NEWS
--The Morrison County Sheriffs Office facebook page has shared a news release from the Minnesota Department of Health from August that mentioned “Minnesota identifies severe lung injury cases among teens who reported vaping”. The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) is encouraging Minnesota health care providers to be on alert for novel cases of severe lung disease potentially related to vaping and e-cigarette use among teens and young adults. In Minnesota, symptoms have resulted in hospitalizations lasting multiple weeks, with some patients being admitted to the intensive care unit. Product names are unknown. Clinical presentation among Minnesota cases included shortness of breath, fever, cough, and vomiting and diarrhea. Other symptoms reported by some patients included headache, dizziness, and chest pain. Patients and people with a history of vaping who are experiencing lung symptoms should seek clinical care. The U.S. Surgeon General calls teen e-cigarette use an epidemic. Locally, the 2017 Minnesota Youth Tobacco Survey found that nearly 20% of high-school students use e-cigarettes and 40% have tried them. Youth e-cigarette use has surpassed conventional cigarettes as the most commonly used tobacco product category among youth. In addition, 34.7% of high school students and 15.8% of middle school students who currently use e-cigarettes have used an e-cigarette for recreational marijuana, THC or hash oil, or THC wax at least once in their lifetime. Some cartridges contain THC (Marijuana) which is coming from Colorado and being sold locally. The Morrison County Sheriffs Office is asking parents, please pay attention and be aware of what your kids are up to.
--A 23-year old Pine River man was hospitalized Friday after the his vehicle went off the road, striking trees and rolling onto the vehicle's passenger side in Cass County. The Minnesota State Patrol reported David M. Benedict was traveling north on Highway 371 in Turtle Lake Township, north of Hackensack just before midnight Friday night when the crash occurred. Benedict, who was wearing a seat belt, was transported to a hospital in Park Rapids for non serious injuries.
--The Minnesota Department of Health is seeing a rise in cases of a rare fungal infection. Blastomycosis is an infection caused by a fungus called Blastomyces. It can affect humans and animals. The fungus is found in soil, especially in moist, wooded areas and along waterways. People and animals get sick from it by breathing in the spores. So far in 2019, there have been 61 human cases in the state and 182 animal cases. Horses and cats can be affected by blastomycosis but it most commonly affects dogs. Joni Scheftel said MDH isn't sure what's behind the uptick but it could be because of wet weather and flooding this year. In Minnesota, cases of blastomycosis most commonly come from the northeastern countie. The CDC says most people who breathe in the spores don't get sick but some of those who do may have flu-like symptoms. Common symptoms include cough, fever, night sweats, fatigue and skin sores that don't heal. For dogs, the symptoms are similar including cough, weight loss, loss of appetite and skin lesions. About 10% of people diagnosed with the disease die from it.
--The Upsala Fire Department and EMS will be hosting their annual open house Sunday from 10am-2pm at the fire hall. A meal will be provided for a free will offering, activities, bike give away, agility course, bounce house, photo booth and a raffle at 2pm.
--Stream all 3 of the Little Falls radio stations at fallsradio.com.
--The Morrison County Department of Public Works will be conducting a culvert replacement on County State Aid Highway 37 (Partridge Road) East of Genola that will require a detour of traffic today. CSAH 37 (Partridge Road) will be closed between CSAH 38 (133rd Street) and County Road 240 (113th Street) traffic will be detoured while the project is being conducted. The project is estimated to be completed in one day. Please follow the detour and all traffic control devices through the construction area.
--St. Cloud police have released more information regarding a fight that broke out at Tech High School last week. St. Cloud Police say the fight started between two 16-year-old boys of the same race, who had an issue with each other from an incident outside of school grounds. The fight between the two students started in a hallway, at which time the number of students actively fighting grew and spread to various hallways in the school. During the fight multiple school staff attempted to break up the fight, but the students ignored them. Three staff members received minor injuries as a result. Police say during the fight one of the students showed a pocket knife, but never used it to harm anyone. St. Cloud Police say a total of 19 students were involved in the fight and charges are pending on each student. District 742 Administration has said none of the students involved will be returning to Tech this year and serious disciplinary action up to and including expulsion will be considered. Police say this case remains an active investigation and criminal charges could be announced later this week.
--During the week of September 22nd through September 28th, the Todd County Sheriff's Office responded to 282 calls for service. The following were the types of calls: 105 traffic stops, 32 civil process, 22 suspicious activity type complaints, 3 thefts, 4 welfare checks, 6 assist other agencies, 3 traffic complaints, 5 disturbances/domestics, 8 car/deer accidents, 2 alarms, 4 gas drive off complaints, and 11 farm animals out complaints. Todd County Dispatch also received 101 calls to 911 during the week.
--Habitat for Humanity of Morrison County is hosting Robbie Vee and his Rock n Roll Caravan Friday at the Rice Creek Event Center east of Little Falls on Game Farm Road. This is a fundraiser for Habitat for Humanity as they continue to work towards the building of their 20th home in Morrison County. Tickets are available at the Habitat for Humanity office for $35 and also can be purchased at Pine Country Bank or online. For more information contact Habitat at 616-2084.
DEATH NOTICE
--Ruth Shodeen, age 77 of Upsala.
WEATHER
TODAY= cloudy, late afternoon showers, high near 50.
TONIGHT= showers likely, low around 40.
THURSDAY= showers early, then cloudy, breezy, high 50, low 33.
FRIDAY= AM frost, then sunny skies, high 54, low near 40.
SPORTS
MLB= Washington Nationals score 3 in the 8th inning to beat the Milwaukee Brewers last night 4-3 in the NL Wildcard game.
MLB= Twins at Yankees Game 1 of ALDS Friday 5pm on Q92 WYRQ
COL FB= Gophers (4-0) host Illinois on Saturday afternoon with kickoff at 2:30pm, homecoming for Gophers on AM960 KLTF.
NFL= Vikings at New York Giants Sunday at noon on AM960 KLTF.