Thursday, February 19, 2026
A person is dead following a trailer fire on Tuesday morning in Clear Lake Township. According to the Sherburne County Sheriff’s Office, deputies and firefighters were called at 6:25 to the 3100 block of River Road Southeast. When they arrived, they found a trailer fully engulfed in flames. Commander Ben Zawacki said that once crews doused the flames, investigators found a person’s remains inside the burned-out trailer. The Midwest Medical Examiner’s Office is working to identify the victim and determine the cause of death.
Minnesota Power reported Wednesday that Tuesday into Wednesday they responded safely and as quickly as possible to restore power to customers as a winter storm continues to pummel northern Minnesota today. Crews worked throughout Tuesday night when the wind and snow kicked in with about 6,500 customers without power at the peak of the storm. About 1,600 customers remained without power late Wednesday morning and over 600 were still without power in Northeastern Minnesota this morning. The hardest-hit areas include Duluth, Cloquet and Carlton, where the combination of strong winds and heavy, wet snow brought down numerous trees and branches onto power lines. It was reported over 30 inches of snow fell in the Two Harbors to Grand Marias area and over 20 inches near Duluth. Most of the outages are the result of trees on wires and the ongoing high winds and poor road conditions continue to challenge restoration efforts. Minnesota Power has called in extra line and tree crews. Then yesterday into Thursday western and southwestern Minnesota had gusty winds over 40mph and snow and rain that led to dangerous road conditions from Hutchinson to Willmar south and west. Power companies are asking residents if you are encounter power interruptions contact your power supplier. Also stay away for any downed power lines if you notices downed lines or trees on power lines, call your power company or 911 for emergency service.
The Minnesota Department of Transportation yesterday also advised motorists to avoid driving across portions of southwestern Minnesota on Wednesday as strong winds and blowing snow are limiting visibility. "No Travel Advised means that the roadway has deteriorated and/or visibility has been reduced to the point that it is very dangerous to travel; there are reports of intermittent white-out conditions," MnDOT said in a statement. The agency reported several highways were blocked by overturned semis. MnDOT provided this list of highways included on the "no travel" list starting Wednesday afternoon until conditions improve: Highway 4 from Cosmos to Fairfax Highway 7 from Blomkest to Highway 25 Highway 12 from Dassel to Cokato Highway 15 from Dassel to Winthrop Highway 19 from Marshall to Fairfax Highway 23 from Marshall to Granite Falls Highway 67 from Granite Falls to Highway 19 Highway 67 from Redwood Falls to Morgan Highway 68 from Highway 19 to Morgan Highway 71 from Highway 7 to Sanborn Highway 212 from Granite Falls to Highway 25. Mn Dot also reported a number of slushy and snow covered areas in central and northern Minnesota that led to a number of spinouts and accidents from the heavy slushy compacted areas. For the latest road conditions go to this link 511mn.org.
The Little Falls Police Department in the past week has dealt with trespassing and harassing calls of juveniles either blowing air horns at businesses, causing parking violations and being on private property. Police have investigated these cases and remind parents to remind juveniles of the consequences of their actions and they fines and license suspensions and revoking can be done if law violations are sought and turned in to police. Also if you notice any suspicious activity in your area do not hesitate to contact police by calling 320-616-5570 in Little Falls or call the sheriff's office in the county at 320-632-9233.
District 10 B State Representative Isaac Schultz announced that he is seeking re-election to the Minnesota House of Representatives in November. District 10B includes the southern half Morrison County and the city of Pierz, along with parts of Benton, Mille Lacs, Kanabec and Isanti counties. During his time in the House, Schultz said he has focused on issues including anti-fraud oversight, tax relief and regulatory reform. He has served on the House Fraud Committee, where he said he worked to highlight concerns involving Medicaid-funded programs and state grants management. Schultz has also supported legislation addressing Second Amendment rights, election integrity and abortion policy. He was chief author of a bill aimed at removing certain taxpayer-funded benefits for individuals in the country illegally. He also backed bipartisan measures intended to reduce regulations on small businesses and broadband providers and expand access to hunting and outdoor recreation.
