Congratulations to Dorothy Otremba of Little Falls, the grand prize winner of Ho Ho Dough announced yesterday on Little Falls Radio. Dorothy registered at Melgram's Jewelers and is the winner of $500 cash and $500 in Ho Ho Dough to be spent back at the participating sponsors. Again congratulations to Dorothy who picked up her winnings yesterday at Little Falls Radio. A photo of the handing of the winnings is now on the Little Falls Radio Facebook page.
NEWS
--Morrison County Sheriff Shawn Larsen announced that his office, in cooperation with all local police departments in the county, have recently completed the annual Predatory Offender Registration (POR) verifications for Morrison County. Each year the sheriff’s office organizes a verification check for all predatory offenders who are on the registry and residing within the county. Only those offenders who have been sentenced to prison and who were released after the first of year in 1997 have been assigned a risk level. Juvenile offenders and offenders sentenced to probation are not assigned a risk level. Level 1 offenders are those deemed by Department of Corrections officials as those least likely to re-offend while Level 3 offenders are considered most likely to re-offend. During the most recent round of checks, multiple predatory offenders were checked in Morrison County. 68 predatory offenders were checked by the Morrison County Sheriff’s Office, Pierz Police Department, Motley Police Department and Royalton Police Department. Of that number; 20 were Level 1 offenders, 8 were Level 2, 1 was Level 3 and 39 offenders were not assigned a risk level. 41 predatory offenders were checked by the Little Falls Police Department, which are not part of the breakdown. All but one individual was found to be compliant with conditions imposed upon them. 38-year-old Gerald Dean Bollig has pending charges for failing to register his current address, which is a felony. Sheriff Larsen stated that law enforcement worked diligently to verify the information of all registered predatory offenders within Morrison County. The process is essential for community safety as it is important for us to keep tabs on the predatory offender registry.
--In an update to a story we first told you about Monday, the Minnesota State Patrol has released more information about the deadly crash on Highway 23 in Sauk Rapids. It happened just after 6:30am Monday at the intersection of Highway 23 and 25th Avenue Northeast. Sixty-seven-year-old Lynette Walentiny of Sauk Rapids died in the crash. Her passenger 73-year-old Darlene Steinhofer of Sauk Rapids was taken to St. Cloud Hospital with life threatening injuries. The driver of the other vehicle 46-year-old Stanley Paulson of St. Cloud was taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
--A Princeton man was hurt in a rollover. The Minnesota State Patrol says the incident happened at about 5pm Monday on Highway 27 in Mille Lacs County. Sixty-three-year-old Wade Medema was traveling south on 10th Avenue when his vehicle went through the intersection crossing Highway 27 and rolled multiple times coming to a rest in the ditch. Medema was taken to Onamia Hospital for his injuries.
--Listen to the Our Lady of Lourdes Christmas Eve Mass next Tuesday at 4pm on Q92 WYRQ sponsored by Little Falls Machine.
--A message from local sheriff's offices that scammers have become increasingly creative with their phone calls. They have recent reports that several citizens indicated that when these scammers call, the caller ID displays the Stearns, Benton or Sherburne County Sheriff's Office name and number, which is the actual number of the sheriff's office in those counties. The scammers ask for payment of fines, tickets or ask for you to go to get a money card or gift card to help in paying the fines. These are SCAMS. If you suspect a call might be a scam, we encourage you to contact our office directly to verify its legitimacy. Remember, never share any personal information with these callers if you did not call them. Even if you are receiving calls from organizations, sheriff's office or other groups, you should know that they would not ask for payment of items this is not through their law enforcement agencies.
--This Thursday, Minnesota National Guard staff and Beyond the Yellow Ribbon partners and volunteers are teaming up for Operation Merry Meals to provide holiday meals for Minnesota veterans, service members, and military families in need. Operation Merry Meals is one way we, as Minnesotans, come together to support those in need. The simple act of providing a meal goes a long way in showing how we value the service and sacrifice of those that have served or are serving, and their families. This year, the annual effort involves gathering and packing an estimated 300 meal kits filled with groceries at Meals from the Heart, along with approximately 600 packs of assorted meats donated by Hunter’s Harvest. Tomorrow the meal kits and meats will be loaded into vehicles and delivered by volunteers to armories and air wings across the state. There, the food will be distributed to those who registered to receive them. Beyond the Yellow Ribbon establishes and sustains community and corporate support networks that connect agencies, organizations, and resources to meet the needs of Minnesota’s military veterans and service members in all branches and their families. More information on the distribution event can be found at the National Guard website.
DEATH NOTICES
--Ruth A. Rahn, age 96 of Swanville.
--Dean R. Welter, age 67 of Motley (formerly of Hastings)
--Myrtle Lombard, age 78 of Foreston formerly of Hewitt.
WEATHER
TODAY= partly sunny, temps dropping into teens by late day.
TONIGHT= snow after 10pm, 1-2 inches overnight, low 8.
THURSDAY= snow likely 2-3 inches by 1pm, high 19, low -3.
FRIDAY= sunny and colder, high 13, low around -1.
TODAY IN HISTORY
IN 1956= the game show “To Tell the Truth” airs on CBS TV.
IN 1963= “The Pink Panther” movie premieres in theaters, starring Peter Sellers at Inspector Clouseau, also starred David Niven.
IN 1966= Dr. Seuss “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” debuts on television with Boris Karloff as the narrator. Becomes a big hit.
IN 1984= A Christmas Carol with George C. Scott as Scrooge airs.
IN 2009= Avatar debuts in theaters directed by James Cameron. The movie becomes the highest grossing film, bringing in $2.9-billion.