News

 

Today is Memorial Day, Monday 25th a Federal holiday with many offices, federal agencies, government centers, city halls, court houses, banks, financial institutions, post offices (no regular mail delivery) and some businesses are closed today for the holiday.

There are many Memorial Day events on this Monday around the area, then information received at Little Falls Radio includes: Mass at the Camp Ripley Chapel at 8:30am inside the gates of Camp Ripley with Knight of Columbus Council 1804, Little Falls American Legion Post 46 and VFW Post 1112 attending. A ceremony will also be at 10:30am at Oakland Cemetery in Little Falls. There will be a mass at St. Joseph's Church in Pierz at 9am with American Legion Post 341 and Auxiliary then prayers at the Catholic Cemetery. The Randall VFW Post 9073 has a ceremony at the Randall VFW post at 9:30am then honors at St. James Cemetery, Veterans Park, the Randall City Cemetery and Cushing Union Cemetery, also Bethany Lutheran Church of Cushing has a service at 10am. There is a Memorial Day program at 10am at the Upsala High School. The Bowlus American Legion will attend Mass at St. Stanislaus in Bowlus at 8am, then honors at the North Prairie Cemetery, Masog Bridge, Evangelical Cemetery, St. Edwards Cemetery in Elmdale, St. Stanislaus Cemetery in Bowlus and then raise the flag by 11:30am. Royalton American Legion will start at the Bellevue Cemetery at 9:15am, then Riverside Cemetery, honors to be done at the bridge, Holy Trinity Cemetery and then the Royal American Legion by 10:15am. Flensburg American Legion starts with Mass at Sacred Heart at 8:30am then honors will be done at the Catholic Cemetery in Flensburg, then Sobieski, Culdrum Cemetery, Parker Bethany Cemetery finishing at the American Legion in Flensburg. Rice American Legion and Auxiliary will be at Langola Cemetery at 9am, Graham Cemetery, the Rice City Cemetery and then the Rice American Legion just after 11:15am. The Hillman American Legion will leave the American Legion around 8am and head to numerous cemeteries around Eastern Morrison County, into Benton County and parts of Crow Wing County before returning back to the Legion in the early afternoon. The Swanville VFW and American Legion will be putting on their annual Memorial Day parade. They will start the parade at the school at 10am and end at the fire hall. There will be a Memorial program at Springbrook Cemetery at 10:45 following the parade in Swanville. A National Moment of Silence will take place at 3pm today, it is asked and encouraged for those to take a moment on your holiday events to remember those you have lost their lives fighting to keep our country safe and those who died and have never been recovered or returned to loves ones on this Day of Remembrance as we remember them on Memorial Day 2026. 

Little Falls Community Schools announced they will be conducting joint emergency preparedness drills on Monday and this coming weekend after school is completed at Lincoln Elementary, Lindbergh Elementary and Little Falls Community Middle School. The drill is part of the district’s ongoing effort to keep students and staff safe and to make sure school personnel and emergency responders are prepared to work together if a real emergency occurs. According the Little Falls Community Schools “These drills have been in the planning stages for several months and are not a response to last week’s incident at the high school where a student was arrested". The exercise will involve Little Falls Community Schools, the Little Falls Police Department, the Little Falls Fire Department and the Morrison County Sheriff’s Office. District officials emphasized that the exercise is only a drill. There is no active threat to any school.

 

Two accidents sent two separate people to the hospital in Todd County. Friday night around 9:15pm two vehicles collided on Highway 71 in Round Prairie Township south of Long Prairie. 72-year-old Bruder Lester of Long Prairie was treated at Long Prairie Hospital for injuries the other driver a 23-year-old from Sauk Centre was not hurt. Then just before 2am Saturday a vehicle left the roadway and rolled on Highway 10 in Staples Township. 41-year-old Emmanuel Montanez of Motley was taken to the Staples Hospital for treatment of non life threatening injuries. 

