Thursday, November 13, 2025

National News: President Donald Trump signed legislation Wednesday night to reopen the federal government and end the longest government shutdown in U.S. history. Members of the House of Representatives returned to Washington on Wednesday after nearly eight weeks out of session and voted 222 to 209 to pass the bill earlier passed by the Senate to reopen the government, sending it to the president's desk.  Some agencies had already begun sending emails Wednesday to government employees telling furloughed workers to expect to return to the office on Thursday. The Senate passed the bill on Monday night after eight members of the Democratic caucus joined Republicans in supporting the measure to avoid a 60-vote filibuster. Eight senators broke ranks with the Democrats after reaching the conclusion that Republicans would not bend on using the measure to continue the expiring health care tax credits. The compromise measure funds three bipartisan annual spending bills and extends the rest of government funding through Jan. 30. Republicans also promised to hold a vote in the Senate to extend the health care subsidies by mid-December, but there is no guarantee of success.

Superintendent Chris Swenson of Holdingford Schools reported late yesterday that water has been restored to the school after the Water Main Break Tuesday. School will be back in session today. 

The Mille Lacs Tribal Police reported that the missing person back on October 25th Luciana Sam has been found deceased in Hennepin County. The 17-year-old Sam was reported missing last month. Her body was found on November 7th and identified by the medical examiner a few days later.

Parkers Prairie Police are searching for 52-year-old Shawn Hulegard who was last seen October 31st reportedly was heading to the Metro Area near Brooklyn Park but did not arrive. His family contacted police this week asking for their assistance on finding Hulegard. He was last seen driving a smashed up black pickup (likely a 2011 GMC). Anyone with information his whereabouts should contact 218-338-4611 or 911.  

The Wright County Sheriff’s Department is investigating a death at a food processing plant after a woman was allegedly attacked and beaten by a fellow employee. According to the criminal complaint, police were called Tuesday morning around 6:00 to Advance Process Technologies after a woman was found dead at her work station. First responders and police arrived and attempted life-saving measures, but she was pronounced dead at the scene. A fellow employee, 40-year-old David Bruce Delong, confessed to another employee that he assaulted the woman with a hammer, and “she is gone.” Police reviewed surveillance footage, which shows Delong leaving his workstation and walking over to the woman, picking up a sledgehammer, and hitting her with it, knocking her to the ground. She is off camera, but investigators say the video shows he continued to hit her. Court papers say he confessed to investigators he didn’t like the woman and had been planning to kill her “for some time.” Delong is charged with one count of second degree murder with intent, not premeditated.

The Midwest Medical Examiner’s Office is releasing the cause and manner of death for a man whose body was found earlier this year in the Mississippi River in Sartell. On August 13th, police recovered the body of 59-year-old Roy Benn from the river after a fisherman found the submerged 1963 Buick Electra near County Road 1. Benn had been reported missing from Benton County in September of 1967. A press release from Benton County Sheriff Troy Heck says after several weeks of examining Benn’s remains and the evidence available in this 58-year investigation, Benn died “as the result of a single motor vehicle crash with water submersion.” No evidence of foul play was found, and the cause was ruled accidental. On September 25th, 1967, Benn had just finished eating breakfast at the King’s Inn Supper Club, got into his metallic blue 1963 Buick Electra, and then vanished. According to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, which investigates missing persons cases, Benn was a widower who owned an apartment building and St. Cloud Gas and Appliance Service. According to his family, he was well off with no debts and may have been carrying several thousand dollars at the time he disappeared. Investigators say no one ever used Benn’s credit cards, wrote any checks on his bank account, or re-licensed his car anywhere. His loved ones said he was happy with his life, and they don’t believe he would have abandoned his family. The release says the Benton County Sheriff’s Office “would like to thank all the agencies who assisted in the investigation of Benn’s disappearance and recovery of Benn’s vehicle and remains. We are grateful for the partnership of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, Stearns County Sheriff’s Office, Sartell Police Department, Sartell Fire Department, and the Midwest Medical Examiner’s Office.” The case will now be closed.

A St. Cloud man with a violent past faces a gun possession charge after an incident with the mother of his children. Stearns County prosecutors have charged 38-year-old Michael Wilson Sr. with the gun possession charge and two misdemeanor domestic assault charges after he allegedly violated a domestic abuse no-contact order. The order was issued in July after Wilson was convicted in Stearns County of making threats of violence against the victim. He also has a conviction for 1st-degree attempted murder out of Illinois in 2006. St. Cloud Police responded to a residence on 33rd Street just after 6:00 a.m. after a 911 open line coming from the home. Officers arrived and spotted Wilson exiting the victim's residence. He went back inside when the officer commanded him to approach. Wilson was then seen running from the back of the building. He was found hiding behind a nearby air conditioning unit. The woman told officers that Wilson had pushed her up against the wall, tried to intimidate and scare her. She believed Wilson had a handgun inside his front sweatshirt pocket because of the weight it created in the pocket. Wilson is accused of leaving the residence and returning without the object in the pocket. The victim said Wilson never brandished a gun, but that he was known to carry one.

Many pictures, emails and calls were sent during or called in on KLTF Party Line yesterday about Tuesday night's Northern Lights across the state of Minnesota, even reports of Eastern United States, Wyoming, Chicago and others reporting the colorful spectacle which is expected to effect more places through the week. Thanks again for the picture and calls on Party Line yesterday.