnesota officially changed from a caucus state to a primary state. This means voting will take place all day at the same polling places used for general elections. In doing so, Minnesota will join the majority of states who use primaries. It should also see an increase in voter participation. Other New Year law changes affect companies providing life insurance and worker compensation insurance for Minnesotans. Finally, Minnesota will become the first state to ban Triclosan from most consumer products. Triclosan has been a common ingredient in hand soaps. Its use became suspect after sediment borings in several Minnesota bodies of water turned up Triclosan. The federal government followed with a ban of its own, set to take effect in September of 2017.
--A Princeton man was charged with stealing a car that had five children in it and then leading police on a high speed chase. According to the criminal complaint 28-year old Samuel Adam McFarlane allegedly got into a car that was idling at a Minneapolis gas station on December 24th. Inside the car were five children ranging in ages from 1 to 13. Three adult women were with the children, but went into the gas station. A short time later two of the children ran in to tell them that the car had been stolen. The 13-year-old told police that a man got into the car and the children tried to lock the door and grab the keys. The girl said McFarlane pointed a gun at her and the children in the back seat. Two children were able to get out of the car immediately. The others got out about a block away from the gas station. In the complaint, the girl says when they were getting out of the car one of the girls fell and hit her head and the car ran over her leg. The Minnesota State Patrol found McFarlane driving erratically in Maple Grove. When he fled he hit several police cars and led the police to Rogers. He was caught after hitting several police cars, a building and driving at speeds in excess of 100 miles per hour. The gun was not found. McFarlane told police that he was downtown looking for heroin when he thought someone had stolen his cell phone and got into the idling car.
--Flooding believed to have been caused by frozen water pipes caused an estimated $400,000 in damage to a St. Cloud property Wednesday afternoon. Around 4:45pm, the fire department responded to an alarm heard from outside 1025 18th Street North. Upon arrival, crews discovered broken sprinkler pipes, which caused damage to the ceiling and floors. It is unknown how long the sprinkler system was flowing water into the building before fire crews arrived. The building, which was formerly home to STRIDE Academy, is owned by Henkemeyer Properties LLC will be fine after some minor construction. The building was "unoccupied" at the time of the incident on Wednesday afternoon and there were no injuries.
--A number of students from Upsala will be heading to Washington DC later this month to attend the 2017 Presidential Inauguration. From the 16th through the 21st they will be in DC attending a number of inauguration ceremonies including the official Oath of Office by President-Elect Donald J. Trump. They will also take in a wreath laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, a tour of Ford's Theatre, visiting national monuments, memorials, the Pentagon and the U.S. Capitol. The seventeen students and nine chaperones will be led by Upsala High School teacher Roxann Lewis.
--The Little Falls Area Chamber of Commerce January employee of the month is Sharon Dobis. Sharon has been a Secretary II at Rural MN CEP for the past 17 years. Congratulations to Sharon Dobis.
--Crow Wing County is asking for information after an estimated $10,000 in damages were done in the Garrison Concourse off of Highway 169 last Friday into Saturday. It was reported a truck went off the highway, crashed through the decorations and believed to have also struck the large walleye statue then went back onto the highway. Authorities are looking for a Ford truck with heavy damage to its passenger side and bumper. Any info please call 218-829-4749.
--The City of St. Cloud is announcing a deadline extension of a road closure along 6th Avenue North. The avenue has been closed since November 7th, between St. Germain Street West and 1st Street North. Originally, construction was supposed to last until December 9th. Now, the deadline is extended through May 13th. Detours will be posted.
--The Little Falls City Council meets tonight 7:30 at City Hall. The meeting will feature a number of organizational items for the new year. The meeting is tonight as city offices were closed Monday. Also the Morrison County Commissioners who met last Friday to finish the year will meet this morning at 9am at the government center boardroom to establish first of the year items for the county board.
ENTERTAINMENT NEWS --Actor William Christopher died Saturday at age 84. Christopher appeared on over 30 TV shows but is best remembered as Father Mulcahy on the TV's M.A.S.H from 1972-1983.
DEATH NOTICES --Marvin Albert Sowada, age 76 of Rice. --LaVina Langer, age 97 of Pierz.
WEATHER TODAY= falling temps, cloudy and windy, temp near 0 by 5pm. TONIGHT= partly cloudy, windy and cold, low -12, wind chills -30. WEDNESDAY= sunny and cold, high -1, low -15, cold wind chills. THURSDAY= sunny and cold, high 0, low around -10, less wind.
SPORTS NFL= Sam Bradford tossed 3 touchdowns as the Vikings rout the Bears Sunday 38-10 to finish the 2016 season at 8-8. Green Bay held off Detroit 31-24 Sunday to win NFC North Division. NFL= Wildcard round for playoffs begin Saturday with Oakland at Houston at 3:30pm Detroit at Seattle 7:15pm, Sunday it is Miami at Pittsburgh at 12pm and NY Giants at Green Bay at 3:30 all on KLTF. Dallas, New England, Kansas City and Atlanta got first round byes. COL FB= Alabama vs. Clemson in National Title game next Monday. HS BHK= Fergus Falls at Little Falls tonight 7:15pm on Q92 WYRQ