On April 20th, 2026, at 8:19 P.M., the Meeker County Sheriff’s Office received a call about a vehicle fire in the 200 block of Milky Way Street South in Cosmos. Meeker County Deputies responded, along with the Cosmos Fire Department. Upon arrival, Fire personnel found the vehicle’s engine compartment engulfed in flames. No injuries were reported. The cause of the fire is unknown but believed to be an equipment malfunction. The vehicle, owned by Nicholas Bode, 28 of rural Atwater, is a total loss.
On this day in music, April 21, 2016, the flamboyant, influential, and sometimes controversial Minneapolis musician, Prince, died aged 57. Born Prince Rogers Nelson, he began his career in the late 1970s, finding acclaim with albums like Controversy and 1999. In 1984, he achieved even broader success with the hit movie Purple Rain and its multi-platinum soundtrack album. A musical shapeshifter, whose unique style embraced R&B, funk, pop, rock, jazz, and hip-hop, Prince was also famed for his spectacular live shows. In the 90s, during a dispute with his label Warner Bros, he changed his name to an unpronounceable symbol, becoming known for a time as The Artist Formerly Known As Prince.
In 2013, DJ/producer Calvin Harris entered the history books when he became the first recording artist to score eight UK Top 10 hits all from a single album (2012’s 18 Months). Born Adam Wiles in Scotland, Harris surpassed Michael Jackson’s previous record-breaking tally of seven Top 10 smashes each from the albums Bad and Dangerous.
In 1990, Sinead O’Connor topped the Billboard Hot 100 with her haunting interpretation of the Prince-written “Nothing Compares 2 U,” a song which the latter artist first recorded with his side project, The Family, in 1985. The single spent a month at the summit of the US pop charts and also went to No.1 in 18 other countries.
In 1978, 31-year-old singer-songwriter Sandy Denny passed away. The London-born artist rose to fame in 1968 as part of the folk group Fairport Convention, then left to form her own band, Fotheringay, the following year, before launching her solo career in 1971. She is best remembered for her classic song “Who Knows Where the Time Goes,” which was covered by Judy Collins in 1968.
In 1984, ex-Genesis drummer and singer Phil Collins chalked up his first of seven US chart-topping singles with “Against All Odds (Take A Look At Me Now),” taken from the soundtrack to the romantic thriller movie of the same name. It stalled at No.2 in the UK.
In 1990, Paul McCartney set a new world record when his concert at the Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro drew an audience of 184,000. At the time, it was the largest crowd to attend a rock concert.
BORN ON APRIL 21
1919: Don Cornell (Singer)
1947: Iggy Pop
1951: Nicole Barclay (Fanny)
1958: Mike Barson (Madness)
1959: Robert Smith (The Cure)
1959: Michael Timmins (Cowboy Junkies)
1960: John Maher (Buzzcocks)
1963: Johnny McElhone (Altered Images, Texas)
The annual tree sale through the Meeker County Soil and Water Conservation District has been underway since the first of the year. The trees that people ordered will be available to be picked up this Friday from 9-to-6 and on Saturday from 8-to-11 a.m. at the Meeker County Fairgrounds.
District Technician Joe Norman says people should enter the fairgrounds through the main entrance on the west side and follow the signs. He says most of the trees are bare root seedlings – 18-to-24-inches high, in bundles of 25, and there are about 40 varieties.
Norman says they always order a few extra trees so people can stop out and see if there are any trees to purchase if they didn’t pre-order and you don’t have to purchase a whole bundle of 25 if you just want a few trees. He says they also have potted conifers for sale.
Norman says trees are beneficial for providing shelter from the snow and wind, for preventing soil erosion, and providing shelter for wildlife. He says you can look at the order form on their website to see all of the trees that are available at meekerswcd.com. You can also stop at the Meeker County SWCD office on Johnson Drive in Litchfield – just west of Walmart.
Meeker County Sheriff Brian Cruze has released his annual report for 2025. He says some of the big changes for his department in 2025 included the completion of the remodel project, the 911
software upgrade, and the replacement of the community notification software.
Sheriff Cruze says with the completion of the remodel project, they created some additional space in the Sheriff’s Office for personnel and created new space for the upgraded dispatch center. He says there’s also additional dedicated space for jail programs, jail visitation, and jail Administration, but the most significant change was to the security of the Justice Center
Sheriff Cruze says in 2025, the Sheriff’s Office experienced an 11% increase in calls for service, totaling 10,295 compared to 9,268 in 2024 – across all county agencies (police, fire, rescue, and ambulance), total call volume rose by just over 3%. He says the dispatch center processed 26,492 total incoming calls, which represents a 6.5% increase over the previous year.
Sheriff Cruze says regarding specific crime trends, they saw a rise in reports of assault, domestic violence, criminal sexual conduct, fraud, and scams, but there were decreases in burglaries, disorderly conduct, and civil cases. He says mental health remains a significant challenge facing our deputies and the community, as 2025 saw a continued rise in welfare checks, suicidal individuals, and vulnerable adult reports.
