News

A two vehicle accident Thursday morning around 6:40pm in Pierz injured three people and also damaged the liquor store on the north end of town. A Chevy Suburban driven by 34-year-old Lucas Nickaboine from Onamia reportedly ran through a stop sign at 3rd Avenue North across Highway 25 and collided with a Rav4 driven by 53-year-old Robert Matlock of Pierz. The Suburban came to rest on the sidewalk along Highway 25 while the Rav4 end up going through the front of the Lloyd's Liquor Store in Pierz. Matlock was taken to St. Gabriel's Hospital for non life threatening injuries. Nickaboine and his passenger, 31-year-old Matthew Mitchell of Onamia had injuries but were not hospitalized. The State Patrol investigated the accident and reportedly cited Nickaboine for running the stop sign. 

Good news for drivers, as an exit ramp to Little Falls has reopened. The Minnesota Department of Transportation has completed repairs on the bridge over Highway 10 at the Haven Road exit. The bridge was damaged late last year when a semi-truck struck the overpass. The damage prompted MnDOT to close the Highway 10 exit ramp on the south end of Little Falls until repairs could be completed. Crews were able to use heat to straighten the damaged steel frame earlier this spring and have now finished installing custom-fabricated steel plates. The plates are used to reinforce the damaged girder and diaphragms. The completed repairs mean drivers can return to using the westbound Highway 10 exit to Haven Road.

On May 23, 2026, at 10:40am., the Stearns County Sheriff’s Office Emergency Communications Center received a call reporting a single vehicle rollover with injuries near the address of 35733 County Road 10 in Albany Township. Deputies identified the driver of the vehicle as, Michael Edward Ninow Jr., 43 of Randall. Ninow reported swerving to miss a deer and struck the ditch, then struck a driveway and rolled his vehicle. Ninow sustained minor injuries.

A St. Cloud resident has been charged with several felony counts of allegedly possessing dozens of pornographic files on his computer, as well as numerous other charges of assault and fleeing the scene of an accident. 21-year-old Dawson James Pawluk is facing 11 felony counts of possessing child pornography on electronic media, and an additional four felony counts of possession with a prior conviction as a registered predatory offender involving a minor under the age of 14. Pawluk is also facing a felony charge of first-degree damage to property and a gross misdemeanor charge of fifth-degree assault in Stearns County. He is also facing felony charges of fleeing a peace officer in a motor vehicle, a gross misdemeanor charge of criminal vehicular operation resulting in bodily harm and leaving the scene of a collision, and a misdemeanor charge of failure to stop for a traffic control signal in Crow Wing County. The case originated from a tip provided by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), which indicated that a specific account on the social platform X contained several illicit images. After an investigation, law enforcement determined the account belonged to Pawluk. Investigators executed a search warrant on May 12, 2025, at Pawluk’s residence in the 2200 block of Veterans Drive in St. Cloud. Upon seizing his laptop and extracting its data, authorities discovered 38 videos and 12 images containing illicit material. The data also revealed text conversations in which Pawluk discussed previously attempting to have sexual relations with a minor, during which he referred to himself as a “pedo.” On the same day as the warrant, at around 12:04 p.m., officers from the St. Cloud Police Department were dispatched to St. Cloud Technical College regarding an assault. Upon arrival, officers spoke to the victim, who said Pawluk had assaulted him on campus before carving a derogatory word into the side of his car with a key. Pawluk then fled the scene at a speed officers were unable to match. Officers then returned to his residence to execute a search warrant on a separate matter; Pawluk, however, was not found at home. On May 14, Pawluk was involved in a hit-and-run accident at the intersection of State Highways 210 and 371 in Crow Wing County. Pawluk reportedly fled at speeds up to 120 mph before crashing, at which point he was taken into custody. When asked by an officer why he did not stop, Pawluk replied that he already had charges pending and expressed indifference toward having more added. Pawluk is currently being held at Stearns County Jail. He is set to appear for a pretrial hearing in Stearns County on Thursday, June 4, and for an omnibus hearing in Crow Wing County on Thursday, July 23.

