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Lakeland PBS is proud to present Lakeland News at 10.

Were here for you with local news from Bemidji, Brainerd and all of the Lakes Country.

Dennis Weimann with the news.

Stacy Christiansen with the weather and Charlie Yaeger with your sports.

Hey everyone.

Thank you so much for watching.

My name is Matthew Freeman filling in for Dennis Weimann.

One person was found dead and a home was deemed a total loss by a fire that happened in north of Bemidji.

According to their release, the Bemidji Fire Department responded to a report of a structure fire at around 8:47 p.m.

on Monday, February 16th in the 12,000 block of Peterson Lake Road Northeast in Port Hope Township about 15 miles north of Bemidji.

Upon arrival, firefighters found a large residential structure that had been completely consumed by fire and collapsed into the basement.

The building and its content were reported to be a total loss after the fire was extinguished.

Firefighter located one deceased individual inside the home.

This incident remains under investigation.

It took a total of 28 firefighters, 11 pieces of equipment and around six hours to extinguish the fire.

No injuries t any firefighters were reported.

A drug investigation i the city of Cass Lake yesterday has led to the arrest of an individual and hundreds of grands worth of illegal drugs being seized.

According to a press releas from the Cass County Sheriff's Office, pursuant to an ongoin investigation into the use, sale and trafficking of drug in the Castle Lake area, agents with the Paul Bunyan Drug Task Force, Cass County Sheriff's Office, and the Leech Lake Police Department execute a search warrant at a residence on the 300 block of Grant Utle Avenue Northwest in Cass Lake.

A suspect was identified by law enforcement officer and was subsequently arrested.

Where law enforcement found about 82g of fentanyl and $1,878 in cas after a search of the residence.

Officer receive around 401g of methamphetamine, an additional 115.65g of fentanyl and one firearm, along with items indicative of drug sales, including digital scales and packing materials.

The individual was transported to the Cass County Detention Center and was charged with fleeing on foot, obstructing legal process and first degree drug sales for methamphetamine and fentanyl, with fentanyl being the primary driver of overdose deaths in the United States.

Cass County Sheriff Bryan Welk encourages the public to report suspected drug or other crime related information to the sheriff's office.

You can remain anonymous while doing so.

For the first time in tw decades, a Minnesota legislative session began without former Speaker Melissa Hortman.

This weighed heavy on legislators earlier today, who marked the start of the 2026 session with a day of remembrance for Hortman, her husband Mark, and their dog Gilbert.

Three were kille in a targeted attack last June.

The attacker also shot Senator Jon Hoffman and his wife Yvette, but they survived.

A resolution that recognized many of the late speaker's legislative accomplishments, along with memories of he family's love, empathy, and her.

She had respect for all people, regardless of disagreement, were read by House and Senate members.

They also spoke to Hartman's commitment to the House as an institution, adding that Hortman made many accomplishments possible and that Hortman rarely had a harsh word say to people.

I miss my friend every day.

I miss the wisdom that sh brought, the humor, the decency.

And I just hope the wor that we do here does her proud because she cared so deeply about this institution, that it's all of our responsibilities to continue to carry out that our Melissa was the only House Speaker I have had the honor to serve under.

And every day she modeled the importance of leading with conviction and kindness.

I'm blessed to have had the opportunity to learn those lessons, both from her and with her.

As members and other dignitaries exited the house chamber, each placed a rose on Hortman's desk, a seat that will remain a memorial.

This session, a body believed to be that of a missing man, was found by a by a trail north of highway 11 near International Falls prompting further investigation.

According to a release from the Koochiching County Sheriff's Office at around 2 p.m.

on Monday, February 16th, search and rescue personnel operating near Tilson Ba discovered a deceased individual believed to be Mark Rood, a 66-year-old man from International Falls who was last seen on January 19th.

Earlier this year, his vehicle was found on January 27th around the Tilson Bay public access site on 11th Street, not fa from where the body was found.

The release further states that general area was searche previously, but it is believed recent warm temperatures and rain assisted searchers being able to locate the individual.

The sheriff's office says it will be working with the Midwest Medical Examiner's Office to identify the individual.

This remains an active investigation, and the Koochiching County Sheriff's Office has no further information to release at this time.

