December 23, 2022
The Jackson County Sheriff’s Office was busy on the 21st with 11 calls. At 6:47am a vehicle was in the ditch on MN 60 near Heron Lake. 7:54am A deputy responded to an abandoned vehicle found at the Heron Lake Ethanol plant. 8:30am A deputy assisted the MN State Patrol with a semi and trailer that spun out into the ditch on MN 86 about 3 miles south of I-90. At 1:16pm A deputy assisted the MN State Patrol with a vehicle in the ditch on I-90 near the Heron Lake exit. Personnel were on scene for about 1 hour. Then at 2:57pm A deputy assisted the MN State Patrol with a vehicle in the ditch on I-90 east of Jackson. Warmka Towing assisted at the scene. Personnel were on scene for about 45 minutes. At 3:57 pm A deputy responded to a report of a vehicle in the ditch on Petersburg Road south of Jackson. Then at 4:07pm A deputy responded to a vehicle in the ditch on CR 10 in the Clear Lake curves. At
4:30pm A deputy responded to a UPS van in the ditch southeast of Jackson in Petersburg Township and then at approximately 5pm conducted a welfare check on an individual. A Deputy responded to a report at 5:44pm of several young juveniles using an apartment hallway to smoke in. They left the building before the deputy arrived on scene. And at 8:58pm A deputy assisted the MN State Patrol with a traffic stop and subsequent arrest of the driver for DUI on MN 60 near Heron Lake.
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City of Mountain Lake met Tuesday. The Council approved Resolution to Extending Participation in the Cottonwood County Home Initiative Program. Street Department Daron Friesen, Street Superintendent, provided a report on all vehicles in the Street Department’s fleet. They will be selling the 1973 International and looking to replace it with a used plow truck. The Council approved for the Street Department to purchase a used plow truck, not to exceed their reserve budget.
Marty Seifert with the Coalition of Greater Minnesota Cities provided a recap of the 2022 Legislative Session for the council. Electric, Water, & Wastewater Rates for 2023 rates were presented. The Northland Securities study in mid-2019, recommended to continue to raise water and sewer rates by 2% for the next 5 years from the time of the study. The Council approved the 2023 budget and Resolution for electric, water, and wastewater rates as presented. The Mt Lake City Attorney gave an update regarding civil processes on various properties, public nuisances, current processes, court procedures, agreements, and plans. The City Administrator presented a list of expiring and vacancies for the various city boards and commissions which were briefly discussed. Mayor Nelson is still working on the list and contacting those whose term expires at the end of this year and finding vacancies.
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Windom Area Schools were awarded the Land, Water, Thrive Green Space Enhancement Grant by Toro for 100,000 dollars. This grant will be used to replace the bridge in the Environmental Center, clean up the brush, create an outdoor classroom, light the trails, and place benches and picnic tables in the wooded area. In addition, Eagle Path will be making two small permanent docks so that the science classes can collect water samples.
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Organizations looking to expand their capacity to provide services to older adults and people with disabilities have a new opportunity to support or enhance their work. Grants of $100,000-$250,000 are available from the Minnesota Department of Human Services to organizations serving, or looking to serve, home and community-based services to rural and under-served communities.
Home and community-based services provide opportunities for people to receive services such as home-care or personal care assistance in their home or community rather than move to institutional care settings. The provider capacity grant program is intended to increase the number of service providers throughout Minnesota and the number providing culturally specific services, including organizations serving people with complex needs, the LGBTQ+ community and providing language supports and culturally-specific services.
The grant application is open from Dec. 12 through Jan. 17. More information about the grants and application is available at mn.gov/dhs/grants-equity-access-research/.
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Is your heart pounding in anticipation or in anxiety because TODAY is the DAY before the Night BEFORE CHRISTMAS!!!!! I cannot believe how fast the time has gone by since my friend informed me before Halloween that there was only 10 more Saturdays till Christmas! I tsked it away thinking in a 3 months time zone… BUT here we are!!!! I love Santa! I love the fun of taking the little ones to see him. I still laugh at my favorite Santa Visit with my boys, each one, on one leg where one is Horrified and the other is grinning ear to ear! And now seeing my grandchildren’s reactions of the Jolly Man in Red just brings pure joy to my heart. Darcy… is not a fan unless Mom is sitting next to her which is weird because she is a SOCIAL Butterfly and knows no strangers!!! And this year James is sitting so brave next to Henry… Now I guess I should disclose they were on a second bench and Santa was a few inches away… James is also not a fan but Henry, he knows what Santa is capable of and he digs the whole concept of telling him exactly what he wants. With it being the day before the Night Before Christmas, I wish you all a warm and cozy weekend full of fond memories of Christmas Pasts but to revel in the moment now and appreciate the true Gift that was given to us on the very first Christmas!