WJON - News Headlines
WJON News Headlines for 5:00pm, Wednesday, 8-7-2024
see you. The news starts now AM 1240 and 95.3 FM W J O N. Good afternoon. I'm Paul after it W J O N news times coming up on 432 currently 68 degrees here in Saint Cloud. We'll have your full W J O N whether I forecast coming up after the news. A Painsville man who was sentenced to more than 12 years in prison for sexually assaulting an 11 year old girl has been given additional time for sexually assaulting another girl who was between 13 and 16 years old. A Stearns County judge has sentenced 42 year old Matthew Steinman to a 15 year sentence that is to run concurrent with the previous sentence. It means Steinman will serve the l lengthier of the two sentences. One of the victims said the sexual abuse happened in 2016 while the other victims said the abuse happened between 2019 and 2023. In separate case files the girls told authorities Steinman would sexually assault them in their rooms and give them alcohol marijuana and cigarettes to stay quiet. Steinman pleaded guilty on Wednesday to first degree criminal sexual conduct against the second victim. A jury convicted him on two counts of third degree criminal sexual conduct back in March for the crimes against the first child. Steinman gets credit for serving 173 days in the county jail. Questions questions and more questions with the theme at a seminar in St. Cloud today. Deeds paid leave director Greg Norfleet was the speaker at an informational meeting about the new program sponsored by the St. Cloud area Chamber of Commerce. Norfleet spoke for about 30 minutes giving an overview of the program scheduled to go live in 2026. Afterward he took questions for over 45 minutes from the more than 100 people in attendance. King Johnson constructions human resource manager Tina Stay says the session was helpful but more information is needed. Well we've definitely got some answers which was great but we have a lot of unanswered questions that we need in order to prepare for this. Most of the questions centered around insurance and small businesses. Norfleet says the questions and feedback at these sessions are vital for his department and they really need this kind of input to help the program succeed. Pro life and pro choice Minnesota advocacy groups are hot and cold over vice president Kamala Harris choosing governor Tim Wals as a running mate. While executive director of planned Parenthood of Minnesota political action fund Tim Stanley says Wals and Harris have always been doers. They're both stand-up land don't champions that we need for reproductive freedom heading into the 2024 election. Minnesota citizens concerned for life co-executive director Kathy Blazer says that isn't a good thing saying walls will bring the same endangering policies he brought to Minnesota to a national stage. Young women are vulnerable preborn citizens are vulnerable disabled and vulnerable newborns and are vulnerable nursing home patient. PP NCS has endorsed Harris for president and says they will extend the invitation to Wals continuing their long-held support for him. MCCL has made no endorsements of any presidential candidates. Federal health officials say cases of the dominant covid variant have doubled in the past two weeks. The Minnesota Department of Health Stephanie Meyer says this strain is evasive and more transmissible. We are seeing KP 3.1.1. It's been around since probably about March of this year and just been slowly on the rise but we don't have evidence to say that it's more severe or causing more severe disease. She says covid hospitalizations are up slightly but would be even higher if that were the case. Meyer suspects that immunity could be waiting for people who are vaccinated last fall and winter. For people who especially love Airstream campers there's a park just for them in Sherburn County. The Minnesota Airstream Park and Clear Lake opened in 1970 and is one of only 11 remaining cross across the country. It has residents there that come from as far away as Texas, Washington, Arizona, California and Florida. Spokeswoman Pamela Ron says there is something special about owning an Airstream. For me, the Airstream itself, it's iconic. There's nothing better to photograph. I am a former photographer, so I'm a little prone to that angle. But there's just something special about Airstreams. It for me personally, it feels like home. The Minnesota Airstream Park's amenities include a clubhouse where they have Saturday morning coffee and movie Monday, a nine hole executive golf course, a new pool and pool house that opened in 2022, a pond for canoes and kayaks, and a community garden. They're offering public tours of the park this Saturday for anyone who just wants to come and tour it or for people interested in buying a lot. W J O N news time is just about 437 currently 69 degrees here in St. Cloud. You can get the top stories from W J O N's newsroom sent to you every morning. Just sign up for the W J O N news letter today at W J O N dot com. Paul Habster at W J O N news. Your weather eye forecast is coming up