Tributes have been pouring in for civil rights leader and trailblazing presidential candidate Jesse Jackson.

Jackson died peacefully Tuesday morning in Chicago, according to his nonprofit.

He was 84 years old.

Kari Kaifa reports from Washington.

Keep hope alive.

Keep hope alive.

The Reverend Jesse Jackson a protege of the Reverend Martin Luther King Junior who became a towering civil rights leader himself, has died at age 84.

Make no mistake about it, Jesse Jackson was unique in American history, and I hope that his legacy lives on a new generation of American who might draw from that energy.

Jackson died peacefully and surrounded by his family, according to a statemen from the Rainbow PUSH coalition, the nonprofit social justice organization he founded.

He had been hospitalized in recent months as he dealt with a degenerative brain disease progressive super nuclear palsy.

Jackson's passing on Tuesday by those who worked closel with him but he never stopped.

I once said to him, you already in history, you've gotten all the honors.

Why do you keep going?

He said.

I never learned how to retire.

And by those inspired by him, he told us to get involved, to to be involved with helping the next person, being an example for the next.

For more than two decade before Barack Obama was elected the first black president of the United States, Jackson made white House bids in 1984 and 1988.

We must come together and challenge Democrat to expand and reshape the party.

He shifted the party and shifted the rules of the party to bring more people in.

How many people owe their political lives to what Jesse Jackson did?

He never just ran for himself.

In a statement the NAACP called Jackson, quote, a lifelong soldier for justice.

In Washington, I'm Karin Kaifa.

At George Floyd's memorial service in 2020, Jackson' plaintive call “I can't breathe” pierced the collective silence in a meaningful Minneapolis cathedral and sparked global protests against racial injustice.

Still to come on Lakeland News at 10: a winter storm will bring heavy snow and mixed precipitation to the area, and many of us are under warnings or advisories due to the accumulating snow.

And again, mixed precipitation.

I'll take a closer look at that in just a few minutes.

And coming up after the break for this week's Northwoods experience.

A Bemidji High School student has won the MSHSL Triple A award.

And now Lakeland News at 10.

The Brainerd Airport Commission is discussing implementing an aircraft rescue and firefighting training program at the Brainerd Lakes Regional Airport.

According to the Marine Corps COOL Program, aircraft rescue and firefighting, also known as ARFF, demands familiarity with aircrew extrication, aircraft firefighting procedures, and techniques for any potential aircraft mishap.

The airport added an emergency servic building back in August of 2023, which is dedicated to both ARF operations.

However, employees have been previously sent outside the Brainerd Lakes area to complete training courses.

Interim Director Neil Planzer believes eliminating the need to travel for such training will ultimately benefit the airport.

Aircraft rescue firefighters, they use the word ARFF, have two things that have to be certified the basic certification and then a yearly recurrent certification, and all of them could be certified here in Brainerd.

We could become the regional training center.

Brainerd Commission members approved the concep for the training program plans, or is currently working o a business plan for the program.

Now, before we head into the weather for details on the winter storm warning, some schools in the viewing area are having a two hour late start tomorrow for all students and staff members.

Due to the inclement weather.

Some of those schools include Bemidji, Cass Lake-Bena, Walker-Hackensack-Akeley and Red Lake.

If you're going to be affecte by this winter storm overnight, we encourage you to check with your school district for any potential late starts or cancellations.

And now we've got Stacy here for details on that winter storm warning.

Right now, we are starting to already see that precipitation moving into the area.

Some snow, some sleet.

We've had rain and freezing rai all possible overnight tonight.

Eventually in northern Minnesota transitioning to snow and we could see several inches of accumulation.

That's where we have a winter storm warning out through tomorrow with other areas in our viewing area under a winter weather advisory.

Details on all of this in just a few minutes.

And now the weather with Stacy Christiansen.

Well, we did enjoy one more mild da with relatively quiet weather.

We did have some gusty winds picking up today, but now as we've moved into the late afternoon and evening, we have started to see some precipitation moving into the area.

In many cases, some light rai that has transitioned to sleet and even snow in parts of the area, and will continue to have some heavy snow and mixed precipitation throughout northern and central Minnesota tonight and tomorrow.

