29-Apr-2025

Highway Crash

One person was hurt in a crash near Willmar late Monday morning. The Minnesota State Patrol says at about 11:34 a.m., an SUV driven by 19-year-old Isaiah Foster of Wahoo, NE, was going south on County Road 5, and an SUV driven by 65-year-old Laurie Gault of Alexandria was going east on 120th Avenue when they collided in the intersection. Gault was taken to Rice Memorial Hospital in Willmar with non-life-threatening injuries. Two passengers from St. Cloud in Gault's vehicle, 14-year-old Acacia Pennertz and 16-year-old Madalene Pennertz, were not hurt. Foster was not hurt in the crash.

29-Apr-2025

Judge Releases Part of Warranr In Huisentruit Case

A Cerro Gordo County judge has released part of a search warrant from 2017 pertaining to the cold case of missing Mason City news anchor Jodi Huisentruit. Huisentruit went missing in June of 1995 while on the way to her morning news anchor job. The search warrant was for GPS data from two vehicles belonging to John Vansice. Vansice was a person of interested in Huisentruit’s case as he was reportedly the last person to see her alive. Vansice passed away in December 2024, prompting arguments in court on whether or not the warrant should be unsealed. Cerro Gordo County Attorney Carlyle Dalen argued the affidavit contained sensitive information that could impact the case. Private investigator Steve Ridge advocated that since Vansice passed away, the warrant should be unsealed in its entirety. Mason City police have publicly said no useful information came of the search. The judge ruled that part of the search warrant can be unsealed. However, the affidavit that contains sensitive information will stay sealed. The 2017 search warrant was unsealed Monday. The search warrant details law enforcement was looking to remove electronic tracking devices from a 1999 Honda Civic and a 2013 GMC 1500. The warrant says investigators learned Vansice would regularly travel from Arizona to Iowa. The report shows a log of locations Vansice drove to in March of 2017. Vansice drove through several states including Iowa, Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas.

28-Apr-2025

Bar Fire

 A small town bar in northern Minnesota was destroyed in a fire. The Cass County Sheriff's Office says they received a 911 call at about 5:30 a.m. Sunday for a structure fire on Highway 200 in Remer. Deputies and first responders arrived on the scene and found "The Pub" bar engulfed in flames. Fire Departments from Remer and Longville responded. There is significant damage to the building. The fire is under investigation with the help of the State Fire Marshal's Office.

28-Apr-2025

Drug Bust

Investigators seized a lot of alleged methamphetamine in a drug bust in Brainerd. On Thursday, the Lakes Area Drug Investigative Division (LADID) executed a search warrant in Brainerd as part of an ongoing investigation into the sale, distribution, and trafficking of methamphetamine in the Crow Wing County area. As a result of this operation, investigators seized approximately 8.2 pounds of suspected methamphetamine, with an estimated street value of $30,000. A Brainerd man was arrested at the scene and is now facing multiple felony-level controlled substance charges. LADID is a multi-jurisdictional drug task force made up of officers from the Crow Wing County Sheriff’s Office, Brainerd Police Department, Baxter Police Department, and the Mille Lacs Tribal Police Department.

28-Apr-2025

Gas Prices

Gas prices are down slightly this week. Gas Buddy says average gasoline prices in Minnesota have fallen 0.8 cents per gallon, averaging $3.01.  The national average price of gasoline is unchanged, averaging $3.10. The national average price of diesel has decreased 2.0 cents in the last week and stands at $3.49. Gas Buddy says oil prices, which had fallen into the $50 per barrel range at the height of President Trump's trade war, have now rallied and are holding in the low $60s, leading to rising gas prices in some states. For now, expect the national average to bounce around in the $3.10 to $3.20 per gallon range in the coming week.