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A Message from Little Falls Community Schools late on Tuesday: The unofficial results for the 2026 Referendum have been tallied, and neither question has passed (again both failed, the unofficial totals from Tuesday where Question 1, 2770 no votes to 1536 yes, Question 2, 2,891 no votes to 1408 yes). The school goes on to say "While this is not the outcome we hoped for, we want to express our deepest gratitude to everyone who participated in this process. Your feedback and your votes are vital to how we shape our district. Our mission to provide an excellent education for every student remains unchanged. We will take time to reflect on these results, continue our dialogue with the community, and determine the best path forward for our facilities and our children. Thank you for your continued support of Little Falls Community Schools". Again it was reported that again the numbers are unofficial but both questions on the referendum failed by wide margins on Tuesday for Little Falls Schools. 

A St. Augusta woman was killed when the car she was riding in rolled on Sunday. The Stearns County Sheriff's Office says they received a call around 7:20 p.m. about a crash at the intersection of County Road 7 and County Road 44 near Fairhaven Township. Once on the scene, deputies learned that an SUV being driven by 16-year-old Gavin Timmers of St. Augusta was going west on County Road 44, approaching the intersection with County Road 7, which is controlled by stop signs for westbound traffic. Authorities say Timmers collided with a pickup truck being driven by 42-year-old Katie Payne of Maple Lake, who was going north on County Road 7, and Timmers' SUV rolled. A passenger in Timmers' vehicle, 56-year-old Tina Timmers of St. Augusta, died at the scene despite life-saving efforts. Gavin Timmers, Payne, and five passengers, ages 79 to 15 from both vehicles, were all taken to the St. Cloud Hospital with a variety of injuries.

A St. Cloud man has been charged after more than two and a half ounces of methamphetamine were seized in a drug raid on April 9th. Fifty-year-old Dewayne Lenow was taken into custody after members of the Violent Offender Task Force served the warrant on Thursday morning. According to the criminal complaint, investigators found a red glove on Lenow containing 23 individually packaged bags of a substance consistent with methamphetamine. The packages weighed approximately 73.76 grams. Lenow told law enforcement he had ingested three bags of fentanyl, each reportedly containing a “point,” and was taken for a medical evaluation before being transported to jail. He has been charged in Stearns County District Court with first-degree drug possession. Bail was set at $200,000 without conditions and $100,000 with restrictions. His next court date is set for April 27th. A second suspect arrested in the raid, Charles Vincent Wurzburger, remains in jail but hasn’t been charged in connection to this case.

The Minnesota House unanimously passed a bill that would allow the state Department of Veterans Affairs to more easily partner with outside organizations to address food insecurity, homelessness and suicide prevention for veterans. The bill gives the Commissioner of Veterans Affairs the authority to direct resources toward veteran needs. The legislation also requires the commissioner to submit a yearly report to the governor and specific legislative committees. This report must detail how resources were used and highlight the major challenges veterans faced. Representative Kari Rehrauer, who authored the bill, issued a statement after it passed saying, “Minnesotans are facing a severe affordability crisis, and many veterans are being hit especially hard. No one who served our country should struggle to put food on the table or a roof over their head. By allowing the MDVA to collaborate with local partners, more of Minnesota’s veterans will be able to access services they need and deserve.” The bill awaits action in the Senate and has bipartisan support.

A man admitted to shooting and killing his ex-girlfriend while on trial for murder in connection with her death. During his trial Tuesday in Hennepin County, David Wright took the witness stand and admitted to shooting and killing Mariah Samuels last September in north Minneapolis.  Wright went on to tell defense attorney Laura Prahl that he did "a terrible thing," and that he felt "terrible." Wright was initially charged with second-degree murder and illegal possession of a firearm, but the Hennepin County Attorney's Office upgraded those charges to first-degree premeditated murder and first-degree murder, past pattern of domestic abuse.  Samuels' family said she did everything she could to protect herself from Wright, including filing an order of protection against him just weeks prior. According to Minneapolis Police, officers were called to the home on the 1400 block of Russell Avenue North shortly before 8 a.m. on Sept. 14. 2025. after receiving a report of a shooting. When police arrived, they found Samuels outside the home with multiple gunshot wounds. She was pronounced dead at the scene. While on the stand Tuesday, Wright went into detail about the events leading up to the shooting. He said he was upset about the relationship, and was sitting thinking about it when he saw Samuels drive by in her car. He said he then jumped on a bike, which corroborates what witnesses told police, and then shot through her window after she had parked. Wright said he didn't remember how many times he fired, but court documents say 12 shots were fired at Samuels.  Samuels went on to tell the court that he tried fleeing in Samuels's car, but it wouldn't go. He then jumped on the bike and rode off.  Police later arrested Wright in Anoka, and while speaking with police, Wright allegedly told them that it was "not going to be a hard-fought case." The criminal complaint says he encouraged police to read a text exchange with Samuels, saying that they would then understand why he did it. Police later discovered that Samuels had filed an order of protection against Wright, saying that he began threatening her after the two had broken up. In the protection petition, Samuels said she ended the relationship with Wright on Aug. 21, 2025, and then later that night, he began threatening her. At one point, Wright allegedly approached her with a gun, yelled at her and struck her in the face and upper body. The petition said he also allegedly threatened to shoot her. The court granted the order, and it was served to Wright on Aug. 27, 2025. On the morning of her death, Samuels posted on social media about Wright stalking her, saying police did nothing but serve him the order of protection. The defense asked Wright about his temper during cross-examination Tuesday, at which point Wright got angry and tried to leave the stand.

The Retiree Veterans Seminar at Camp Ripley is Wednesday 8-11:30am. The seminar will have many items to help and inform retired Veterans and their spouses. The event is at the Camp Ripley Hangar. Questions can be directed to Kris at the Morrison County Veterans Service Office at 320-632-0290. 

The Darling Cemetery clean-up day will be on May 9th at 9am. Please bring yard tools. Rain or shine!

National News: Today is the Income Tax Deadline. Federal and State Income Taxes must be filed and the taxes postmarked by tonight April 15th or face a penalty. If you cannot get filed by midnight tonight, you will need to file an extension for you federal and state income taxes for last year. 

Entertainment News: Sid Krofft, the Canadian-born entertainment wizard who teamed with his brother and fellow puppeteer Marty Krofft to create such cult favorites as children's 1960s TV show “H.R. Pufnstuf,” has died at age 96. Krofft's death, which came three years after the death of Marty Krofft, was announced on Instagram by his friend and business partner Kelly Killian. Additional details were not immediately available.