And so we do have warnings and advisories out for most of our viewing area.

We'll have a closer look at that in a second.

Here are the current conditions in Bemidji.

It's 32 degrees at the airport.

We have east winds at 21mph with gusts to 28.

Our dew point is 29.

In Brainerd.

Some light rain this evening.

It's 34 degrees with a dew point of 29.

East winds are at 16mph, but we are seeing gusts up to 31.

Northern Minnesot is under a winter storm warning, which is in effec until midnight Wednesday night.

Heavy snow and mixed precipitation and areas of blowing snow are expected, with total sno accumulations looks like between about five and ten inches, with locally higher amounts.

May even see a little bit of ice accumulatio and winds gusting up to 40mph.

Now, other areas of northern and east central Minnesota are under a winter weather advisory until midnight Wednesday night.

Mixed precipitation and blowing snow expected, with total sno accumulations between 1 and 5in, again locally higher amounts with a light glaze of ice also possible.

Winds gusting of 40 to 45mph.

Now a closer look at some of the expected snowfall totals within some of the cities in our viewing area.

And as you can see, the highest totals are in northern Minnesota.

We could see about 8.3in and Big Falls 7.4 in Bigfork, Bemidji looking at about 5.9.

And then of course, those totals get a little smaller as we move into central Minnesota.

But heading up to the northeast, Grand Marais right now anticipated to get just under 22in of snowfall.

Now on the satellite and radar, we have been seeing that precipitation moving northward across the area this evening, a lot of it in the form of rain in central Minnesota.

But we are transitioning that rain into sleet and snow, especially in the north.

Some freezing rain is also possible tonight and areas of snow and mixe precipitation continue tomorrow, especially early in the earlier in the day where we could see some heavy snowfall and agai significant snow accumulations.

So another chance to share with you tonight.

It was a beautiful morning from Angela in Cass Lake, Arlene in Menahga, and Debra at Lake Ada.

SamRose enjoying a little bit of sunshine before the snow moves in over lower Red Lake, Gary spotting a porcupine crossing the roa in Deerwood and Joan with a deer in the yard in Laporte.

So thank you all for sharin those tonight for the reports.

Arlene in Menahga, 29 and windy this morning, Debra, 27, this morning Joan in Laporte.

Clouds and wind moving in this afternoon.

Bob in Bluffton with a high of 41.

Arlene in Longville, 43 was the high and Angela in Cass Lake reporting snow coming down this evening.

Real quick look at our Almanac 43 was our high today in Brainerd.

So again, it was another mild day with a low of 22, Bemidji reaching a high of 41.

Still again, very mild out there.

26 was our low.

So looking at tomorrow's forecast we continue to have widespread snow and heavy snow, possibly some rain in the mix in central Minnesota.

And really we continue to have that up, that pattern of snow throughout the day as we head through the hours and into the nighttime hours.

High temperatures should be pretty steady from what we have overnight, with upper 20s to mid 30s in the north, with mid 30s in central Minnesota.

So here's that forecast.

Snow, rain sleet and freezing rain tonight.

We'll also see areas of blowing and drifting snow.

North winds at 28.

East winds at 15 to 35.

More snow expected tomorrow.

Some mixed precipitation in central Minnesota.

Still breezy with highs near 32.

And then looking at the extended forecast, we still could see some chances of snow later on this wee as temperatures start to fall.

And by the tim we hit the end of the weekend, we are looking at variable clouds with highs near 15.

Back to you.

Thank you Stacy.

We got Charlie with us and it looks like we got a couple of importan basketball games on the lineup.

Well, yeah a lot.

We have a lot going on tonight.

More than the important basketball games.

But yes, we start off Bemidji and Pequot Lakes.

Pequot Lakes ranke highly in Class AA and Bemidji.

While they're doing some good things over in Clas AAAA, plus section hockey starts and we get to hear from Warroad Girls Hockey as they embark on their state tournament run starting tomorrow.

That more coming up after the break.

And now your local sports with Charlie Yeager.

After a weekend of playing under the lights at the Sanford Center Bemidji boys basketball returns to their home court riding a five game winning streak.

