NEWS
--On Monday Dylan Bennett appeared in Todd County District Court for a plea hearring regarding the murder of Carol and Barry Bennett. The murder of Carol and Barry Bennett occurred in August 2019 in rural Long Prairie. Dylan Bennett entered a guilty plea to two counts of 1st Degree Murder. Dylan Bennett was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of release. The Todd County Sheriffs Office would like to thank the agencies that assisted them with this investigation including the MN BCA, FBI, Attorney General's Office, US Attorney's Office, Todd County Attorney's Office, Midwest Medical Examiner's Office, Central MN Violent Offenders Task Force and the authorities from Mexico that helped in his arrest.
--Hunters can purchase permits for the archery deer hunts at Camp Ripley near Little Falls starting at noon on Friday. Permits will remain on sale as long as they are available, or until Friday, October 2nd. This year, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources will not hold a preference lottery for Camp Ripley archery permits. Instead, hunters can purchase permits for the hunt directly, on a first-come, first served basis. Hunters will need to use surplus permit code 677 to purchase a permit, and then choose from one of two hunt dates: Oct. 15-16 (Thur.-Fri., code 668) or Oct. 31-Nov. 1 (Sat.-Sun., code 669). A person may only purchase a permit for one time period. A total of 4,000 permits, with 2,000 per two-day hunt, will be available. Hunters may purchase permits for the Camp Ripley archery hunt in person wherever DNR licenses are sold, or online at mndnr.gov/buyalicense, and each participant must also purchase a valid archery license. The DNR is not currently providing in person license or permit services at any of its locations. The bag limit for this year’s Camp Ripley hunt is two, of which only one may be a buck, and bonus permits may be used to take antlerless deer. Hunters should familiarize themselves with details about purchasing permits for the hunt and participating in the hunt. Details are available on the DNR Camp Ripley hunt webpage. The archery hunt at Camp Ripley is an annual event. The DNR coordinates the hunt in collaboration with Central Lakes College Natural Resources Department, and the Department of Military Affairs, which manages the 53,000-acre regional training center.
--Mary of Lourdes Princpal Jody Vanderheiden spoke on KLTF Tuesday and announced they are looking forward so much to see students back in school for many it is the first time since March when schools were all placed on distance learning. Jodi said that they will be rotating dismissal times so all students are not in the hallways at the same time, lunch times will also be rotated to keep the numbers down during one time of the day. The Open houses this year will be scheduled a 10 minute meeting with their teacher and classroom prior to the opening day of school, these are being done now and parents should contact Mary of Lourdes schools to get their date set. It is still too early to tell how events will be handled this year, they are still planning their school marathon and will continue to have weekly Masses with safety guidelines during the school year.
--Numbers from the Minnesota Department of Health Tuesday showed 414 new cases of COVID-19 in the state with 8 new deaths. Of the 70,707 positive test cases in the state, 63,725 are no longer in isolation. Morrison County had no new cases reported yesterday staying at 108 total cases. August 11th (14 days from yesterday's readings) the number was 93 meaning 15 new cases since then.
--Howie Schommer of Pierz Oktoberfest mentioned on Tuesday that there will be a few things this weekend along with the parade, but again no events at the Pierz Park. The parade Sunday is at noon. It will be the same route as in years past starting at the high school, then up to Edward Street north of 39 and then all the way down Highway 25 to the clinic and back to the school. They are asking those with classic cars, tractors, motorcycles who would like them to park along the parade route up from the school to show them off are welcome to do so. Howie said that there will be geumese and haluski for sale in the Thrifty White parking lot. You can preorder a gallon of either with 6 bottles of water by calling 468-2525 but it is a limited supply. The medallion hunt continues this week with clues read on Little Falls Radio each morning until found. Purchase Oktoberfest buttons at area businesses. The large $300, $200 and $100 drawings will be done on Monday morning this year.
--On Tuesday Governor Tim Walz and Lt. Governor Peggy Flanagan announced that Minnesota has partnered with the nation’s leading distributor of saliva testing to create plans for a new lab in Minnesota, expanding and diversifying testing capacity for Minnesotans, creating jobs, and slowing the spread of COVID-19. The planned lab will have the ability to more than double the state’s current test processing capacity. The contractors expect to have the lab up and running by early October. The funding is provided by the state’s federal CARES Act funding. This new saliva lab will be capable of processing as many as 30,000 samples a day, if running 3 shifts. The rolling average of PCR COVID-19 tests processed daily in Minnesota labs is just under 14,000 a day. Minnesotans will likely have three ways to access a saliva test. First, the state will set up 10 semi-permanent sites. Any Minnesotan will be able to come to these sites to perform the saliva test. Each semi-permanent location will create 15-20 temporary jobs for Minnesotans. Second, the state and other partners will be able to offer the test in mobile testing events. The saliva test requires much less PPE than a traditional swab for COVID-19 because it is self-collected under the supervision of a health professional. Third, Vault Health also provides logistics and telehealth services to perform the saliva test at home. The state has not yet defined the parameters of a mail-order testing program.
DEATH NOTICES
--Kathleen J. Kiley, age 58 of Upsala.
--Darlene C. Mrozek, age 74 of Little Falls.
--Mildred M. Nieman, age 90 of Little Falls.
WEATHER
TODAY= hazy sunshine, afternoon storms, humid, high 88.
TONIGHT= storms tonight, some strong, then clearing, low 60.
THURSDAY= cloudy skies, possible T-storms, high 80, low 59.
FRIDAY= isolated showers, partial sun, cooler, high 74, low 52.
SPORTS
TWINS= Cleveland scores 3 in the 6th inning to beat the Twins last night 4-2. The Twins wrap up the series with the rubber game tonight with the Cleveland Indians, pregame at 5:30pm on Q92 WYRQ.
MLB= Chicago White Sox pitcher Lucas Giolito threw the first no-hitter of the season last night beating Pittsburgh 4-0.
VIKINGS= The Vikings announced no fans in the stands for their first two home games next month against Green Bay and Tennessee.