More graduation ceremonies are Friday night in the area. Royalton graduates the Class of 2026 Friday at 7pm at the Royalton High School. Holdingford graduates Friday night also Class of 2026 at 7pm at the high school. There are some other schools around the state graduating Friday May 29th while other schools held graduation the week of May 16th and May 22nd at their respected schools. 

The Morrison County Fair is June 25th through the 28th at the Fairgrounds east of Little Falls. The Entertainment and Exhibitors guides have been released are available at some area businesses. Details also at morrisonfair.com and on their Facebook page. IV Play on the 25th Hairball on 26th, Stone Road Saturday night and James Wedgwood a comedy ventriloquist on Sunday the 28th. Grandstand shows include the 4x4 Truck and Tractor Pull on Saturday and Autocross racing on Sunday at the 2026 edition of the Morrison County Fair. Jeremy Hanfler of the Fair will be on KLTF Party Line June 16th to run it down. 

Weather: Friday sunny and warm, high 88, cloudy Friday night slight chance of isolated T-storms, low 60. Saturday sunny and hot, high near 90, mostly cloudy Saturday low 56 again slight chance of isolated T-storms. Sunday sunny skies, high 83, clear Sunday night low around 55. Monday sunny and still warm, high 85, storms Monday night low around 52. Storms off and on Tuesday high near 80, low around 50. Rain likely Wednesday high near 83, low of 51. 

Sports: White Sox beat the Twins 6-2 on Thursday to take 3 of 4 in that series. Twins (27-30) are at Pittsburgh Friday 5:45pm, Saturday 3:05pm and Sunday at 12:35pm. The Minnesota Lynx are at Chicago Friday then off until Monday when at Phoenix. Softball Thursday New York Mills 5-3 over Swanville in 9 innings ending the Bulldog season. Congratulations to Kobi Cameron of Little Falls qualifying for State Track Tournament next week in the pole vault, more track athletes of Little Falls will try to qualify for state on Saturday at Rocori High School. Pierz qualified 17 for the State Tournament next week, 4x800 - Caden Lucking, Davin Willis, Zack Welty, Wyatt Betsinger (new school record) 4x800- Sophie Leidenfrost, Morgan Litke, Quinn Gruber, Chloe Lochner 4x100- Paul Nieman, Brandon Solinger, Tyler Kimman, Brayden Foust (set the meet record) High Jump- Kora Toop, High Jump- Brandon Solinger, Pole Vault- Garrett Seelen, Discus- Beverly Rentz, Shot Put - Elsa Gray 300M Hurdles- Kaleb Poser Triple Jump- Paul Nieman 100M- Brayden Foust 200M- Brayden Foust and 1600m- Wyatt Betsinger. Royalton had 2 qualifiers Lydia Prokott in 100M and Max Vannurden in the long jump and also in the triple jump, Upsala-Swanville had 3 qualifiers in the high jump Lucas Gerads, Caleb Guthrie and Olivia Klasen. The State Tournament begins next Thursday at St. Michael Albertville High School. The Little Falls and Pierz track coaches are guests on the Saturday Morning Sports Wrap Saturday at 1pm on AM960 KLTF and fallsradio.com. Royalton at Upsala is the Victory League Game of the Week Sunday at 1:30pm on AM960 KLTF and fallsradio.com. 

The Little Falls Police Department report in the past week reported a car vs. pedestrian accident on Tuesday after 5pm on Highway 27 and 6th Street, no injuries were reported....

Strong to Severe Thunderstorms moved across north-central Minnesota Tuesday with heavy rains, large hail and damaging winds in Brainerd, Merrifield, Crosby, Aitkin to Pine City. Some parts of Cass and...

A reminder that area school buses are back out this morning as many students still have a few days left of school this week with most of the public schools...

Today is Memorial Day, Monday May 25th a Federal holiday with many offices closed including all federal agencies, government centers, city halls, court houses, banks, financial institutions, post offices (no...