Morning Newswatch with Jay Caldwell

The ice fishing season has been dealt a setback this week with high temperatures in the 40s and 50s. Glen Schmitt from Outdoor News joined me on WJON. He explained last year at this time we has high temperatures in the teens, there was measurable snow on the ground and ice covering Central Minnesota lakes.

St. Cloud State University will be graduating around 800 students next Friday, December 15th. Jason Woods is the Vice President at SCSU and he joined me on WJON today along with, soon to be graduates Angie Notsch and Ryan Heyer.

Christmas time is the busiest time of year for package deliveries. Alicia Mages from Tri-County Crimestoppers has some suggestions for those who live in multi-family dwellings to avoid becoming victims of package theft. Mages says most apartments have a designated room where packages can go or they are accepted in the office.

More and more holiday events happen in Minnesota each year. Jake Juliot from Explore Minnesota highlights some events to see this month.

A recent scam to be aware of involves attempts to extort money from victims on dating sites. Alicia Mages from Tri-County Crimestoppers says this scam involves people posing as someone they aren't threatening individuals with photos they don't likely have and demand payment so these photos don't become public.

The St. Cloud Police Department are reporting a stolen vehicle on the 200 block of 14th Avenue South. Alicia Mages of Tri-County Crimestoppers says it is a 1998 Flood trailer with Minnesota license 5038CTE. The trailer also had 4 late 90s Polaris snowmobiles on it.

Deer harvest numbers are down overall throughout the state but Central Minnesota is an exception to that. The muzzleloader season continues through Sunday (December 10) and the archery season continues through December 31. Glen Schmitt from Outdoor News joined me on WJON.

Gas prices have been on the steady decline for the past few months. St. Cloud State Economist King Banaian joined me on WJON. He explained United States production of oil has reached an all time high surpassing the highs established pre-pandemic.

The Sartell paper mill site is an empty canvas but what will appear on that canvas could become more apparent soon. Sartell Mayor Ryan Fitzthum joined me on WJON this week. On Monday night the Sartell city council met with consultants and reviewed the concept plan.

A warmer than normal November is preventing ice fishing from happening as early as some would like. Glen Schmitt from Outdoor News joined me on WJON. He says despite highs above freezing locally recently many of the lakes capped Monday.