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Major Disaster Declaration approved for some Minnesota counties
Gov. Tim Walz sent a letter to the president requesting federal aid as the state battles rising flood waters.
WASHINGTON, D.C., USA — Federal aid is coming to Minnesota after severe storms and rising waters flooded the state.
On Monday, FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, announced aid will be available to Minnesotans to supplement recovery efforts beginning on June 16.
Funding is available to state, tribal and eligible local governments and certain nonprofits on a cost-sharing basis. The money can be used for emergency work and the repair or replacement of facilities damaged by storms and flooding.
The following 22 counties are approved for FEMA aid:
- Blue Earth
- Carver
- Cass
- Cook
- Cottonwood
- Faribault
- Fillmore
- Freeborn
- Goodhue
- Jackson
- Lake
- Le Sueur
- Murray
- Nobles
- Pipestone
- Rice
- Rock
- St. Louis
- Steele
- Wabasha
- Waseca
- Watonwan
Funding is also available on a cost-sharing basis for federal recovery operations in affected areas. Additional designations may be available at a later date. Over the weekend, information from the office of Governor Tim Walz said 20 other counties are currently under review for federal assistance.
RELATED: MN farmers reeling from flooding
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While Fravel will receive a mandatory life sentence without parole for his partner’s murder, no one knows what Maddi’s family or the judge will say in court.
WINONA, Minn. — The sentencing of Adam Fravel Tuesday afternoon will bring a heart-wrenching murder case to a close, but the family of Maddi Kingsbury will never be the same.
Fravel will be in a Winona County courtroom at 1:45 p.m. for the official sentencing, although it’s already known he will receive a mandatory life sentence with no chance at parole after being convicted of first-degree premeditated murder on Nov. 7.
A Blue Earth County jury also found Fravel guilty on three other murder counts: first-degree with a pattern of domestic abuse, second-degree intentional murder, and second-degree murder while in the commission of a felony.
The trial was moved from Winona County to Mankato due to pre-trial publicity, and the challenge of seating an unbiased jury.
What is unknown, is what Kingsbury’s family and friends will say during victim impact statements, and how Judge Nancy Buytendorp will address the defendant before committing him to prison for the rest of his life.
Fravel will also given the opportunity to speak, but it is unknown if he will do so. He chose not to testify during his trial.
The proceedings will be broadcast live as cameras will be allowed in the courtroom, something still relatively uncommon in Minnesota.
Maddi Kingsbury was reported missing on March 31, 2023, after she and Fravel dropped their daughter and son off at a daycare not far from their home in Winona. She was reported missing by friends and family that evening after they couldn’t contact her.
A series of massive searches conducted in Winona and Fillmore Counties united the community and brought in volunteers from across Minnesota and the country to help.
Maddi’s remains were found weeks later on June 7, in a remote culvert near the community of Mabel, where Fravel’s parents live. A coroner from the Mayo Clinic determined her cause of death was homicide, and Fravel was arrested and convicted in the killing.
In a longstanding tradition, “A Christmas Celebration with The Steeles” will take place at Pantages Theatre on Dec. 21-22.
This will be the 40th anniversary of the singing siblings concert in Minnesota. The five Steeles have recorded and performed with Prince, Morgan Freeman, the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra and many more notable artists.
The Steeles visited KARE 11 News at Noon to share more about their upcoming event.
St. Croix Tribal police were called to a residence in Webster just before 6 p.m. Monday and encountered a man with a knife. One officer fired his weapon.
WEBSTER, Wisconsin — A man is hospitalized and multiple police officers are on administrative leave following a shooting in Webster Monday evening.
The Wisconsin Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI) says the officer-involved shooting happened in the community of Webster shortly before 6 p.m. St. Croix Tribal Police were dispatched to a home in the 24000 block of Eagle Feather Dr. and upon arrival officers say they encountered a man with a knife. At some point in the encounter one officer fired his weapon, hitting the knife-wielding man.
DCI says the man who was shot was airlifted to a hospital in Minnesota, where he remains. There is no word on the man’s condition.
Burnett County sheriff’s officials called in the DCI to lead the investigation into the shooting. The officers involved in the incident have been placed on administrative leave, as is common in most officer-involved shootings.
Once the DCI investigation is concluded, reports will be turned over to the Burnett County Attorney’s Office to determine whether charges are warranted in the incident.
