NEWS
--The National Weather Service has issued a flood warning for the Mississippi River in Crow Wing and Morrison County due to the heavy rains and thunderstorms from Monday. The river is to reach and surpass the flood stage by this morning and stay above the 13 foot flood stage through Friday. Some beach areas and residential areas near the river may witness flooding to basements or lower levels during the next few days. This comes as parts of central Minnesota and northwest Wisconsin awoke Tuesday to the threat of extreme flooding triggered by Monday's rainfall. The National Weather Service has issued a Flood Warning for the Mississippi River in Aitkin, which affects residents of Aitkin and Crow Wing Counties. Excessive rainfall over the Mississippi River Basin during the past week has saturated the ground, causing rain to quickly run off. A rapid rise in the level of the Mississippi and smaller rivers and streams overnight Tuesday has forecasters predicting the river will reach a flood stage of 13 feet and will rise up to another 6 feet over flood stage by today. At those levels property up and down the Mississippi River would be in grave danger of flooding, and the sewage plant at Aitkin would be inundated and become inoperative. The National Weather Service says the river is currently forecast to fall below flood stage by Sunday morning. There are also reports of high water in other portions of the state as flood warnings are in effect for Pine, Otter Tail, Becker and Hubbard County, along with high water being monitored in Cass, Crow Wing, Kanebec, Mille Lacs, Isanti and Anoka County.
--At least four tornadoes moved across Central Minnesota during severe storms Monday night, according to the National Weather Service. The weather service plans to send out storm survey crews to assess the damage Tuesday. Based on preliminary reports, the areas hit hardest were Litchfield, areas near St. Cloud, and Watkins, where the Red Cross is now helping approximately 50 people who were evacuated from a nursing home Monday night. According to the Minnesota News Network, there was only one person with minor injuries hurt as a result of the severe storms.
--The Sentinel Landscapes Partnership has announced the designation of Camp Ripley, Avon Park Air Force Range (AFR), Florida, and Eastern North Carolina as the newest Sentinel Landscapes. These designations officially recognize the role that working lands and natural resources play in sustaining the military missions of installations and ranges, and the long-term health of communities. The Sentinel Landscapes Partnership is a collaboration between the U.S. Departments of Agriculture, Defense, and the Interior at the Federal level and stakeholders around an anchor or group of anchor installations or ranges at the state and local level. The goal of the partnerships is to better coordinate and leverage funding and technical assistance for land conservation, restoration, and management through transparent communication and coordination with partnership stakeholders in locations where agriculture and wildlife habitat support military testing, training, and operational activities. The designation of Camp Ripley, Avon Park AFR and Eastern North Carolina comes as these locally-led partnerships have already achieved impressive advances towards protecting historic working lands and important natural resources while buffering their installations and ranges from encroachment. As each location continues to work towards their landscape goals, their achievements can be followed at www.sentinellandscapes.org.
--The Morrison County Relay for Life was this past Friday night into Saturday morning at the Morrison County Fairgrounds. There were ten teams with 105 participants. The event was able to raise $65,902 on Friday night. That was the total before additional sponsorship dollars collected and the money raised from the silent auction. We hope to have the finalized numbers on our newscasts later today. Thank you to all who donated funds and their time for the local event to help in the fight against cancer. The Staples Motley Relay for Life is at the Motley Fairgrounds Friday, July 22nd.
--The Friends of the Fergus Falls State Hospital Cemetery will be hosting a grave stone dedication for one of Morrison County’s own, Civil War veteran Henry St. Cyr. He was from the Pierz area. St. Cyr was committed to the State Hospital in St. Peter in 1881. At some point he was transferred to the Fergus Falls State Hospital, where he eventually died and was buried. The dedication will take place at the Fergus Falls State Hospital Cemetery on Sunday, July 25th at 1:00pm. The Minnesota 2nd Battery of Light Artillery will be conducting the ceremony. They are a reenactment group and will appear in appropriate Civil War era attire. Private St. Cyr was a member of this same Battery during the Civil War.
--Jason Schommer performs Mixtape, stories and songs of a crazy life, Thursday at 7:30pm at Great River Arts. Tickets are $12 and for information go to greatart.org or call GRA at 632-0960.
NATIONAL NEWS
--On Tuesday, Democrat Bernie Sanders officially endorsed Hillary Clinton as his candidate for President. The two had battled for the DFL Endorsement through earlier this year before Clinton pulled ahead leading into the DFL Convention later this month.
DEATH NOTICES
--Ron Sanoski Sr., age 65 of Landfall, MN formerly of Little Falls.
--Luverne S. Kurtz, age 89 of Pierz Villa formerly of Little Falls
--Patricia L. Ostrom, age 78 of Little Falls
WEATHER
TODAY= increasing clouds, chance of PM showers/storms, high 78.
TONIGHT= chance of evening showers, low 63.
THURSDAY= showers likely, cooler and breezy, high 67, low 53.
FRIDAY= sunny skies, high 74, low 58.
SPORTS
MLB= American League beat National League 4-2 Tuesday in the All Star Game to get home field in the World Series this year. Kansas City Royals Eric Hosmer and Salvador Perez homered in the AL win.
LYNX= Maya Moore scores 24 as Lynx beat San Antonio 81-57 on Tuesday. The team did come under fire after police officers left their games and practices as some players wore Black Lives Matter t-shirts.
VL= Pierz Brewers at Buckman Saturday 1:30pm on AM960 KLTF to open playoffs, there will also be a game of the week on Sunday afternoon at 1:30pm on KLTF to be decided after Saturday action.
JOIN Q92 AT PIERZ FREEDOM FEST THIS SATURDAY, GATES OPEN AT 2PM STILL TICKETS AVAILABLE AT THE GATE TO SEE DIAMONDBACK, MAIDEN DIXIE, LITTLE TEXAS & SAWYER BROWN. MORE DETAILS AT FALLSRADIO.COM.