Tuesday, May 5, 2026
If weather conditions are favorable, the Minnesota DNR is partnering with The Nature Conservancy to conduct a prescribed fire operation at Charles Lindbergh State Park on Wednesday, May 6th. It will encompass about 40 acres within the park and should only be active for 4-6 hours that day. The purpose and ecological benefit of the prescribed burn is to invigorate and maintain prairie restoration plantings, suppress cool season grasses and woody shrubs including invasive species. It is also used to maintain healthy fire-dependent native plant communities including old growth oak woodlands and planted pine as well as maintain open landscape in the interest of promoting the historic Lindbergh farm site. This is to inform the public of this operation so they are not alarmed if they see smoke coming from Charles Lindbergh State Park. Smoke from the fire may be visible, but should be carried away from city limits. We urge the public to stay away from the immediate area for their safety and the optimum operational effectiveness of any personnel involved with conducting the prescribed burn.
An elderly man is in custody after a shooting in Crow Wing County on Sunday Night. The Crow Wing County Sheriff's Office says they received a call around 9:20 p.m. about an 18-year-old man being shot during a domestic disturbance with a family member in Center Township, which is about 12 miles Northeast of Brainerd. Authorities say, upon arriving at the scene, they found an adult man suffering from a gunshot wound. The suspect was still inside the home. Members of the Crow Wing County Tactical Team and crisis negotiators were called in, and after talks, the suspect peacefully surrendered. The suspect, a 72-year-old Merrifield man, is being held at the Crow Wing County Jail awaiting charges. The victim was airlifted to North Memorial Hospital with non-life=threatening injuries. The suspect's and victim's names have not been released.
More information has been released on the 48-year-old man who died after he was struck by a vehicle Friday night, May 1, in south Brainerd. The crash was reported at 10:01 p.m. on the 1000 block of Industrial Park Road, in between South 10th and South 11th streets. The vehicle was traveling westbound on Industrial Park Road when it struck a pedestrian in the right westbound lane. Upon arrival, officers located an unresponsive man at the scene, the Brainerd Police Department reported in a news release. Life-saving measures were performed, but were unsuccessful. The victim was identified as Michael John Alger of Baxter. The vehicle involved was driven by Ashtin Brotherton, 18, Brainerd. The police department reported the crash remains under investigation at this time. Anyone with information regarding the crash is asked to contact the Brainerd Police Department at 218-829-2805. The Minnesota State Patrol and North Memorial Health Ambulance assisted at the scene.
A woman died, and another woman was seriously injured after a vehicle struck them in the City of Rockford on Sunday afternoon. According to the Wright County Sheriff's Office, first responders received a report of a crash at Ash Street and Elm Street around 1:53 p.m. Deputies were informed that two women were struck by a vehicle while walking on the sidewalk. Upon their arrival, deputies learned that one of the women was still trapped under the vehicle. Officials say that first responders were able to free the woman, but despite life-saving measures, she was pronounced dead at the scene. The other woman was taken to a hospital with significant injuries to her lower extremities, according to the sheriff's statement. Authorities say that a juvenile female driver and her mother—both from Cologne, Minnesota—were the only occupants in the vehicle at the time of the crash. Neither suffered injuries and were released from the scene, officials note. The Wright County Sheriff's Office is investigating the incident.
One person was hurt in an early morning crash on Interstate 94 in Stearns County. The Minnesota State Patrol says the incident happened at about 5:00 a.m. on Monday in Avon Township. Twenty-four-year-old Gabriel Huerta of Bloomington was traveling west on the interstate when his vehicle rolled. He was taken to St. Cloud Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
A St. Cloud man has pleaded guilty to four felony counts of possessing pornographic work involving a child under 14. According to the charges filed in Stearns County District Court, investigators with the St. Cloud Police Department received an Internet Crimes Against Children Cyber Tip from Microsoft in December 2022. Microsoft detected two photographs of a young girl being sexually assaulted. The internet address was tracked to a residence in the 1500 block of 6th Avenue South in St. Cloud. Additional tips of child sexual abuse images at that IP address were sent in April 2023 and September 2024. In November 2024, authorities used a search warrant to confiscate several electronic devices from 75-year-old Joseph Scott Smith. In February 2025, the FBI sent the investigators a copy of Smith's hard drive. In August, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children sent the investigator reports on the 468 images of child sexual abuse material found on Smith's hard drive. Many of the images were of girls between the ages of three and five years old, but also included an infant child, a boy between the ages of two and three, and two videos involving bestiality. Smith will be sentenced in August.
National News: A spokesperson for former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani stated Monday he is breathing on his own after being hospitalized with pneumonia and placed on a ventilator. Giuliani, 81, remains in critical but stable condition at a Florida hospital and is being monitored as a precautionary measure, spokesperson Ted Goodman said. Goodman said Giuliani’s condition was exacerbated by restrictive airway disease attributed to his exposure to dust and toxins from the Sept. 11, 2001, attack on the World Trade Center. Giuliani’s hospitalization, near Palm Beach, Florida, came after he was heard coughing on his nightly online talk show and hoarsely told viewers that his voice was “a little under the weather.” Giuliani’s family and primary medical provider are by the former mayor's side, Goodman added. He said they thanked well-wishers for an “outpouring of love and support.”
Death Notices: Judith Joan (Erickson) Christensen, age 86 of Osseo, grew up in Little Falls.
Weather: Tuesday AM frost, then sunny skies, high 47 and breezy, clear skies Tuesday night with patchy frost, low 27. Wednesday AM frost then sunny skies, high 49 not as windy, clear Wednesday night low 30. Thursday AM frost possible, then sunny skies, high 55, chance of PM showers into the evening, clearing skies, low around 32. Friday partly cloudy and breezy, high near 60, low around 30. Saturday sunny skies and breezy, high 64 low around 37.
Sports: The Minnesota Wild, down 1-0 to the Avalanche will have Game 2 of their 2nd round playoff series at Colorado Tuesday night at 7pm, hear the action starting at 6:45pm on Q92 WYRQ and fallsradio.com. The Minnesota Twins open a series at Washington DC against the Nationals Tuesday at 5:45pm with games at 5:45pm Wednesday and 12:05pm Thursday. The Timberwolves will have game 2 at San Antonio on Wednesday night at 8:30pm then home Friday in Game 3 at Target Center also with an 8:30pm tip off. High School Softball Tuesday 5pm Pierz at Little Falls live on AM960 KLTF and streamed online at fallsradio.com.