NEWS
--The Morrison County Sheriff‘s Office reports that on Monday around 1pm their office received a report of a one vehicle accident with injuries on Highway 10 in Scandia Valley Township, north of Cushing. According to the Sheriff’s Office, 26-year-old Adam McCullough of Holmen, Wisconsin was traveling north on Highway 10 when he lost control on the icy road. McCullough’s vehicle left the roadway and rolled into the median. McCullough was taken to Little Falls then St. Cloud Hospital. McCullough was later airlifted to North Memorial Medical Center in Robbinsdale and is in critical condition.
--Power crews worked Sunday night, all day Monday in the wind and snow and Tuesday restoring power to thousands in central Minnesota out since the ice storm of early Christmas Day. As of Tuesday, over 460 residents between Brainerd and Duluth were still without power more outages reported toward the Fargo area with over a foot of snow and wind gusts of 40-66 miles per hour Monday. Crews were hoping to have all the power restored by late last night if possible.
--For the sixth time in 8 days, firefighters battled a residental fire in the Brainerd lakes area. On Friday around 9pm firefighters battled a house fire on 10th Street in St. Mathias Township. The fire started in a bedroom which had extensive damage. There was damage to the second floor of the house and smoke and heat damage in other areas. No one was injured. The cause of the fire is believed to be an electrical issue with a lamp in the bedroom. On Christmas Day, Brainerd firefighters responded to a camper fire on Wise Road and a chimney fire in Baxter. Around 5am the camper was engulfed in flames and fire had extended to the garage. Damage was around $15,000 and there were no injuries. Around 4pm firefighters were then called to a chimney fire on Shoreview Drive in Baxter. When crews arrived they determined the fire was around the chimney and not inside the chimney. The fire was contained to the structure around the chimney and had $6,000 in damages. Again no injuries.
--Tuesday morning around 3:45am, the Stearns County Sheriff’s Office received a report of a barn fire at 24643 260th Street in Munson Township. Upon arrival, St. Martin Fire found the building fully engulfed. The barn was used primarily for storage and there were no animals inside at the time. Items inside the shed included two lawn mowers, two four wheelers and other farm related items which were a total loss. The cause of fire in unknown at this time.
--The Minnesota State Patrol is investigating a three vehicle collision involving a plow and semi that happened at about 11:40am Thursday on Interstate Highway 94. 55-year-old Paris Stephens of St. Cloud was driving west on I-94 when she hit a plow blocking the left lane for maintenance northwest of Clearwater. 38-year-old Amy Staudinger of Rice was inside the Minnesota Department of Transportation plow. The plow was the second vehicle blocking the left lane for maintenance. The State Patrol release states Stephens was driving in the right lane, then after passing the first warning truck, moved back into the left lane and hit the plow. A semi driven by 63-year-old Jack Berry of Cushing then struck Stephens' vehicle. Staudinger and Stephens both received non-life threatening injuries while Berry's physical condition was not documented in the release.
--There will be Christmas Tree recycling again at the Morrison County compost sites through January in Little Falls and Pierz sites. Any questions on the recycling contact Morrison County Solid Waste.
--Morrison County and Central Minnesota have had their share of top stories for the year including the #1 Minnesota story which was Danny Heinrich admitting he killed Jacob Wetterling as part of a plea deal, ending a 27 year mystery of where is the St. Joesph boy. His remains found in a field near Paynseville. Heinrich pleaded guilty to possesion of child pornagraphy. The stabbing incident on September 17th at Crossroads Center in St. Cloud, a Watkins girl kidnapped and her remains found north of Motley, tornadoes that struck a number of counties including the Camp Ripley area in September, the tragic death of Terrence Brisk and the homicide investigation that continues, the tragic death of St. Cloud State President Earl H. Potter III in June, the deaths of Rock Icon Prince and the death in October of Pop Icon Bobby Vee who continued to his death helping others in central Minnesota with fundraising shows.
--The National Weather Service announced Tuesday that with the recent rains of 1-2 inches in areas Sunday, that makes this the wettest year for the state on record since 1871. The Twin Cities alone received over 40.3 inches of rainfall this year which breaks the record set back in 1911. Overall the state saw above average precipitation in over 90% of the state, the far northeastern portion of the state reported average and western Minnesota did report near or below average in 2 counties but in all the wet year for the state as a whole.
--Last week Tuesday, Speaker of the Minnesota House of Representatives Kurt Daudt named Representative Ron Kresha, R-Little Falls, to the Commerce and Regulatory Reform, Education Finance, Health and Human Services Reform committees, as well as the subcommittee on Child Care Access and Affordability. "The upcoming session is an opportunity to help our state in a number of ways," said Kresha. "I look forward to listening to Minnesotans, and putting ideas to work throughout the committee process." Kresha, who was first elected in 2012, will be sworn in for his third term in January when the 2017 legislative session officially begins.
NATIONAL NEWS
--Actress Carrie Fisher, Princess Leia from the Star Wars Triology of 1977-1983, died Tuesday at age 60. Fisher had a massive heart attack during a flight over the Christmas weekend.
--The top National News Stories of 2016 were announced Tuesday, they include the 2016 Presidential and national Election, the Chicago Cubs winning the World Series, The Rio Olympics, the new Star Wars movies and the large number of celebrity deaths.
WEATHER
TODAY= clouds increasing, flurries in afternoon, mild, high 33.
TONIGHT= cloudy and windy, low 25.
THURSDAY= temps dropping, snow showers, and gusty winds.
FRIDAY= mostly cloudy, less windy, high 26, low 13.
SPORTS
COL BB= Gophers take Michigan State to overtime only to lose by one point 75-74 last night. Gophers have Purdue on Sunday.
COL FB= Gophers win Holiday Bowl over Washington State 17-12
TOUR= Christmas tournaments began yesterday for some area teams, Little Falls Boys Hockey tournament begins today, the basketball tournaments from Little Falls begins Thursday. Pierz boys and girls are also in tournaments this week.