Fire crews from Melrose and Freeport responded to a building fire in Stearns County on Thursday night. The sheriff's office was dispatched to the 37000 block of County Road 13 in Grove Township just before 10:30pm. Deputies arrived on the scene to find a large amount of smoke coming from the top of the building. Firefighters were able to assess the situation and determined there was a smoldering fire near the roof area. Fire crews were able to use a minimal amount of water to extinguish the fire and prevent significant damage. The sheriff's office says no one was hurt, and damage to the building was minimal. There is no information on the cause of the fire.

 

Ten young women were named as finalists for the 73rd Princess Kay of the Milky Way. This past weekend, dairy princesses from across the state gathered for the annual May Leadership Event held May 15-16 at the Delta Hotel in Minneapolis. The weekend included opportunities for networking, leadership workshops and a chance to compete for a finalist spot for Princess Kay of the Milky Way for young women rooted with a passion for dairy. This year’s theme of “The Power of You,” provided attendees with confidence in their leadership skills and knowledge through various inspiring and educational sessions. Of the participants, ten finalists were named and will go on to compete for the title of Minnesota’s 73rd Princess Kay of the Milky Way in late August of 2026. This year’s finalists include: Kalley Christen; Lester Prairie; daughter of Keith and Angela Christen; representing McLeod County  Elizabeth Coudron; Milroy; daughter of Ron and Jennifer Coudron; representing Redwood County  Stephanie Dykstra; Bigelow; daughter of Steve and Esther Dykstra; representing Nobles County  Claudia Frenchick; St. Martin; daughter of Amanda Frenchick; representing Meeker County  Jena Hanson; Owatonna; daughter of Steve and Suzie Hanson; representing Steele County  Morgan Morrow; Princeton; daughter of Jim and Tina Morrow; representing Benton County Isabella Schiffler; Albany; daughter of John and Kristie Schiffler; representing Stearns County  Gracie Sellner; Sleepy Eye; daughter of Loran and Heidi Sellner; representing Brown County Jaiden Smith; Melrose; daughter of Jeremey and Emily Smith; representing Stearns County  Daisy Zimmermann; Sauk Centre; daughter of Mike and Lori Zimmermann; representing Stearns County. These ten young women will have their likenesses carved in butter during the 2026 Minnesota State Fair.   Midwest Dairy sponsors the Princess Kay of the Milky Way program, which is funded by dairy farmers through their promotion checkoff.   

Due to Memorial Day, the Pierz City Council will meet Tuesday at 7pm at Pierz City Hall. 

Death Notices: Ervin C. Meyer, age 82 of Park Rapids. 

Weather: Sunny skies Monday, warm, high 87, partly cloudy skies tonight, low 57. Sunny and warm again on Tuesday high 89, thunderstorms Tuesday night, low 57. Sunny and warm Wednesday with isolated thunderstorms possible, high 87, clear Wednesday night low 53. Thursday sunny and still warm, high 83. 

Sports: Twins win 8-6 Friday night over Boston. Twins win again 4-2 over Boston on Saturday, Trevor Larnach had 4 hits. Martin, Larnach and Lee combine for 5 hits and 4RBIs Sunday as the Twins sweep Boston winning 6-5. Twins (26-27) open a series with Chicago White Sox today at 1:10pm. Natasha Howard had 26 points as the Lynx win on Saturday 85-75 over Chicago to go to 4-2 on season. On Saturday the family of racecar driver Kyle Busch stated he died Thursday of a severe case of pneumonia which also turned in to sepsis. Felix Rosenqvist swung to the outside of David Malukas, then found a way past the Team Penske driver to win the closest Indianapolis 500 in history by a margin of 0.0233 seconds Sunday. Good luck to Robert Bell of Pierz who will be golfing in June at the U.S. Open qualifier. Victory League Game of the Week Monday is Buckman at Sobieski at 1:30pm on AM960 KLTF. High School Softball playoffs resume Tuesday for Pierz, Foley, Holdingford, Little Falls and Swanville and also baseball playoffs resume for Pierz, Foley, Staples-Motley and Upsala-Swanville. Also baseball playoffs start for Holdingford and Little Falls who found out Saturday they will host Fergus Falls in playoff action on Tuesday at 4:30pm on AM960 KLTF.