NEWS
--Around 2:40pm Monday the Morrison County Sheriff’s Office received a 911 call of a man that was ran over by a grain truck at Sunrise Ag in Buckman. According to the Sheriff’s Office, 38-year old Chad Pietrzak of Hillman was backing up a grain truck while 37-year old Nathan Rothstein of Pierz was near the back of the truck. Rothstein fell to the ground and was ran over by the grain truck. Rothstein was pronounced dead at the scene. Rothstein’s body was transported to the Midwest Medical Examiner’s Office for an autopsy. This case remains under investigation. The Morrison County Sheriff’s Office was assisted by the MN State Patrol, Pierz Police Department, Pierz Fire Department, Pierz First Response Team, MLMB First Response Team and Mayo Clinic Ambulance.
--A St. Cloud man was killed in a drive-by shooting in Minneapolis Thursday. The Hennepin County Medical Examiner says the victim, 27-year-old Mahamed Hassan Mahamud, died from multiple gunshot wounds. Minneapolis Police responded to the scene of the shooting shortly before 11:30pm. Officers found Mahamud at the scene with multiple gunshot wounds. Officers rendered aid but were unable to save him. Two other victims were found near the scene. A man and a woman each had been shot but were suffering from non-life-threatening injuries. The preliminary investigation determined that Mahamud and the other two people were sitting in a car in the 500 block of 15th Avenue South when another car drove up and fired several shots before speeding away. Police believe the two parties know each other and the investigation is ongoing.
--Back on January 15th at about 10am the Benton County Sheriff’s Office received a call from a citizen advising that there was a burned snowmobile on the ice of Little Rock Lake. Responding deputies found a snowmobile chassis that had been completely consumed by fire about 50 feet from shore near Erdmann’s Point on the east side of Little Rock Lake. An inspection of the site found that only the snowmobile frame and a few other substantial metal parts escaped the fire. All these pieces were found to be stuck in the frozen surface of the lake. Evidence at the scene suggested that the snowmobile began leaking a combustible fluid which then ignited, causing the fire. Deputies were unable to locate any identifying marks or numbers on the remaining pieces of the snowmobile. Responding deputies determined that there was no evidential value to the remaining parts of the snowmobile and that removal of the parts would be challenging due to the parts being stuck in the frozen lake surface. Deputies cleared from the scene, leaving the snowmobile parts as they found them with plans to return with additional resources to facilitate the removal of the remaining parts. Then on January 20th the Benton County Sheriff’s Office received a call from another citizen advising that the snowmobile parts previously found on the frozen lake had been removed from the ice and dumped alongside Sucker Creek Rd NW. Deputies responded to the scene and confirmed that someone had removed the snowmobile parts from the lake and left them on the roadside. The Benton County Sheriff’s Office is seeking to contact the owner of the snowmobile and the person(s) who dumped the snowmobile parts on the roadside. Anyone with information about this incident or the parties involved is asked to contact the Benton County Sheriff’s Office at (320) 968-7201 or Tri-County Crime Stoppers at (800) 255-1301,
--If you still want tickets for the MCCL Dinner this Sunday contact Sue Houdek at 630-7045 as soon as you can for a head count.
--Due to a Wind Chill Warning in effect until 9am today, these schools announced yesterday that they will be 2 hours late this morning. All Little Falls Schools, all Pierz schools, all Royalton, Upsala, Swanville, Holdingford, Long Prarie-Grey Eagle, Foley, Sauk Rapids-Rice and Sartell-St. Stephen schools announced yesterday that they will all be 2 hours late this morning due to the cold weather. There is also no Bonebuilders today at the Little Falls Senior Center.
--A St. Cloud man is charged with trying to burn down the group home he is living at. Twenty-seven-year-old Dylan Peterson is charged with attempted arson for a fire on Friday night. St. Cloud Police were dispatched to the home just before 11:00pm Officers arrived to find the living room filled with smoke, a discharged fire extinguisher, and fire damage on the kitchen stove. Police say he acknowledged that he knew other people were inside the home and would have been burned if he was successful. Court records don't list a damage estimate. Peterson is due in court on February 7th.
--You will not need to mask up again in the city of St. Cloud. During Monday night's meeting, the St. Cloud City Council voted four to two to enact an emergency mask mandate ordinance, due to the increasing cases of COVID-19. However, the city ordinance requires a supermajority of five votes in order for it to be enacted. The same emergency ordinance cannot be voted on again. The mandate would have been effective as of midnight Monday and would have been in effect until February 15th. Individual private businesses are still free to implement their own masking rules if they want to.
--Next week is Catholic Schools Week. Join AM960 KLTF Party Line live at Holy Trinity School in Pierz on Monday at 10:05am and then live at Mary of Lourdes Middle School Tuesday at 10:05am next week to speak with students and staff on Catholic Schools Week. You can listen to both shows live at 10:05am on AM960 KLTF or online at fallsradio.com. The program will also be recorded and be heard later in the day at fallsradio.com click on streaming and KLTF.
DEATH NOTICES
--Mark D. Peterson, age 56 of Farmington.
--Nathan B. Rothstein, age 37 of Pierz.
WEATHER
WIND CHILL WARNING IN EFFECT UNTIL 9AM, THEN WIND CHILL ADVISORY IN EFFECT UNTIL 11AM TODAY.
TODAY= increasing clouds, high 23, strong south winds to 35mph.
TONIGHT= cloudy skies, flurries possible, low 13, wind chills near 0.
THURSDAY= sunny skies, high 23 early then falling to -18 late night.
FRIDAY= sunny and cold, high 9 above, low around -6.
SPORTS
VIKINGS= With the signing of Ryan Poles from the Kansas City Chiefs by the Chicago Bears means The Vikings on Tuesday will now put sights on Browns Vice President of Football Operations Kwesi Adofo-Mensah as General Manager. The two finalists for the Vikings’ GM job were the Browns’ VP of football operations Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and Chiefs’ executive director of player personnel Ryan Poles. With Poles expected to be in Chicago, Adofo-Mensah now is the favorite to become the Vikings’ GM.
NFL= New Orleans Saints state that long time head coach Sean Payton has parted ways with team after 15 years at the helm.
MLB= Boston Red Sox and former Twin David Oritz was elected to the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame for 2022.