Tuesday, January 20, 2026

Extreme cold air will be moving into the state this week. This morning temps of -10 to -20 around central Minnesota but even colder by Thursday and Friday as an Arctic pull of the coldest air to the state in quite some time will bring air temps Thursday night through Saturday night of daytime highs of -8 to -17 for highs and for lows of -26 to -38 degrees, though winds will be lighter, still wind chills in some parts of the state could be around -40 to -50 Friday and Saturday. Prepare for the extreme cold this weekend on your bodies, cars and vehicles get them cold weather ready, check on your pets make sure they are inside and out of the elements from the extreme cold coming this later this week. Continue to listen to Little Falls Radio for any weather related announcements or cancellations. You can listen online to all three stations also by going to fallsradio.com and click listen online for each of the radio stations. 

One person was hurt in a two-vehicle crash in Monticello. The Minnesota State Patrol says the incident happened at about 6:00 p.m. on Sunday on the Highway 25 overpass of Interstate 94.  One vehicle was going northbound on Highway 25 to go westbound on Interstate 94 when it collided with another vehicle going south on Highway 25. Sixty-year-old Bernadette Whiting of Cologrado Springs, Colorado, was taken to Buffalo Emergency with non-life-threatening injuries. Fifty-seven-year-old Laura Lopez of Monticello and her passenger, 27-year-old Christopher Lopez of Monticello, were not hurt.

The driver of a car was taken to the hospital after crashing his vehicle. The Minnesota State Patrol says the incident happened on Sunday at about 9:00 p.m. on Highway 55 in Rockford. Thirty-one-year-old Ryan Blomquist of Rockford was traveling westbound when his vehicle went off the road near Gabler Avenue Southeast.  Blomquist was taken to Buffalo Emergency with non-life-threatening injuries. The State Patrol says alcohol may have been a factor in the crash. The Patrol was assisted by Alina Health, Wright County Sheriff's Office, and Rockford Fire Department.

The Pentagon has ordered about 1,500 active duty soldiers to be ready in case of a possible deployment to Minnesota, where federal authorities have been conducting a massive immigration enforcement operation, two defense officials said Sunday. The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military plans, said two infantry battalions of the Army’s 11th Airborne Division have been given prepare-to-deploy orders. The unit is based in Alaska and specializes in operating in arctic conditions. One defense official said the troops are standing by to deploy to Minnesota should President Donald Trump invoke the Insurrection Act, a rarely used 19th century law that would allow him to employ active duty troops as law enforcement. The move comes just days after Trump threatened to do just that to quell protests against his administration’s immigration crackdown. On Thursday, Trump said in a social media post that he would invoke the 1807 law “if the corrupt politicians of Minnesota don’t obey the law and stop the professional agitators and insurrectionists from attacking the Patriots of I.C.E., who are only trying to do their job.” He appeared to walk back the threat a day later, telling reporters at the White House that there wasn’t a reason to use it “right now.” “If I needed it, I’d use it,” Trump said. “It’s very powerful.” Trump has repeatedly threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act throughout both of his terms. In 2020 he threatened to use it to quell protests after George Floyd was killed by Minneapolis police, and in recent months he threatened to use it for immigration protests. The law was most recently invoked by President George H.W. Bush in 1992 to end unrest in Los Angeles after the acquittal of four white police officers in the beating of Rodney King. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, a Democrat and frequent target of Trump, has urged the president to refrain from sending in more troops. “I’m making a direct appeal to the President: Let’s turn the temperature down. Stop this campaign of retribution. This is not who we are,” Walz said last week on social media.

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) says it’s investigating after reports that dozens of protestors interrupted a church service in St. Paul on Sunday morning. St. Paul police say officers responded to a report of 30 to 40 protestors interrupting services at Cities Church on Summit Avenue around 10:40am. Police said by the time officers arrived, the group had left the church and was walking down the alley. Community organizer and St. Paul School Board member Chauntyll Allen, one of the protesters who showed up to the church, said one of the congregation’s pastors is a local U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) official. Allen said she and her group wanted to raise awareness and call for justice for Renee Good, the woman who was shot and killed by an ICE agent earlier this month. The North American Mission Board, which is associated with the church, said the demonstration “was not a protest; it was lawless harassment.” ICE officials blamed Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey for the protest, alleging they are “whipping these mobs into a frenzy and then allowing them to run rampant.”

With City Offices closed Monday for the Dr. King Holiday, the Little Falls City Council will meet Tuesday night at 7:30pm at the City Hall Council Chambers. 

Haven of Mercy Valentine's Dinner will be February 13th at 6pm social, 6:30pm meal at St. Stanislaus Catholic Church in Sobieski. For tickets call Michael Retka at 232-5898, or Janet Retka at 630-1272. 

Death Notices: Jerome "Farmer" Lampert, age 79 of Bowlus. Anna Steinbronn, age 93 of Becker formerly of Little Falls. 

Weather: today partly cloudy skies, high 12 above, snow after 5pm, could be half inch to 1 inch tonight low around 3 above, snow in the morning Wednesday high near 20, then falling temps, low around -5 with wind chills around -20 into Thursday. Sunny and very cold Thursday, high 3, low around -25 with wind chills near -40, Friday extreme cold conditions, high -11 below zero, low near -30 below zero, wind chills near -40. 

Sports: Indiana beat Miami 27-21 to win their first National Championship and finish undefeated in college football this year in the National Championship Game last night in Miami. NFL hirings over the week Jon Harbaugh to New York Giants, Kevin Stefanski to Atlanta. Miami has hired Jeff Hafley the former Packer Defensive Coordinator. Tennessee is expected today to hire Robert Saleh who was 49ers defensive coordinator. Buffalo fired their coach Sean McDermott after losing in overtime to Denver this past weekend in the divisional playoffs. AFC Championship Sunday at 2pm New England at Denver. NFC Championship Sunday at 5:30pm Los Angeles Rams at Seattle both games live on AM960 KLTF.