NEWS
--The Little Falls Police Department is seeking information relating to an incident Friday, October 20th regarding a possible attempted abduction of two juveniles males in west Little Falls. It was reported to officers that the two victims, both juvenile males, had been riding their bikes in the 200 block of Lindbergh Drive South about 6:30pm when two adult males approached them and asked them to get in their car. The two boys biked to a nearby residence, where the parent was located. The boys reported the incident to the parent. The parent said that the suspects did not use any type of force to attempt to get the boys in the car. The description given to the police was that one man was white and the other black, driving a white or silver four-door car. No other description is available at this time. Anyone with information relating to this incident is asked to call the Little Falls Police Department at (320) 616-5570.
--An amended joint powers agreement with and the sale of district land to Mid State Education District (MSED) has been approved by the Little Falls School Board. The agreement is meant to provide local school districts with a school run by MSED to teach students with high special needs. The new agreement has Little Falls’ cost based on 50/50 split of how many pupils are being sent to the school and how much the district utilized services the year before. This would reduce the district’s immediate cost by 25 percent. Non-members would still pay tuition for their students. The Board then approved selling 10 acres of vacant land on 18th Street Northeast for $95,000. MSED intends to build a new facility on that land, which would allow its students to be bused there, rather than at other facilities.
--A St. Cloud home was damaged in a fire Saturday afternoon, according to the St. Cloud Fire Department. The department responded about 4:40pm to a call on the 1100 block of 33rd Avenue North, near North Junior High School. The fire originated in the basement. No one was at home at the time. The homeowner discovered the fire when he returned to the house and alerted authorities. Smoke and heat caused extensive damage estimated at $55,000 to the basement and main floor. No one was injured in the fire. The cause remains under investigation.
--On Friday, Sauk Rapids police found the outdoor kennels stolen from a central Minnesota shelter. Someone blacked out security cameras with paint and took the metal panels that formed Central Minnesota Animal Care and Control's 12 outdoor dog runs. The shelter contracts with animal control programs in St. Cloud as well as Stearns and Benton counties. Sauk Rapids police recovered the stolen items and returned them Friday. The department is still investigating and they would not say if they had found a suspect. The heavy duty metal panels weigh hundreds of pounds, and the loss put the shelter out $6,000 to $10,000.
--The Department of Natural Resources are reminding hunters to register deer before processing, before antlers are removed and within 48 hours after taking the animal. Hunters register deer with a phone call, online or in person. Before registering a deer, hunters must validate their site tag. The validated tag must be attached to the deer when the deer is placed on a motor vehicle or an ATV, a vehicle or a trailer being towed by an ATV or brought into a camp, yard or other place of habitation. For details at the DNR website.
--A 40-year-old Nisswa man was apprehended Sunday after leading authorities on a high speed chase that began in Morrison County and ended in Cass County. The suspect apparently fled authorities on Highway 115 near Camp Ripley around 12:30am and led officers into Crow Wing County before the pursuit ended near Pine River in Cass County around 45 minutes later. Speeds reached nearly 100 miles per hour. Authorities used spike strips at several locations where by the time the vehicle left Baxter it had no front tires and was smoking heavily. The suspect eventually stopped and tried to flee officers on foot where he was found up a 15 foot tree by a maintenance shed and was arrested. The suspect is in the Morrison County Jail awaiting formal charges through the county attorney's office.
--A 64-year old Brainerd man was injured in a motorcycle crash at 8:06pm Wednesday on the 9700 block of Forest Heights Drive in Brainerd. The Crow Wing County Sheriff's Office reported the driver of the motorcycle, Scott Schardin, was injured after he drove off the roadway to avoid a deer. He was transported by ambulance to Essentia Health-St. Joseph's Medical Center in Brainerd.
--Maintenance crews were making repairs to the road surface at the center of the intersection of Highway 371 and Woida Road in Baxter this morning between 5:30-7:30am.
--Author Connie Lounsbury will share her extensive research into the depression, hobos, and the Civilian Conservation Corps, Depression-era clothing and props set the scene on Wednesday at 6pm at the Carnegie Library in Little Falls. The program is for teens and adults and free of charge. Preregistration is requested by call 632-9676.
ENTERTAINMENT
--The NFL officially announced Sunday that Justin Timberlake will be the halftime show at the Super Bowl February 4th in Minneapolis. This will be the third time for Timberlake to perform at halftime, the most for any entertainer. Timberlake performed at the 2001 and infamous Super Bowl routine with Janet Jackson in 2004.
BIRTH ANNOUNCEMENT
--Paul Miller and Lexie Kestner of Little Falls, a boy born October 20th
--Clint Laudenbach and Amber Sassen of Little Falls, boy October 22nd
DEATH NOTICES
--Lucy Youngblood, age 69 of Little Falls
--Sister Helen Hassler, age 83 of St. Francis Convent in Little Falls
WEATHER
WIND ADVISORY IN EFFECT UNTIL 6PM TONIGHT.
TODAY= partly sunny, breezy, high 46.
TONIGHT= increasing clouds, winds die down, low 34.
WEDNESDAY= sunny skies, high 53, partly cloudy night, low 38.
THURSDAY= rain showers develop, wet snow late, high 50, low 29.
SPORTS
HS FB= Little Falls at St. Cloud Apollo open the playoffs tonight with the kickoff at 7pm on Q92 WYRQ.
HS FB= Parkers Prairie at Swanville tonight against the Upsala/Swanville Patriots, kickoff 7pm on FM94 KFML.
MLB= World Series Game 1 tonight between the Houston Astros at the Los Angeles Dodgers, first pitch just after 7pm.