NEWS
--Morrison County Public Works announced that maintenance employees will be conducting the following activities this week weather permitting: Culvert Work on County Road 275 (273 rd St) There will be daily closures for culvert replacements. Painting Stop Ahead symbols on various roads around the county. Patching roads in the county on various roads, Please use caution and slow down around work crews and flashing lights. Construction Update: CR 234/North Hawthorne continue closure for road reconstruction, CSAH 26 East of Royalton continued closure for box culvert installation, CSAH 1 North of Randall open to traffic, but expect delays for construction traffic, CSAH 47 East of TH 25 continued closure for box culvert installation, CSAH 6 closed at CSAH 12 for bridge construction, Construction traffic on CR 253 expect delays along with 4th Street/CR 257 continued closure for road reconstruction. Motorists are reminded to use caution in construction zones and obey construction signing and flaggers.
--A 68-year-old from Kensett, Iowa was injured around 12:10 Sunday afternoon in a one-vehicle accident in Bellevue Township of Morrison County. Gary Taylor was westbound on Highway 10 at 73rd Street North of Royalton when his Ford drove down into the median and made contact with the road crossover on 73rd ST. The Ford then collided a second time with the nearby ditch embankment before coming to rest on it's wheels facing Northeast. Taylor was taken to the hospital in Little Falls with non life threatening injuries.
--A 26-year-old from Fargo was injured in a one-vehicle accident Saturday night around 10:55pm on Highway 34 in Otter Tail County. Ericca Jacomet left the roadway and struck the ditch rolling her vehicle onto its side. She was treated for injuries at area hospital.
--A Mora woman was seriously injured in a motorcycle accident early Saturday morning around 2:50am on Highway 47 of Mille Lacs County. A motorcycle was traveling northbound on highway 47 when the cycle collided with a deer. The driver 35-year-old Jeffrey Reynolds of Ogilvie had serious but non life threatening injuries and his passenger 38-year-old Tricia Wachsmuth of Mora sustained serious life threatening injuries in the accident. Both were taken to North Memorial Medical Center in the Twins Cities area.
--A solar storm forecast for Thursday is expected to give skygazers in 17 American states a chance to glimpse the Northern Lights, the colorful sky show that happens when solar wind hits the atmosphere.
Northern Lights, also known as aurora borealis. The Geophysical Institute at the University of Alaska at Fairbanks has forecast auroral activity on Thursday in Alaska, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, New York, New Hampshire, Vermont, Indiana, Maine and Maryland. Auroral activity also has been forecast for Canada, including Vancouver. Light displays are expected to be visible overhead in Milwaukee, Minneapolis and Helena, Montana, and low on the horizon in Salem, Oregon.; Boise, Idaho; Cheyenne, Wyoming; Annapolis, Maryland; and Indianapolis, according to the institute. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Space Weather Prediction Center said people wanting to experience an aurora should get away from city lights and that the best viewing times are between 10pm until 2am local time. Northern Lights occur when a magnetic solar wind slams into the Earth’s magnetic field and causes atoms in the upper atmosphere to glow.
--On Thursday, July 6, 2023, at approximately 9:23pm officers from the Little Falls Police Department and Morrison County Sheriff’s Office responded to a report of an unresponsive child at a residence in the 400 block of 3rd St NE in Little Falls. Upon arrival, officers found a 1-year-old child who was not breathing and had no pulse. Officers performed CPR until paramedics arrived and transported the child to St. Gabriel’s Hospital in Little Falls, where the child was pronounced dead. The Little Falls Police Department and Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) is conducting a thorough and comprehensive investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death of the child. The cause and manner of death are pending an autopsy by the Midwest Medical Examiner's Office.
--Charges have been dismissed against a Waite Park man who was accused of raping a woman after she tried to return a necklace he had given her. Thirty-two-year-old Abdulkhadir Ali Mohamed was charged with 1st-degree criminal sexual conduct. Court records do not indicate a reason behind the dismissal. The criminal complaint alleged that Mohamed met the woman at a park and convinced her to get into the front seat of his car. The charges accused Mohamed of forcing the woman into the back seat and assaulting her. Records showed a sexual assault examination at the hospital confirmed injuries as a result of the assault.
--Two children were injured in a weekend crash on Watab Lake in St. Wendel Township. The Stearns County Sheriff's Office received a report of a watercraft crash Saturday at 4:42 pm. Officials say 42-year-old Ryan Willis of St. Joseph was driving a jetski and towing a tube. The jet ski was operating too close to the shore, and the tube hit a dock. The two children were injured in the crash. One was sent to St. Cloud Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries while the other was flown to Children's Hospital with serious injuries. The crash remains under investigation, and alcohol is believed to be a factor.
--The Pierz Police Department and the Morrison County Sheriff's Office are reminding motorists of delays and heavier traffic flow this Saturday for the 10th Pierz Freedom Fest at the Genola Ballfields south of Pierz. The gates open at 3pm so traffic too and from the field on Highway 25 will be congested as many come too and from on 25 along with buses bringing in the crowds from around the area. Expect slow downs and delays as you travel south on 25 Saturday.
DEATH NOTICES
--Rose Janorschke, age 98 of Buckman.
WEATHER
TODAY= partly to mostly cloudy skies, cooler, high 72.
TONIGHT= cloudy night, showers overnight, low 54.
WEDNESDAY= possible showers, cloudy, breezy, high 76, low 50.
THURSDAY= sunny and warmer, high 80, storms overnight possible.
SPORTS
ALL STAR= The Major League Baseball All Star Game is tonight in Seattle with coverage beginning at 6pm on FOX. Twins have two pitchers Sonny Gray and Pablo Lopez on the AL Team tonight. Last night Vladimir Guerrero Junior from Toronto Blue Jays won the 2023 Home Run Derby hitting 72 dingers last night in the win.
TWINS= The Twins will return to action on Friday when they travel to Oakland after the All Star Break, 8pm on Friday night on Q92.