NEWS
--The Little Falls City Council met on Monday night. At the meeting the council passed a preliminary levy with an increase of 8.43%. The council passed this higher increase knowing that because of state statute, finalized levies cannot be raised but can be lowered from preliminary levies. Because of this, the strategy taken by the Little Falls city council like many other cities is to pass a higher preliminary levy knowing full well the finalized levy will be far lower. After the meeting Little Falls City administrator Jon Rademacher estimated the levy would likely be a 3-4% increase on the high end when finalized following a public hearing at the city councils December 2nd meeting. The preliminary budget passed by the city council on Monday was a total of nearly $13 million. On Monday the council also passed a variance for a 2,400 square foot garage and approval for a submission of the Laura Jane Musser Rural Initiative Fund Grant application by Local Foods, Local Places and Sprout. The city also approved a purchase of a new motor grader to replace an older breaking down model. The city budgeted $150,000 last year and will cover the remaining $130,000 this year. The Little Falls City Council meets next at 7:30pm on Monday, October 7th at City Hall.
--Road work continues in Little Falls especially on the west side through the end of the month. Providing the weather cooperates, crews are expected to begin paving Highway 27 in west Little Falls, the middle to late part of this week. For the last week and over the course of the next week, a couple of feet of silty clay soil was removed and replaced with clean sand, creating a base for gravel, which is being laid. Crews will continue that process from the railroad tracks to Eighth Street West. Underground utility work on Lindbergh Drive, 7th, 11th and 13th streets will be completed and hooked up by then as well. Once the gravel is laid down, paving will begin and is expected to take a week. The first two layers of pavement will be done in sections. The third and final layer will be put down in one long stretch, then striping will be done. Another large part of the project on the west side to be done in the next couple of weeks is sidewalks and curbs. Currently the sidewalks and curbs have been removed on the south side of the road, but not on the north side. This was to give pedestrians a solid walkway to get around. Once the sidewalks are done on the south side, the sidewalks on the north will be removed and replaced. While all this is being done, Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad announced that next week they will be working on the railroad crossing arm that crosses Highway 27 on the west side. Burlington Northern Sante Fe (BNSF) is planning to redo the stop arm at the railroad tracks on the west side of the Mississippi River bridge. Also the final portion of 27 west started in the past week from 8th-15th Street West where the road is shifted over while sidewalk and overlay work starts on the one side and will shift to the other. City work continues on many northwest roads with sanitary sewer and culvert work while this continues. The expected completion of Highway 27 west is still set at mid-October.
--Morrison County Public Works Maintenance crews will be shouldering CSAH 1, and County Roads 209, 210 and 211 in the northwest part of the county. County Crews will continue to mow county ditches this week. Public works will be patching potholes, and cleaning up down trees around the county as weather permits.
--A St. Cloud man accused of killing a woman in his home will undergo a second mental competency evaluation. 39-year-old Daniel Walter Kenning was charged with one count of first-degree premeditated murder and one count of second-degree murder with intent. The criminal case against him has been suspended pending the evaluation. A psychiatric evaluation will take place in St. Peter and a written report must be provided to the judge within 60 days of the order. Kenning had previously been found mentally competent to stand trial in December, according to court documents. According to the complaint against him in September 2018, Kenning told an investigator he had just killed someone. St. Cloud police found the body of 45-year-old Jennifer Lee Moy, of Blaine, in Kenning's home. Kenning strangled Moy and turned himself in afterward.
--A crash with injuries was caused by sun obstructing a drivers vision on Sunday in Stearns County. At 5:38pm 17-year old Kjerstin Campbell of Paynesville was driving eastbound on County Road 2 attempting to make a left-hand turn onto Island Lake Road. 38-year old Jesse Kern of Cold Spring was also traveling eastbound when he struck the rear of the other vehicle at approximately 50 mph. Kern said he did not see any brake lights or turn signals due to the sun obstructing his vision. One of the passengers in the first vehicle 15-year old Claire Campbell of Paynesville was taken via ambulance to St. Cloud Hospital with non life threatening injuries.
--The name of the motorcyclist killed Friday on Highway 65 near Mora was released. At 4:58pm when a vehicle driven by 58-year old Martha Bush of Mora was turning from the highway onto 9th Street and struck the motorcycle driven by 40-year old Kevin Baehr or Mora in the southbound lane. The motorcyclist, Baehr died while the other driver Bush was hospitalized for non-life threatening injuries.
--Kids in Kindergarten through 5th grade are invited to learn how to be a scout. Registration for Cub Scouts will take place tonight at 6pm at Swanville school commons. There will also be a registration night tonight at 6:30pm in the Royalton elementary school cafeteria. Learn about the scouts, their events, camps and how they give back to the community. Then on Thursday the registration night for Little Falls and Cub Scout Pack 44 will be at 6:30pm on at St. Mary's Elementary school in southeast Little Falls. For more information on scouts go to the website beascout.org.
BIRTH ANNOUNCEMENT
--Tim and Tina Kimman of Little Falls, girl on September 13th
DEATH NOTICES
--Marjorie “Margie” Chirhart, age 76 of Little Falls.
--Laura Kapsner, age 100 of Pierz.
--Gerald “Jerry” Weiss, age 74 of Little Falls.
--Nancy Gerads, age 53 of Little Falls.
WEATHER
TODAY= morning storms, then some sun, muggy, high 82.
TONIGHT= storms redevelop overnight, some heavy, low 63.
WEDNESDAY= AM storms, then clearing and windy, high 77.
THURSDAY= sunny and pleasant, less humid, high 75, low 53.
SPORTS
TWINS= Arraez and Garver come through and Twins beat the White Sox last night 5-3. Game 2 of series tonight 6pm on Q92 WYRQ.