The St. Cloud V.A. and associated health clinics will transfer to a new electronic health record called the Federal EHR in May of 2027. Megan Lehn is the Engagement Lead for EHR with the St. Cloud V.A. Megan and St. Cloud V.A. Public Affairs Specialist Jackie Stevenson joined me on WJON for our monthly Voices for Veterans segment. Lehn says this is the same system that the Department of Defense uses that will better benefit veteran service members as they transition from military service to veteran status. She says the process is underway with their pre deployment activities and it will continue until May of 2027. Lehn indicates there are a couple of different phases and they are actively in the pre deployment phase. She says during this phase they will have people viewing their network and hardware to ensure that everything is compatible when they are ready in May of 2027. Lehn says they are analyzing work stations, laptops, scanners, etc... She explains they have done walk throughs so they know the processes that need to be in place. Lehn indicates there a many individuals that are working on perfecting the accuracy of the information as the transition takes place. Lehn says this new electronic system will help make veteran health care through the VA more efficient, accurate and easier for veterans. She says the new system will deliver accurate collaborative information to veterans and physicians. This will allow for better care for veterans. Veterans can prepare for the new Federal EHR system by making sure their information is correct on file which includes communication contact information on their profile on VA.Gov. Jackie Stevenson says on February 24 at the Montevideo VA clinic they will have some community care staff on hand from 10:30am-12:30pm to answer any questions about the community care process. On March 5 the St. Cloud V.A. will have a PACT Act education seminar. It will be in building 4 in room 180. If you'd like to go, please call ahead of time at 320-255-6340 to reserve your spot.
Organizers of Ice Fest this weekend wanted to thank the number of volunteers who showed up yesterday to begin setting up the event Saturday and Sunday on Green Prairie Fish Lake. They are hoping the same number will show up today and Friday, Chuck Zwilling said also they will use volunteers if you can help Sunday after 4pm and next Monday for the tear down. Also Chuck wanted to address he has gotten calls on ice safety with warmer temps in the past 2 weeks, Chuck said they measured the ice yesterday at 24 inches and said the snow has melted in some areas around the ice but ice thickness was not effected by the warm temps as colder air is forecast for the weekend for the free family events for all to come too and enjoy. For details on the event or if you can volunteer is here at mnicefest.org.
Death Notices: Dr. James "Jim" Mona, age 71 of Hutchinson.
Weather: cloudy skies today, light snow showers at times high around 32, tonight cloudy skies, flurries possible low around 20. Friday mostly cloudy, scattered flurries, high near 22, breezy northwest winds, clear and colder Friday night low 8 above. Saturday sunny and chilly, high near 20, low around 4 above. Sunday sunny and chilly, high near 17, low around -4 below zero. Monday sunny skies, high near 23, low near 12.
Sports: Boys Basketball Albany at Pierz tonight 7:15pm on 94ROCKS KFML. State Girls Hockey started on Wednesday, Warroad, Dodge County, Breck and Blake won with more games today. State Gymnastics is Saturday with Gretta Grimsley of Little Falls Gymnastics team (co-op with Pillager schools where Gretta goes to), Section Individual Wrestling for many schools is Friday and Saturday for last chances of area wrestlers to go to state next week with Myah Held of Pierz Girls and Pierz as a wrestling team who will face Perham at 4pm on Wednesday to open the quarter-finals next Wednesday live on AM960 KLTF. Pierz will wrestle twice on Wednesday and need to win one of the matches to get to Thursday night. Team USA's Mikaela Shifron won the gold medal in Women's Slalom on Wednesday giving USA their 7th Gold medal and 24th total medal in the Olympics so far, Norway leads with 33. Team USA beat Sweden 2-1 in overtime in men's hockey quarterfinals to move on, USA women's hockey faces Canada today in gold medal game. The Closing Ceremonies is on Sunday in Italy. The 23rd Rank Gopher Women Basketball team beat Ohio State last night 74-61, the Gopher Women (21-6) have now won 9 straight games.