A suspect is in custody after a several hour standoff.in St. Cloud. At around 8:30 Tuesday morning, the Central Minnesota Violent Offender Task Force was serving a knock and announced warrant regarding a drug investigation at an apartment in the 2700 block of 16th Street South. Authorities say the suspect, 37-year-old Shawn Jacobs, threatened to shoot officers through the door. As officers backed away, Jacobs yelled he was going to kill himself and fired a single shot from inside the apartment. The bullet went through the wall into the hallway where officers were standing. No one was hurt, but authorities evacuated the building and set up a perimeter around the complex. The St. Cloud SWAT team and crisis negotiators were called in to assist. Negotiators talked with Jacobs over the next several hours. Just before 4:00 p.m., authorities say Jacobs agreed to surrender peacefully. He was taken into custody and is being held in the Stearns County Jail on charges related to the incident.
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On Saturday (05/21/202) afternoon at 3:50 pm a Todd County Sheriff's Office Deputy was on patrol on County Road 16 near Moraine drive. The Deputy stopped a vehicle for a traffic violation. While conducting the traffic investigation the Deputy searched the vehicle for illegal narcotics. Methamphetamine, marijuana, and concentrated THC oil was found inside the vehicle. A female passenger in the vehicle was arrested and booked into the Todd County Detention Center on narcotic possession charges.
The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service has opened signups for area farmers looking to upgrade their irrigation systems. According to a news release from the Minnesota Department of Agriculture, the program is available to producers with irrigation systems located within Becker, Benton, Cass, Dakota, Douglas, East Otter Tail, Grant, Hubbard, Kandiyohi, Meeker, Morrison, Pope, Sherburne, Stearns, Stevens, Swift, Todd, Wadena, Washington, and West Otter Tail Soil and Water Conservation Districts. Cost-sharing and technical support is available for variable-rate irrigation systems, soil moisture sensors, and a number of other advancements to new and existing irrigation systems. In addition, acres covered by the cost-sharing program may qualify for cost-sharing cover crop, nutrient, and tillage management programs. The program is made possible with a $3.5 million grant from the NRCS. The deadline to sign up is June 17th.
Tuesday's COVID-19 update from the Minnesota Department of Health includes 16,204 newly reported cases and 36 newly reported deaths, including a person aged 25-29 from Dakota County. The state's COVID-19 death toll is now 10,600. Today's report includes data that was reported in a 96-hour holiday period ending at 4 a.m. Monday, Jan. 3, so the numbers are inflated compared to a single day of reporting. Minnesota's test positivity rate on a 7-day rolling average (through Dec. 27) is 12.0%, Anything over 10% puts Minnesota in the high-risk threshold for community transmission of the coronavirus. Through Jan. 3, the number of people with COVID-19 hospitalized in Minnesota was 1,370 – up from the 1,313 reported on Dec. 30. Of those hospitalized, 293 people are in intensive care (up from 283) and 1,077 are in non-ICU care (up from 1,030). The latest hospital capacity data shows there are 30 staffed adult ICU beds available in the entire state – down from 32 on Dec. 30 – and 11 pediatric ICU beds available, which is down from 13 on Dec. 30. Todd county is currently at 5,316 confirmed cases of covid-19 along with 52 deaths.