Tuesday, May 12, 2026
One person was killed Monday morning in an accident in South Harbor Township of Mille Lacs County. Just after 8am, 74-year-old Lynn Stalker of Wahkon was westbound on Stevens Roads crossing Highway 169 and collided with an northbound pickup truck driven by 50-year-old Charlotte Hokkanen of Foley in the intersection. Stalker was reportedly taken to Mille Lacs Health System in Onamia but was pronounced dead. Hokkanen was treated in Onamia for non life threatening injuries in the accident.
Two accidents were reported in Stearns County by the Minnesota State Patrol. The first Saturday at 1:45pm happened on Minnesota Highway 4 at Stearns County Road 32 in Lake Henry Township when 69-year-old Robert Goodall of Belgrade was eastbound and collided with a northbound vehicle driven by 24-year-old Brady Illies of St. Cloud. Illies had non life threatening injuries while Goodall was reportedly not hurt. The second happened Monday morning around 7:15am on Interstate 94 in Albany Township when 23-year-old Linzey Susan Gerads of Freeport was on I-94 Westbound and collided with the trailer of a semi-truck driven by a 62-year-old from Eagle Bend. Gerads was taken to the Melrose Hospital with non life threatening injuries while the semi driver was not injured.
Morrison County Public Works Maintenance employees will be working on the following activities this week: Crack sealing CSAH 39, CSAH 5 and CSAH 26, Patching various roads and doing Culvert work on CSAH 46. Also a large contracted construction project began on the Belle Prairie Park River Access project on Monday May 11th. 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.
Area firefighters were kept busy in the previous days. A garage burned in Deerwood last Thursday May 7th around 4:55pm when firefighters arrived the garage was almost burned to the ground. Most of the contents were lost, no injuries. A grass fire was reported on the south end of Leech Lake Thursday that burned over a quarter acre of grass before contained by firefighters. The Minnesota DNR reported over 35 grass and wildfires from Thursday through Sunday around Minnesota with 15 alone of those on Sunday burning hundreds of acres. Burning restrictions remain in place for central Minnesota at this time.
With a week to go until the end of the 2026 Minnesota legislative session, lawmakers will be busy trying to pass bills through a divided legislature. It's unclear what will get done over the next week as the DFL-controlled Senate is 34-33 while the House is tied. Since it is an even-year session, there is no requirement for the legislature to pass any bills. "It's hard to pass anything in an era where there is really no bipartisanship," said David Schultz, a political science professor at Hamline University. "It's going to be difficult to do so. Among the most important things that most people would say needs to be passed in the next week are two things. One, it's the bonding bill, which generally funds major infrastructure projects in the state. That's looking unlikely because that's going to need a 60% vote to be able to pass. Additionally, most people say there needs to be a supplemental budget bill because things have changed since last year. Those are two critical ones." Another major issue lawmakers face is finding a solution to help keep Hennepin County Medical Center's doors open as it faces a financial crisis. After the Senate passed a gun violence prevention package, there's been no movement in the House. On Thursday, the Minnesota House approved a bill to establish a statewide Office of Inspector General, putting one of the legislature's top anti-fraud bills one step closer to the finish line in 2026. Schultz said he could see some legislation passing this week to help small businesses impacted by Operation Metro Surge as he's heard from both Republican and Democratic mayors about how the surge has impacted their communities. According to state data analyzed by Schultz, so far this session, there have been 41 bills passed. When looking at previous even-year sessions within the past decade, there were 117 laws signed in 2018; 53 in 2020; 68 in 2022; and 52 in 2024. "There are so many issues that I think both sides would like to not to resolve and use them as campaign issues at this point instead," Schultz said. "If you actually pass legislation that solves a problem, you lose it as a political issue."
Little Falls Radio was informed on Monday that there will be a Goodbye and Farewell Party for Pastor Bill Smith and his wife Dorothy Smith on Saturday 2-5pm at Linden Hill. Bill had been the Pastor of Trinity Chapel Church of God for over 25 years in Little Falls. All are invited to come and wish the Smith's well as they are moving to Colorado to be with their daughter.
Death Notices: Gregory E. Gammon, age 65 of Little Falls.
Weather: Tuesday becoming sunny and windy, high 68, wind gusts 20-35mph, Tuesday night clear and breezy, low around 41 wind gusts near 15-25mph. Wednesday sunny and less windy, high 68, clear Wednesday night low near 40. Thursday sunny skies, high 76 with showers and thunderstorms developing in the afternoon and evening, breezy Thursday night mild, low 52. Friday sunny and warm, high 81 with PM thunderstorms possible into Friday night, low around 50. Saturday sunny skies, high 78.
Sports: The Minnesota Vikings Monday announced they are adding running back Adrian Peterson to the Ring of Honor during the upcoming season. Timberwolves will be at San Antonio for Game 5 of the NBA playoffs Tuesday night at 7pm. Game 6 will be Friday night in Minneapolis. Minnesota Twins open a series with Miami Marlins at Target Field Tuesday night at 6:40pm, Wednesday 6:40pm, Thursday 12:40pm then the Brewers from Milwaukee are in town this weekend. Good luck to the Pierz and Holdingford Track teams both boys and girls will compete at the State True Team Track Meet at Eden Prairie on Saturday.