Pequot Lake is on a hot streak of their own that pretty much started when the season began.

The records 20 and one and are currently ranked third in Class AA.

Lumberjacks and Patriots tipping off tonight a make up game from earlier in the season due to bad weather.

At the end of the first half.

Bemidji trying to climb out of a ten point hole.

Jaxon Boschee jumper got them closer.

He had 19.

They trailed 3530 at the break.

That' when Austin Riewer caught fire.

Three of his four triples came in the second half.

He dropped 16 and the jacks would take a 3635 lead.

But it was short lived.

Pequot lakes leading by two.

Gus McKenna had five threes plus a deuce for 17 points, 4641.

Pats next possession from the other corner, Tully Birkeland make it rain.

He led all scorers with a 20 spot, 4941.

The lead later, Patriot begin to pull away, Sam Afagwu doing it work in the paint all night.

Added another 14 for Pequot Lakes.

They go on to beat Bemidji 6455, snapping the jacks winning streak but extend their own.

Patriots have now won 14 in a row.

Well Brainerd boys basketball trying to snap a three game skid.

They're hosting Inter conference opponent Willmar and picking up in the second half.

Brainerd up ten.

Grant Johnson straight to the cup.

He had 16 points.

Was up 5240 midway through the period 6455 Warriors now Aidan Gilbert rattles at home from deep.

He had a team high 18 as Brainerd moves up 6555.

Final four minutes Brainerd now leading by 11 Preston Bernander putting the nail in the coffin.

He posted 13 points.

They went on to take down Willmar 8576.

Elsewhere in basketball, Grand Rapids beats Duluth, Marshall tops Little Falls also in boy basketball, Pierz gets the win.

Aitkin also beats Mille Lacs and Clearbrook-Gonvick gets the win over Red Lake.

On the girls side of thing Brainerd beats Willmar as well.

Chisholm tops Grand Rapids, Milaca beats Little Falls, Crosby-Ironton gets the win over Proctor.

Northome-Kelliher beat Pine River-Backus in a game that I thought would be a little bit closer.

Pequot Lakes tops Pierz 7250 Roseau picking up a win tonight, but Wadena-Deer Creek falls to Pelican Rapids and Cass Lake-Bena gets the win over Walker Hackensack Akeley.

The trek to the Grand Casino Arena doesn't quite have the same ring as Trek to the X, but the goal remains the sam for reigning Section 6A champion Northern Lakes get back to the state tournament, but Lightning, along with the rest of the state, began their section quarterfinals tonight.

They're hosting Breckenridge-Wahpeton.

Three minutes into the first period, still scoreless.

Josiah Reier up close and personal gives the lightning a 1-0 lead.

Second period still one nothing.

Northern Lakes, Leyton Cable sends a laser from the blue line the Lightning make it two zip.

Three minutes left in the second period.

Now Lightning trying to pull away Jacob Peterson, do-si-do into the hole.

Northern Lakes extends the lead and would go on to put up three goals in the final period.

They win six zero over B-W.

Lightnin will now face six seed Willmar, who upset three seed Fergus Falls tonight, Little fall also winning their quarterfinal.

They'll move on to play top seed Sartell.

Both those semifinal games this Saturday at the Mac.

More around boys hockey, Warroad wasn' even close against Park Rapids.

They left no doubt there.

Detroit Lakes gets the win over Fosston, ending their season.

Bemidji gets the win at Saint Cloud on the road.

They're going to move on to the semis.

Elk River Zimmerman ends the season for Roseau.

Saint Michael Albertville ends Brainerds season.

Grand Rapids, no problem there with Northern Edge in their quarterfinals.

Warroad girls hockey has arguably been the most dominant team in class A over the past decade, making 11 straight tournament appearances, winning three straigh state titles from 2023 to 2025, and finishing as runners up three times, most recently last season.

That overtime loss to Dodge County in the title game a year ago ended the Warriors attempt at a historic fourth straight state championship.

While the heartbreaking loss has given the girls some added motivation, it isn't defining this year's run.

I think it definitely fuels us, but we still have to start new again.

We're doing everythin we can to be back on that game.

We obviously think about it and we want to redeem ourselves from last year, but we kind of have to move past that last year and it's a new year.

