Local News Headlines – Thursday, March 25th

THE JACKSON COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS MET LAST WEEK.   THE BOARD AGREED TO SPONSOR TWO APPLICATIONS FOR OUTDOOR RECREATION GRANTS.  A COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT WAS APPROVED WITH THE HERON LAKE WATERSHED DISTRICT.  THE BOARD ADOPTED A POLICY INVOLVING THE USE OF PAID LEAVE DURING A PUBLIC HEALTH EMERGENCY.  BIDS WERE APPROVED FOR BRIDGE REPLACEMENT PROJECTS IN WEIMER TOWNSHIP AND ALBA TOWNSHIP.  STEP INCREASES WERE APPROVED FOR A DEPUTY AUDITOR-TREASURER AND AN APPRAISER.  A GRANT WAS ACCEPTED ON BEHALF OF THE JACKSON COUNTY LIBRARY SYSTEM.   

 

THE GOVERNING BOARD FOR WINDOM AREA HEALTH HELD A REGULAR MEETING THIS WEEK.  THE REPORT OF PATIENT ACTIVITY FOR FEBRUARY SHOWED AREAS THAT WERE ABOVE BUDGET INCLUDED SWING-BED DAYS, OUT-PATIENT ACTIVITY, LAB PROCEDURES, IMAGING PROCEDURES AND REHAB SERVICES.   THE FINANCIAL REPORT FOR FEBRUARY SHOWED A NET INCREASE FOR THE MONTH OF JUST OVER $40-THOUSAND.  THROUGH THE FIRST 10 MONTHS OF THE FISCAL YEAR, THE FACILITY IS NOW SHOWING A NET INCREASE OF JUST OVER $2-MILLION.  THAT INCLUDES ROUGHLY $900-THOUSAND IN FEDERAL STIMULUS FUNDING.  WORK CONTINUES ON DEVELOPING A BUDGET FOR THE NEXT FISCAL YEAR.  BUDGET PRESENTATIONS WILL BE MADE IN APRIL TO THE GOVERNING BOARD AND THE WINDOM CITY COUNCIL.   

 

HERE’S AN UPDATE ON COVID-19 VACCINATIONS IN MINNESOTA.   AS OF LAST SATURDAY, JUST OVER 1-MILLION-430-THOUSAND MINNESOTA RESIDENTS HAVE RECEIVED ONE DOSE OF VACCINE.  THAT IS 25.7% OF THE STATE’S POPULATION.  JUST OVER 850-THOUSAND-800 PEOPLE HAVE COMPLETED THEIR VACCINATIONS – OR 15.3% OF STATE RESIDENTS.  FOR PEOPLE 65 OR ODER, NEARLY 79% OF RESIDENTS IN THAT AGE RANGE HAVE RECEIVED AT LEAST ONE DOSE OF VACCINE.   LOOKING AT THE TYPE OF VACCINES THAT HAVE BEEN USED, 50.9% OF STATE RESIDENTS HAVE RECEIVED THE PFIZER VACCINE.  46.8% HAVE RECEIVED THE MODERNA VACCINE.  AND 2.2% OF STATE RESIDENTS HAVE RECEIVED THE JOHNSON & JOHNSON VACCINE, WHICH ONLY REQUIRES ONE SHOT.   

 

THE WINDOM SCHOOL BOARD HELD A WORK-SESSION THIS WEEK.   AMOTION WAS ADOPTED TO APPROVE THE CREATION OF ADDITIONAL TEACHING POSITIONS FOR THE 2021-22 SCHOOL YEAR.  THE DISTRICT WILL ADD A 6TH SECTION OF KINDERGARTEN AND A 5TH SECTION OF 1ST GRADE.  AN ELEMENTARY ART POSITION WILL BE CHANGED FROM PART-TIME TO FULL-TIME.  A PART-TIME POSITION IN THE CAREER AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION CENTER WILL BE MOVED TO A FULL-TIME POSITION.  THE CHANGES WILL ADD ROUGHLY $230-THOUSAND TO THE DISTRICT BUDGET. WINDOM IS EVALUATION OTHER POSSIBLE CHANGES, INCLUDING ANOTHER PRE-SCHOOL TEACHER AND A NURSE-SECRETARY TO WORK AT THE HIGHLAND SCHOOL BUILDING. 

 

THE COMMUNITY BLOOD BANK OF SIOUX FALLS HELD A BLOOD DRIVE MONDAY AT WINDOM AREA HEALTH.  THE DRIVE RESULTED IN 36 PROSPECTIVE DONORS BEING SCREENED.  29 UNITS OF BLOOD WERE COLLECTED DURING THE DAY.  THE BLOOD WILL BE SCREENED AND RETURNED TO WINDOM AREA HEALTH WHERE IT CAN BE USED TO BENEFIT UP TO 87 PATIENTS.  THE BLOOD BANK REPORTS THAT THE DEMAND FOR BLOOD PRODUCTS REMAINS HIGH AND THEY ENCOURAGE PEOPLE TO DONATE BLOOD WHENEVER POSSIBLE.  THE BLOOD BANK PROVIDES BLOOD AND BLOOD PRODUCTS TO MEDICAL FACILITIES IN WINDOM, JACKSON, LUVERNE, PIPESTONE, SLAYTON, WESTBROOK AND WORTHINGTON.