KTOE Noon Newscast 1-9-25

Published On: January 9th, 20252.3 min readCategories: News

Top Stories for Noon 1-9-25

Mankato Department of Public Safety Released their December 2024 Statistics Report.
More Minnesotans will be getting the food they and their families need to survive. Governor Tim Walz announced another five-and-a-half-million dollars in funding Wednesday for Minnesota food shelves. Half of the money will be used to buy food from Minnesota producers and processors and supporting the local agricultural community. These funds will support Second Harvest Heartland and the Food Group, which are hunger-relief organizations that partner with food shelves to provide millions of meals across the state.
Former President Jimmy Carter’s vice president is paying final tribute to him thanks to his son. Ted Mondale delivered a tribute written by Walter Mondale before his passing. Carter’s vice president praised him, saying he achieved “so much” during his four years in the White House. The 39th president died at the age of 100 late last month and will return to his hometown of Plains, Georgia, to be buried next to his wife. All five living Presidents were in attendance at today’s State Funeral.
A missing Rochester man is dead. On December 31st, police responded to a vehicle on fire in Byron. A body was found in the driver’s seat. The car was registered to 76-year-old Uong Ong, who went missing on December 3rd, last seen driving home. Officials have confirmed the body was Ong. The investigation is active.
The state’s contract with over 35-thousand home care workers is set to expire tomorrow. Service Employees International Union represents the workers and has been negotiating for months with the Minnesota Department of Health. Workers held a rally at the state capitol yesterday. Some issues they want to be addressed in a new contract include health care costs, the workforce shortage, and pay. The union says it is hopeful a deal can be reached by the deadline.
A Minnesota woman will serve almost three decades in federal prison for her role in a Mexican drug operation. A judge sentenced 32-year-old Macalla Knott of St. Cloud to 26 years last week. She pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, money laundering conspiracy and continuing criminal enterprise. Knott and her co-defendants were accused of working with Sinaloa Cartel. In 2023 she admitted to living in Mexico and overseeing more than five people as part of the drug smuggling operation.
The Department of Natural Resources will stop culling deer in parts of southeastern Minnesota due to an increase in chronic wasting disease. The agency said yesterday that the disease now affects five percent or more of the deer in permit areas in Fillmore and Winona counties. DNR officials say culling is an effective tool during the early stages of an outbreak but that new strategies are now needed. That includes feeding and movement bans and different types of hunts in those areas.