I don't think, well, we we got to go back and do what we didn't do last year.

I mean, that's over with in my opinion.

And we're a different team and we're excited to go down this year and see how we stack up.

One of the biggest keys to success for the Warriors this season has been their depth.

They rotate six defender and run three lines regularly.

They have ten players with five plus goals and four with 15 or more, while also getting solid goaltending from Minnesota commit Payton Rolli, who has a 1.29 goals against average.

It helps world roll through sections with outscored opponents 15 to 0 and earned the number one see heading into the state tourney.

All of u had to play as a team together and that showed against East Grand Forks.

We worked well together and just kept working the whole gam and didn't let off the gas well.

It feels nice to have the one seed in the tournament, but in our eyes I don't think that changes anything.

Every year is very different and every team gives you a different game, and in playoff hockey anything can happen.

There's so many upsets.

So you know, even coming in as the number one seed, you still got to work hard and you got to make sure that you're not got upset.

Well here's a look at just how good the Warriors have been, in their entire careers.

The state of affairs at the tourney, they have 17 state appearances.

That ties the tournament recor for most with South Saint Paul consecutive appearances 11 five.

State titles, six runner up.

They've won 33 games, scored 241 goals and tomorrow they will be taking on the eight seed Luverne.

And if all that stuff wasn't enough, I'm going to tell you right now, Warroad has never lost a quarterfinal match and, it doesn't look like they will tomorrow.

But who knows?

A state tournament, you never know what's going to happen.

Speaking of the state tournament today, the Lumberjacks, they're on their way down to the state tourney.

The Bemidji girls hockey team got a farewell earlier tonigh to try to beat the weather down to the Grand Casino Arena, down to Saint Paul.

And they got welcom from a lot of their little fans.

Got all the signs out there as well.

And then everybody that braved the cold got to wave goodbye as they got a police escort out of town.

What an awesome, awesome deal for them.

They're going to take on Edina, one of the perennial powerhouses, on Thursday in the four five matchup.

We'll have the highlights of that and postgame from that as well.

Well, good luck to the lumberjacks.

Yeah.

Thank you Charlie.

The Minnesota State High School League has chosen a Bemidji student for their triple A award for the first tim in recorded activity's history.

Presenting it to one student who they feel excels i academics, arts and athletics.

For this week's Northwoods Experience, our reporter Sydney Dick spoke to Tanner Johnson about what the award means to him and how much work went into achieving it.

It means a lot.

I mean, I've put a lot of time and effort into my events.

My family, my friends, coaches, teachers they've all put so much time an care into helping me get this.

And so I'm just really grateful for to have this opportunity.

Won the triple A award.

Highlights Academics, Arts and athletics.

Johnson prides himself on having a full schedule with all of these, and may sometimes pull a 12 hour school da between all of his activities.

My athletics are cross-country, swimming, and track, and my arts are a choir and band.

I'm also an athlete.

I started running.

Sophomore year.

I got roped in with a bunch of friends.

And then I've been swimming since my freshman year.

And choir and bands and freshman year as well.

Bemidji's female nominee this year was Megan Johnson, and each teen joined the competition against 15 other boys or 15 other girls from around the section.

Nominees have to participat in at least one league sponsored athletic program and one arts or activity program, while maintaining a 3.0 GPA or higher.

So it's always been in the back of my mind.

I haven't exactly worked towards it, but I've just put in the work for all the things that embody that award.

It's amazing to see how many people have, like, helped me through all my struggles and have also supported me through my successes.

Reporting from Bemidji.

With this week's Northwoods experience I'm Sydney Dick, Lakeland News.

Tanner plans to continue his busy schedule as he goes off to college and fall, and he travels to Tennessee to sing and swim at a collegiate level and continue his higher education by studying pre-med.

We'll go to Stacy for some more details on a winter storm.

And we do have northern Minnesota under a winter storm warning.

Other areas under a winter weather advisory will be seeing heavy snow and mixed precipitation overnight tonight and through tomorrow.

These warnings and advisories expire at midnight Wednesday night.

We could see about 5 to 10i of snow in northern Minnesota.

That's our show.

Be safe out there with this storm out there tonight.