ST. PAUL (LEARFIELD) - Some Minnesota farmers are anxiously awaiting a drought relief package from the Minnesota Legislature, as Republican lawmakers and the governor continue trying to reach agreement for a special session amid a tangle of COVID politics. Dan Glessing, newly-elected president of Minnesota Farm Bureau, says assistance is important for producers who fed their winter supply of forage to their livestock last summer because pastures were dried up. "When your winter supply is gone and you're just coming into winter, that certainly is a problem," said  Glessing. He worries some producers are faced with having to liquidate their herds [...]

GRANITE FALLS (LEARFIELD)  --  A 41-year-old Morton man has been sentenced to prison for shooting his girlfriend in the leg. Billy Jo Fischer had entered a guilty plea to a charge of felony domestic assault. Investigators said Fischer and the victim were fighting inside a vehicle in the parking lot at Prairie’s Edge Casino in Granite Falls.  When casino security approached their vehicle, Fischer gave the gun to his girlfriend and told her to hide it.  When she took the gun it discharged and hit her in the leg.

PAYNESVILLE (KMHL) – A Paynesville man who was severely shocked in a tree-cutting accident this past spring near Clarkfield has died. Bradley Kneisl died on Tuesday in Wisconsin from complications suffered in the May 24th incident. Yellow Medicine County authorities say Kneisl was in a bucket lift to trim trees on May 24th near Clarkfield when he came into contact with an electrical line and was shocked. Kneisl leaves behind a wife and a daughter.

  REDWOOD FALLS (KMHL) - The Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) has confirmed emerald ash borer (EAB) in Nicollet and Redwood counties for the first time. Thirty counties in the state now have EAB. An MDA employee was surveying for EAB near reported infestations in Brown County when he noticed ash trees with signs of EAB at Sailors and Soldiers Memorial Park Campground in Sanborn, Redwood County, and across the Minnesota River from New Ulm in Lafayette Township, Nicollet County. Both sites are less than 10 miles from previously confirmed EAB infestations. MDA staff were able to find live EAB larvae [...]

ST. PAUL (LEARFIELD) - While job growth continues around the state so does wage growth. "Wages have shown strong growth during the recovery with increases tracking with this really sharp rise in inflation while high demand, low wage jobs are seeing even stronger wage growth than jobs overall," said Oriane Casale with the state Department of Employment and Economic Development. Casale says the average hourly wage for all private sectors rose 6.3 percent over the year and 8.7 percent since October 2019.

OLIVIA (LEARFIELD) There will be no charges against an Olivia police officer who fatally shot 32-year-old Ricky Torres in an alley early the morning of July 4th. "I'm good. He's got some sawed-off shotgun. Came around the car. I told him to stop. He pulled it on me." Officer Aaron Clouse told investigators Torres approached him while he (Clouse) was mounting a trail camera behind a furniture store.  Blue Earth County Attorney Pat McDermott, who reviewed the case, issued a letter that says "given the facts and circumstances, Officer Clouse acted within the law in his use of deadly force." McDermott [...]

MARSHALL (KMHL) – Some area schools in southwest Minnesota didn’t open at all today as the season’s first blast of winter weather hit portions of southwest Minnesota. Three school districts in the Marshall area were closed for the day, or used a distance learning day as snow and strong winds moved in. The National Weather Service has put much of the Marshall Radio listening area in a Winter Weather Advisory. Forecasters are calling for up to another inch of snow accumulation and wind gusts to near 55 miles per hour could significantly reduce visibility in areas, and even cause some tree [...]

OLIVIA (KMHL) – An accident along U.S. Highway 71 north of Olivia killed a Willmar woman. The Minnesota State Patrol says the crash occurred in Renville County Wednesday evening around 6:30. Authorities say Mayran Isse Jama, 75, of Willmar was a passenger in a 2020 Hyundai Santa Fe that was traveling westbound on Renville County Highway 11 when it collided with a Kenworth semi-truck. The state patrol says Jama was declared dead at the Olivia hospital.

SIOUX FALLS, SOUTH DAKOTA (KMHL) – Avera Health says it is ready to begin offering the vaccine to children ages 5-11. In a press release, Avera said the vaccine has been tested by the FDA and is safe for children of that age group. Avera notes during a clinical trial, the vaccine was found to be 90.7 percent effective in preventing COVID-19 in 4,700 children ages 5 through 11. "This approval is an important step in protecting our entire population from COVID-19," said Dr. David Basel, Vice President for Avera Medical Group Quality. "Young children can and do experience serious illness [...]

ST. JAMES (KMHL) - Health officials say a person in their 30’s from Watonwan County has died of COVID-19. The Minnesota Department of Health released the information as part of their daily update on Wednesday, in which health officials reported 43 more deaths from COVID-19. Health officials also say there were 2,956 more cases of COVID-19 reported yesterday.