Tuesday, June 23, 2026

The Minnesota Department of Health is reminding those outdoors that ticks are on the rise and there is a new threat from them. Researchers at the University of Minnesota have noticed a disease variance in ticks especially in northern Minnesota. The Powassan Virus is in about 5% of ticks but have been detected in ticks in the Brainerd Lakes Area recently. The virus has no treatment or cure as of now and can cause massive brain inflammation if not caught right away. Remember to check yourself thoroughly for ticks not just on your person, kids, and pets should be checked to make sure all are being safe this summer. 

Maintenance employees will be working on the following activities this week: Mowing roadside ditches, Culvert work on County Road 243, County Road 274 and CSAH 39, Painting “Stop Ahead” Symbols. Contracted construction crews will be working on the following activities: Construction on CSAH 76 continues. The road will remain open during construction but will have lane shifting to facilitate the rehabilitation of the road. Please drive with caution and remain patient during delays. Project is expected to be complete by the end of August. Belle Prairie Park River Access project began in May. The park will be closed to vehicles and will be open to foot traffic only while under construction. Additionally, the boat ramp will be closed for the duration of the construction. Project is expected to continue into September. Please use caution around work crews and flashing lights.

A Staples man was injured around 2:35pm Monday on Highway 210 at 64 in Motley of Cass County. 26-year-old Chase Farrell was on 210 when he hit some gravel causing the motorcycle to spin out and Farrell striking the road. Farrell was taken to Staples Hospital for treatment of injuries. 

An Avon man has pleaded guilty to charges stemming from a crash that critically hurt a St. Cloud woman and killed her unborn baby. Thirty-three-year-old Christopher Otte has pleaded guilty to one count of Criminal Vehicular Operation, causing the death of an unborn child with a blood-alcohol level of .08 within two hours of driving, and one count of Criminal Vehicular Operation, causing great bodily harm with a blood-alcohol level of .08 within two hours of driving. According to the criminal complaint, two witnesses saw Otte's SUV speeding westbound on 5th Street North in St. Cloud before hearing a loud crash and seeing smoke arise from the crash scene. Video from a nearby business on 5th Street also allegedly showed Otte running a stop sign at the intersection of 25th Avenue North. The woman, 34-year-old Nastaho Amare, was pinned between the driver's seat and the steering wheel. St. Cloud firefighters helped get Amare out of the minivan as the front end caught fire. Amare's baby was pronounced dead when she arrived at the hospital. Court records show Amare needed surgery to fix her hip, femur, knee, and fractures to her ankle and foot. Police say Otte was unsteady and had slurred speech after the crash. He was given field sobriety tests and a preliminary breath test, which the charges alleged showed a blood-alcohol level of 0.20. During a search, police say they found a receipt from a sports bar that showed the purchase of four Crown Royal Cokes that morning. Police say in Otte's mirandized statement, he admitted to only having two Whiskey Cokes and twice commented that the crash was his fault. Otte has a previous DWI conviction in Stearns County from 2019. He'll be sentenced on August 20th.

A St. Joseph man was hurt when he crashed his minivan on Monday morning. The crash happened at about 8am in St. Augusta. The Minnesota State Patrol says 61-year-old Brian Wirtzfeld of St. Joseph was going east on Interstate 94 when he lost control and hit a tree. Wirtzfeld was taken to the St. Cloud Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources has added five new counties to its deer feeding and attractant ban. The counties being added to the list include Becker, Clearwater, Grant, McLeod, and Meeker, bringing the total to 37. Some counties, including Sherburne and Wright, were among those added to the list just last June. This ban, according to a DNR press release, is intended to help reduce the risk of chronic wasting disease transmission, following numerous detections of the disease in deer across the state last year. “Where people place food or attractants out for deer, higher numbers of deer tend to congregate in one place,” said Paul Burr, acting big game program leader. “The feeding and attractant ban is one tool to reduce the unnatural congregating of deer and lower the risk of CWD spread.” Even in counties not on the ban list, the DNR strongly discourages people from feeding deer. The organization instead asks people who want to help deer to aid efforts to improve their habitat. This, they said, will help provide shelter and long-term food sources. A full map of affected counties can be found on the DNR website.