News

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources is reminding those that burning restrictions are still in place for Morrison, Benton, Stearns, Crow Wing, Mille Lacs and other counties in central Minnesota. As very high fire danger remains even with some minor rain totals on Saturday morning, the cold temps at night has still dried out many vegetated areas and that still leads to high fire danger during the day with warming temperatures into the 60s and 70s this week, high winds expected again by Tuesday and lower humidity levels. A very high fire danger remains for more details on burning restrictions click on the link for the DNR Website. 

The Minnesota Department of Transportation says an exit ramp off Highway 10 to Haven Road remains closed this spring. The westbound Highway 10 exit ramp on the south end of Little Falls closed last December when a truck hauling equipment struck the bridge over Highway 10. MnDOT says repair work is being completed in two phases. With warmer weather recently, crews were able to complete the first phase, which used heat straightening to repair damaged steel elements of the bridge. The second phase of repairs will involve installing specially fabricated steel plates to strengthen the damaged girder and diaphragms. MnDOT says the repair designs are complete, and crews are waiting for the custom plates to be completed and delivered. The ramp closure is expected to last until early to mid-June. In the meantime, drivers should continue to use the next exit at Highway 27 to access Little Falls.

Fire damaged a single-family home on Thursday afternoon in North St. Cloud. St. Cloud fire crews were dispatched to 1200 13th Street North at around 4:15pm. Firefighters arrived to find heavy smoke and fire on the exterior of the home, both above and below the deck. Flames had also extended into the home's interior on both the first and second floors. Firefighters immediately began knocking down the flames as crews searched for anyone who may be inside. Once the flames were extinguished on the outside of the home, fire crews began attacking the fire on the interior. The fire was fully extinguished, and no one was hurt. Six tenants from the residence have been displaced and are being assisted by the Red Cross. The Fire Marshal determined the cause of the fire to be discarded smoking materials. There is no damage estimate.

A man driving a backhoe on the highway was hurt when he rolled the vehicle near Rockford on Friday afternoon.  According to the Minnesota State Patrol, the crash happened at about 12:45 on Highway 55. The State Patrol says a Caterpillar 420 being driven by 29-year-old Nikolaus Gibb of Waverly was going east on Highway 55 when he rolled the vehicle into the ditch. Gibb was taken to the Maple Grove Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

Two people were hurt in a three-vehicle crash near Litchfield on early Friday afternoon. The Minnesota State Patrol says the crash happened about 12:15 on Highway 12. According to the State Patrol, a minivan being driven by 70-year-old Glenn Mackedanz of Darwin, an SUV being driven by 61-year-old Alene Cheiman of Cokato, and a second SUV being driven by 79-year-old Marilyn Howk of Dassel were all going east on the highway when they collided. Mackedanz was taken to the Meeker County Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Cheiman was hurt, but did not need to be taken to the hospital, and Howk was not hurt in the crash.

A shooting that took place in Bemidji on Thursday sent multiple people to the hospital. The Bemidji Police Department received a 911 call at around 4:40 Thursday afternoon, where gunshots were reported in the area of 2500 Itasca Loop NW. ”Initially, [the reports were] just shots fired, multiple individuals were hit,” said Dan Seaberg, a detective sergeant with the Bemidji Police Department. “They were outside, residents just outside the parking lot. Three individuals [were found], all adults with gunshot wounds.” The officers then rendered first aid to the victims, who were taken to Sanford Bemidji Medical Center shortly after for critical injuries. The suspect, a 16-year-old-male, initially fled on foot from the scene with a handgun. Two hours after the initial report, at around 6:40 pm, the shooter surrendered himself at the Law Enforcement Center without incident. The Bemidji Police Department wants to wait to release a motive behind the shooting until they can talk to the victims again, when they are not going through a medical crisis. Detective Seaberg did confirm, however, that the victims and the shooter are related. The shooter did not have the handgun on his person when he turned himself in but was cooperative with authorities and later helped officers find the weapon. The Bemidji Police Department’s K-9 was the one who found the handgun in the forest off of 15th Street. No other information is being released by police at this time. 

The Little Falls School Board meets at 5pm Monday at the District Office on Riverwood Drive north of Little Falls. There will be a number of presentations at the meeting, discussed proposed Little Flyers rates, approve the facilities study, discuss the preliminary budget for next school year, look at a second reading a number of school policies and give thank you recognition to a number of those in the past year and the recent Day of Caring last Wednesday for the high school.

Sports/Entertainment News: World Series Champion Manager Bobby Cox died Saturday at age 84. Cox took the Atlanta Braves to the World Title in 1995, won World Series Titles as an assistant coach with the New York Yankees in 1977 and 1978, managed the Toronto Blue Jays in the 1980s to the AL Championship game in 1985 and then managed the Braves starting in 1990 where he lost to the Minnesota Twins in 7 games in the 1991 World Series, still considered by many as one of the best World Series ever. 

Weather: Monday partly sunny skies, high 64 showers and thunderstorms Monday night between 7pm-2am low around 45. Tuesday few early morning showers, then becoming sunny and windy, high 67, gusts could get to 35mph, partly cloudy Tuesday night low around 38. Wednesday sunny and not as windy, high 68 low around 43. Thursday rain showers possible, windy, high 75, low around 51. Friday sunny and 81. 

Sports: Wild win 5-1 Saturday night over Colorado in game 3 of NHL playoffs, Game 4 is Monday night at 7pm in St. Paul with game 5 Wednesday night at 7pm in Colorado, Avalanche lead series 2-1, hear the Wild Games live on Q92 WYRQ. Cleveland beat the Twins 6-4 Friday. Twins win 2-1 in 11 innings on Saturday over Guardians. Twins are off Monday. San Antonio beat the Timberwolves 118-105 Friday to lead series 2-1 in NBA playoffs. Game 4 is Sunday night at 6:30pm in Minneapolis. High School Baseball Pierz at Little Falls Thursday at 5pm on AM960 KLTF and fallsradio.com. 

The Morrison County Sheriff’s Office reports that on Wednesday at approximately 6:56 pm, their office received a report of a man trapped in a trench at a residence off 70th...

Due to construction, Belle Prairie Park will be open to foot traffic only, no vehicles permitted beyond the east gravel parking lot. The boat ramp will also be closed.  The estimated...

A freeze warning has been issued until 8am this morning for the region. Due to temperatures again dropping into the mid to upper 20s overnight into the morning. Possible frosty...

If weather conditions are favorable, the Minnesota DNR is partnering with The Nature Conservancy to conduct a prescribed fire operation at Charles Lindbergh State Park on Wednesday, May 6th.  It...