NEWS
--The Little Falls Community High School 10th Day of Caring registration forms to sign up are available now and calls were recently made to those who had signed up in the past (going back to 2018 and 2019 as there was no Day of Caring last year). If you wish to sign up contact Julie Mushel at the High School 616-2200. The registration sign up is due on April 9th. The Day of Caring is scheduled for May 5th from 9am-12pm this year.
--Superintendent Stephen Jones is asking the community to pull together to keep the students in schools for the last 9 weeks of the school year. With COVID-19 numbers going up, not an alarming rate where school procedures would need to be changed right now, there is still questions if the rest of the school year will continue to be track. Now, activities, boys hockey at state, concerts, prom, Day of Caring, graduation, awards nights, outdoor trips are on for the schools elementary, middle school and high school with all hopes of having summer activities and events too, but that only can happen if the numbers stay down so again Jones knows it is difficult to follow the restrictions and mandates but this is the only way that the students especially the younger students get to keep coming to school and interacting with their teachers and friends one on one. Any questions on the school district please call Jones at 632-2001.
--A garage was destroyed in a fire Sunday morning. Sauk Rapids Fire Department was called out just before 10am to the 3700 block of Shadow Wood Drive in Minden Township. The three stall detached garage was fully engulfed. It was a total loss including everything inside. The house was about 10 feet away and did have some thermal damage on the exterior side facing the garage, but there was no other damage to the house. The cause of the fire is still being investigated.
--On Tuesday, April 6th, Representative Pete Stauber (MN-08) and Representative Michelle Fischbach (MN-07) will host their first joint roundtable on the U.S.-Canada border in International Falls. During the event, they will be joined virtually by Canadian MP Marcus Powlowski to discuss the impact the border closure has taken on the communities they represent. This event will be open to the public. Following the roundtable, Representatives Stauber and Fischbach will take questions from the media.
--Each year, Sourcewell hosts the Regional Spelling Bee. For 2021, the Scripps National Spelling Bee developed a virtual platform for schools and sponsors that allowed bees to be held safely and securely via online tests. Each participant in the regional bee was a finalist in his or her respective district and was given a 24-hour window to complete the 30-minute regional bee exam. It all came down to a tiebreaker. In the end, Menahga sixth grader Greta Alajoki was named champion of the virtual 2021 Regional Spelling Bee, hosted by Sourcewell. Alajoki moves on to compete June 27 in the semifinals, which determines the top students to advance to finals at the July 2021 Scripps National Spelling Bee in Orlando. The finals will be broadcast live on ESPN2 platforms July 8, 2021. Congratulations to all regional spelling bee participants that included from Little Falls Beverly Rentz, Myla Ballou, Ben Henry and Mariesa Schutz. From Pillager Hunter Woidyla and Violette Metz. From Pierz Kate Hoheisel and Alex Rybaski. Also William Rausch of Royalton, Arabella Moore of Staples-Motley and Emma Kurowski from Swanville. All students were between the grades of 5th to 8th grade to compete in the Spelling Bee.
--As weather permits, maintenance employees will be working on blading gravel roads. Maintenance crews will continue crack sealing this week on CSAH 35 south of Little Falls and on CSAH 26 west of Morrill. Flaggers will be controlling traffic as one lane will be closed. Crews will be patching potholes in various parts of the county.
Please use caution around work crews and flashing lights.
--On March 25th at 11:17am, the Hubbard County Sheriff’s Office received a report of approximately 30 pipeline protesters standing on the side of US Hwy 71 at an Enbridge pipeline crossing in Lake Alice Township. When officers arrived, they found numerous vehicles parked along the highway, a crowd of protesters standing on the edge of the roadway, and approximately 20-protesters on private property within the pipeline easement. As other officers arrived on the scene, a dispersal order was given to those on the highway and also to those trespassing on private property. Some individuals complied with the order as they moved their vehicles and left the area. Those that remained on the private property were locked together in a circle and were surrounding other protesters who also refused to leave the area. Officers from Hubbard and Beltrami Counties removed the individuals from the lock down apparatuses and placed the individuals under arrest. 26-people were arrested on the following charges of unlawful assembly, trespassing and obstructing the legal process. The 26 people were from 14 different states including 7 protestors from Minnesota.
--The next food distribution event will be Thursday from 3:30-5:30pm at the Holy Family Catholic Church/Belle Prairie north of Little Falls on Riverwood Drive. You will enter from the south of the church for the free event and no food will be distributed before 3:30pm Thursday. All are welcome to the event which is contactless by the volunteers.
DEATH NOTICES
--Lola Bertha Retka, age 95 of Little Falls.
WEATHER
TODAY= partly cloudy, very windy and colder, high 34.
TONIGHT= clearing skies, windy, low around 17.
WEDNESDAY= mostly sunny, chilly, still breezy, high 34, low 22.
THURSDAY= sunny and warmer, not as windy, high 48.
SPORTS
HS BHK= The State Boys Hockey Tournament begins today with the four quarter-final games at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul. Little Falls will take on Delano in the fourth of those games tonight. The game is scheduled for 8pm live on Q92 WYRQ and streamed online by going to fallsradio.com. A win and they would play on Friday.
NCAA= for the first time there are 3 Minnesota teams in the NCAA Frozen Four. Massachusetts eliminated Bemidji State-who knocked off Wisconsin to advance. St. Cloud State eliminated Boston University and Boston College to advance. Mankato ousted Quinnipiac in overtime then surprised the top seeded Minnesota Gophers to move on to the Frozen Four for first time in team history. The University of Minnesota Duluth defeated North Dakota in 5 overtimes to move on to the Frozen Four. Thursday, April 8th in Pittsburgh it will be St. Cloud vs. Mankato and Duluth vs. U-Mass with the winners playing on Saturday, April 10th for championship.
TWINS= Twins open the regular season at Milwaukee on Thursday afternoon at 1:10pm. Pregame at 12:30pm on Q92 WYRQ.