NEWS
--Today is Election Day. Polls open around the state and locally at 7am and remain open until 8pm tonight. This year in Minnesota you vote for Governor, U.S. House of Representative in all 8 District and again some districts including Morrison County changed recently for the election as Morrison County is District 7 now instead of District 8. You will vote for State Representative and again with redistricting there are three house seats in Morrison County which are District 10A for Little Falls and areas north and east. District 10B is the southern half of Morrison County and the city of Pierz and District 5B is the northwestern part of Morrison County northwest of Randall including the areas of Cushing, Lincoln and Motley. State Senate seats are also up for election and Morrison County is now District 10. Local races including County Sheriff, Auditor-Treasurer and Recorder, city races for city council, mayor, alderman, school board races for school districts and some township elections are also on the general election which townships moved from their yearly elections in the spring. If you need to know where to vote in City of Little Falls Ward 1 which was redistricted is at the Initiative Foundation, Ward 2 also some redistricted is City Hall and Ward 3 expanded by redistricting is at Bethel Lutheran Church on Tuesday 7am to 8pm. When the polls close at 8pm then tune to Little Falls Radio with election night coverage on Q92 WYRQ and AM960 KLTF and streamed online at the website fallsradio.com for election coverage starting at 8pm.
--Minnesota Power in a statement Sunday night stated that the power outages Sunday started around 9:45am in the Sylvan Shores area near Pillager with high winds, trees and power lines down which then continued in a chain reaction from the high winds and downed power lines due to the winds and multiple issues with downed trees, powerlines and crews working into the evening hours. At one time it was reported around 8,600 customers without power on Sunday. Most the Little Falls area had power restored by around 1-2pm Sunday but areas north and northeast of the area had to wait until after 7pm. As of 9am Monday crews were still working on some isolated spots that were reporting outages still from Sunday.
--The Sartell Police Department is investigating a shooting that took place late Saturday night. Around 11pm police were called to a report of a man with a gunshot wound at a home in the 1900 block of Cypress Circle. Authorities say they provided aid to the man at the scene before he was taken to St. Cloud Hospital. Police say he had surgery and is in stable condition. His name has not been released.
Officers were able to get a description of the suspect and suspect vehicle when they arrived at the scene. Waite Park Police officers assisting Sartell police found the suspect, 33-year-old Michael Onelove of Pierz, in the area of 19th Avenue North and Boulder Drive. He was arrested without incident and taken to the Stearns County Jail where he faces charges of 2nd-degree assault with a dangerous weapon. Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to contact the Sartell Police Department at 320-251-8186.
--Interstate 94 near Alexandria was shut down for a brief period Monday morning because of a police chase. State Patrol Sergeant Jesse Grabow says after a hit-and-run crash involving a stolen vehicle on eastbound Interstate 94 near Ashby, troopers and other law enforcement chased the vehicle and used stop sticks to end the pursuit. The driver in the vehicle was arrested. No one was injured.
--Listen to the Veterans Day Program from Mary of Lourdes Middle School Friday at 1:30pm on AM960 KLTF and fallsradio.com.
--An Albany man is dead following a rollover crash near Clearwater Friday morning. The Stearns County Sheriff's Office received a call of the rollover around 7:40am. The caller said someone was believed to be pinned underneath the vehicle and not responding. Authorities arrived to County Road 44, just west of 203rd Street East in Lynden Township, to find the vehicle in the north ditch resting on the driver's side. It's believed the driver hit an approach and flipped. Deputies found the driver underneath the vehicle. He was pronounced dead at the scene. He's been identified as 34-year-old Christopher Gutknecht.
Authorities say it's believed Gutknecht was not wearing a seatbelt and was thrown from the vehicle.
--A fatal accident occurred Monday at 9:49am on Highway 64 and 28th Street of Ansel Township in Cass County. The accident had a semi-truck collided with a small car head on on the highway causing both vehicles to leave the roadway. No names have been released but the state patrol reported that the 71 year old Cass Lake driver of the car died at the scene and the semi truck driver from Canada was injured but ruled not seriously in the accident.
--A Minnetonka man has pleaded guilty to a drive-by shooting in St. Cloud. Twenty-one-year-old Ca'Mari Smith will be sentenced on December 30th. The shooting happened in August 2021 near the intersection of 9th Avenue and 6th Street in St. Cloud. According to the criminal complaint filed in Stearns County District Court, the victim was heading to his aunt's house when he noticed Smith, who he knew as "Ce-Mo", sitting in his vehicle. Court records show Smith had caused an issue with a member of the victim's family earlier that morning and damaged their property. Smith motioned for the victim to come over, but the victim said no and drove away. Smith then followed the victim, who called his parents and said he was being followed. Records show Smith leaned out of the driver's side window and shot at the vehicle seven times. The victim's parents arrived at the time of the shooting and saw Smith flee the scene. The victim was not shot, but the bullets from the gun did hit the hood of the car. Later that night, Minnetonka police found Smith's vehicle parked in a parking garage at his home and a gun sitting on the shelf of a storage locker. The gun was missing seven bullets and was equipped with an auto sear, which converts it a fully automatic style of gun.
--The Multi-State Lottery Association said in a statement that the Powerball drawing was delayed Monday and it's likely that the official results won't be known until later today. The record-breaking $1.9 billion Powerball drawing was delayed because a participating lottery had issues processing sales from the number of tickets sold.
BIRTH ANNOUNCEMENT
--Jeremy and Sarah Jurek, girl on November 4th
DEATH NOTICES
--Leona “Pat” Jelinski, age 93 of Little Falls.
WEATHER
TODAY= rain likely by late afternoon, high 46.
TONIGHT= rain likely, temps rising to near 50 overnight.
WEDNESDAY= rain/thunderstorms, high 58, low near 40.
THURSDAY= rain/thunderstorms first, then snow likely, high 46 early then temps drop into the 20s overnight with rain changing to snow.
Little Falls Radio reminds you to do your part today and get out and vote on this Election Day November 8th.