--Little Falls Schools Superintendent Stephen Jones spoke on KLTF yesterday. Jones said they are as normal as possible in the first four months of the school year. Jones said the weather is a big factor checking reports from bus drivers and others on when to or not delay classes, the COVID-19 virus is still there luckily the spike in the latest virus has not effect the Little Falls School District but still students when sick are staying home and staff also are out and that causes a problem due to lack of some staff and therefore more staff positions are available for those who want to join the school district. Jones also wanted to thank Law Enforcement who helped in the Tik Tok situation last month and again thankfully no threats to any of the schools were found to be credible. Jones will be putting out a video later this week on the latest items and what is coming up for Little Falls Schools and said he hopes the public trusts him to continue to what is best for the district and getting the facts out to the public. If you need to reach Superintendent Jones call the school 632-2001.
--The Minnesota State Patrol said that the little amount of snow and strong winds again have made for a difficult morning on Minnesota roadways. The Twin Cities Metro had numerous crashes closing lanes, traffic at a standstill during the morning rush hour. The big issue according to State Patrol troopers is "People just going way too fast for the conditions,". A 3-car wreck on westbound I-94 really jammed things up for morning commuters heading towards Minneapolis from St. Paul and the eastern suburbs. By 8am, the State Patrol reported dozens of accidents around the state, at least 3 semis off the Interstate and a number of spun out vehicles in the median.
--Two drivers were taken to an area hospital following a two vehicle collision on December 29th in Crow Wing County. 55-year old Heidi Lundgren of Crosby was driving northbound on Highway 6 as a Jeep Cherokee driven by an unnamed 17-year old driver according to the report from the Minnesota State Patrol was heading westbound on Crow Wing County Road 30. The jeep driven by the 17-year old slid through the stop sign and was struck by the car driven by Lundgren. Both drivers were taken to the Crosby Hospital. Lundgren suffered non life threatening injuries and no injury information was provided for the 17-year old. Both drivers were wearing their seatbelts. Road conditions were described as snowy/icy at the time of the incident.
--A semi-driver from St. Cloud was involved in a deadly crash in Mankato when a car that was going the wrong way ran into his rig head-on. The Minnesota State Patrol says the incident happened at about 11:30am Tuesday. A car driven by 59-year old Michelle Beier of Lake Crystal was northbound in the southbound lanes of Highway 169. Fifty-nine-year-old Patrick Winkelman of St. Cloud was driving south on Highway 169. Beier died in the crash. Winkelman was not hurt in the crash on Tuesday.
--Bloomington Police have arrested a second person in connection to the New Year's Eve shooting at the Mall of America. According to police, an 18-year-old man from St. Paul was taken into custody on the 2600 block of Rice Street in Roseville on January 4th. The suspect, who police believe fired a gun inside the mall on December 31st was booked on Tuesday for first-degree assault, and is currently being held pending charges by the Hennepin County Attorney's Office. Bloomington Police said they recovered a gun during the arrest. On Sunday, a 19-year-old was arrested for probable cause of aiding and abetting first-degree assault in connection to the shooting. The 19-year-old was released from jail without being charged.
--The Pierz School District sent out this message earlier this week. “An important message from the district nurse: COVID cases are rising quickly. We are seeing reinfections as well as small numbers of breakthrough infections. Please monitor your household closely for symptoms. Keep anyone with symptoms home and email or call to request a free test kit (students/staff only). Please report positive cases ASAP to the school to ensure all close contacts are notified in a timely fashion and return dates can be calculated for your student. Please note: the new CDC 5-day isolation guideline does NOT apply at this time until MDE notifies schools as such. Thank you for doing your part to keep our schools in session and students and staff healthy. Pierz Superintendent George Weber will be on the Community Program Friday at 8:30am on AM960 KLTF.
--Approximately 700 Mayo Clinic employees were fired this week for failing to comply to the company's COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The nonprofit medical center gave all employees until Monday to receive at least their first dose of the vaccine or provide a medical or religious exemption. According to a statement from the Mayo Clinic, about 1% of the 73,000 total employees failed to comply to those requirements. While Mayo Clinic didn't provide an exact number of employees who failed to meet the vaccine requirement, the statement reads that it's comparable to what other health care organizations have faced. The statement adds that most of the medical or religious exemptions were granted for employees who did not seek the vaccine.
--The joint annual meeting of the Upper Mississippi Irrigators Association and the Morrison/Crow Wing County Corn Growers Association will be held Wednesday, January 12, 2022, at the Bowlus Community Center, starting at 9am.
--The Dinner Theater Show Wine, Cheese and Murder will be performed January 21st and 22nd at 6:30pm and Sunday January 23rd at 2pm at St. Mary's Church Dining Hall in Upsala put on by the Upstage Players. Tickets must be purchased for the two dinner shows which are $27 by January 12th (next Wednesday) by calling Lisa Hansen at 320-250-2676. The meal consists of chicken or pork chop with au gratin potatoes, vegetable, dessert and beverage. There will also be a dessert matinee on the 23rd for $10 serving cheesecake, no reservations are needed for the matinee show. Come and enjoy.
DEATH NOTICES
--Stanley W. Morgan, age 89 of Fort Ripley.
--Julie D. Nordvik, age 64 of Royalton.
WEATHER
WIND CHILL ADVISORY IN EFFECT UNTIL NOON FRIDAY.
TODAY= partly cloudy and cold, high -5, wind chills around -25.
TONIGHT= clear and very cold, low -25, wind chills near -35.
FRIDAY= increasing clouds, high 4 above, snow late night.
SATURDAY= snow early, high near 30, gusty winds late in the day.
SUNDAY= sunny and very cold, high -3, low around -21.
SPORTS
HS WRE= Little Falls, Pine City and Pierz starting today at 5pm with Pierz vs. Pine City, then Little Falls vs. Pine City around 6:15pm and Little Falls vs. Pierz around 7:30pm tonight on Q92 WYRQ.
NFL= Kirk Cousins has been taken off the COVID list for the Vikings and will start Sunday in the season finale against Chicago at noon.
COL FB= Georgia and Alabama in the National Championship of College Football Monday night at 7:30pm live on ESPN Television.