Local News Headlines – Wednesday, January 6th

MORE AMERICAN RED CROSS BLOOD DRIVES ARE BEING HELD IN THE AREA.    UNDER COVID-19 RESTRICTIONS, YOU MUST MAKE AN APPOINTMENT AHEAD OF TIME TO DONATE BLOOD.  WALK-INS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED.  THERE ARE ALSO FEWER TIME PERIODS AVAILABLE DURING THE DAY.  ON WEDNESDAY, A BLOOD DRIVE IS BEING HELD AT THE WINDOM COMMUNITY CENTER FROM 1:30 TO 6:30.  AS OF MONDAY, THERE WERE ONLY TWO APPOINTMENTS STILL AVAILABLE.  A BLOOD DRIVE IS ALSO BEING HELD WEDNESDAY AT THE CHANDLER COMMUNITY CENTER FROM 2:00 TO 6:00.  ON THURSDAY, A RED CROSS BLOOD DRIVE WILL BE HELD AT THE SALEM LUTHERAN CHURCH IN MADELIA.  FOR DETAILS, GO ONLINE TO www.redcrossblood.org.       

 

THE MONTHLY WEATHER STATISTICS HAVE BEEN REPORTED FOR THE CITY OF WINDOM IN DECEMBER.   TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH CAME TO ROUGHLY HALF AN INCH.  TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR CAME TO JUST UNDER 25 INCHES.  SNOWFALL IN DECEMBER TOTALLED 5.7” INCLUDING 4” ON DECEMBER 23RD.  FOR THE CURRENT WINTER SEASON, WINDOM HAS RECEIVED 15.4” OF SNOW.  THE HIGH TEMPERATURE IN DECEMBER WAS 56-DEGREES ON THE 9TH.  THE AVERAGE DAILY HIGH READING WAS 36.6-DEGREES – WARMER THAN LAST YEAR.  THE LOW TEMP IN DECEMBER WAS 6-BELOW ZERO ON THE 25TH.  THE AVERAGE DAILY LOW TEMP WAS 16.1 DEGREES – ALSO WARMER THAN LAST YEAR.  

 

LUTHERAN SOCIAL SERVICES HAS AN UPDATE ON THE “MEALS ON WHEELS” SERVICE IN COTTONWOOD COUNTY.  STARTING THIS WEEK, LUTHERAN SOCIAL SERVICES WILL NO LONGER HAVE A CATERING AGREEMENT WITH THE WESTBROOK GOOD SAMARITAN CENTER.  THE DINING SITE AT THE FULDA SENIOR CENTER WILL BE PREPARING AND PACKAGING ALL MEALS ON WHEELS FOR WESTBROOK, STORDEN AND JEFFERS.  MEALS WILL BE TRANSPORTED FROM FULDA TO WESTBROOK.  LOCAL VOLUNTEERS WILL DELIVER MEALS IN WESTBROOK ON MONDAY THROUGH FRIDAY.  MEALS WILL BE TAKEN TO STORDEN AND JEFFERS ON MONDAY, WEDNESDAY AND FRIDAY.  TO SIGN UP FOR MEALS ON WHEELS IN WESTBROOK, STORDEN OR JEFFERS, CALL 1-800-488-4146.  

 

THE HERON LAKE CITY COUNCIL MEETS AT 7:00 THIS EVENING AT THE CITY HALL BUILDING.   THE MAYOR AND TWO CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS WILL TAKE THE OATH OF OFFICE.  UNDER ORGANIZATIONAL BUSINESS, THE COUNCIL WILL SET ITS SCHEDULE OF MEETING DATES. A NUMBER OF OFFICIAL APPOINTMENTS AND DESIGNATIONS WILL BE APPROVED.  THE COUNCIL WILL SET THE SCHEDULE OF FEES AND CHARGES FOR CITY SERVICES AND ADMINISTRATIVE FINES.  THEY WILL CONSIDER THE RENEWAL OF A CONTRACT FOR SERVICE WITH THE SOUTHWEST REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION.  THE HERON LAKE POLICE DEPARTMENT WILL PRESENT THE MONTHLY REPORT FOR DECEMBER AND A YEAR-END REPORT FOR 2020.     

  

THE FIRST BABY OF THE NEW YEAR HAS BEEN BORN AT WINDOM AREA HEALTH.   LEVI MITCHELL SCHROEDER WAS BORN AT 10:16PM ON SUNDAY, JANUARY 3RD.  THE BABY WEIGHED 8 POUNDS, 4 OUNCES AND WAS JUST OVER 20” LONG.  LEVI’S PARENTS ARE MITCHELL AND ERICA SCHROEDER OF MT LAKE.  THIS IS THE SCHROEDER’S 3RD CHILD.  LEVI HAS TWO OLDER SISTERS WHO HELPED CHOOSE THE NAME FOR THEIR NEW BROTHER.  THE BABY WAS BORN A FEW DAYS AHEAD OF SCHEDULE AND IT WAS A QUICK DELIVERY.  THE SCHROEDERS ARRIVED AT WINDOM AREA HEALTH AT ABOUT 10:00 SUNDAY NIGHT AND THE BABY WAS BORN 16 MINUTES LATER.  FOR HAVING THE FIRST BABY OF THE YEAR, THE SCHROEDERS WILL RECEIVE A PRIZE PACKAGE FROM PARTICIPATING AREA BUSINESSES.  

 

LOCAL AMATEUR WEATHER FORECASTER LEO BARTOSH OF DELFT IS PREDICTING A RELATIVELY DRY YEAR FOR 2021.   BARTOSH HAS REPORTED THE RESULTS OF HIS ANNUAL “ONION” FORECAST.  THIS IS A SYSTEM BARTOSH HAS BEEN USING SINCE 1957 TO PREDICT HOW MUCH MOISTURE THE AREA WILL RECEIVE FOR THE NEXT YEAR.  FOR 2021, BARTOSH SAYS THE ONIONS ARE INDICATING A FAIRLY MILD WINTER WITH RELATIVELY SMALL AMOUNTS OF SNOW IN JANUARY THROUGH MARCH.  BARTOSH SAYS THE MOST MOISTURE THIS YEAR SHOULD BE EXPECTED IN APRIL, JULY, NOVEMBER AND DECEMBER.   LATER IN THE YEAR, BARTOSH USES A DIFFERENT SYSTEM TO PREDICT GENERAL WEATHER TRENDS FOR THE UPCOMING YEAR.   

 

WINDOM AREA HEALTH HAS ANNOUNCED A NEW POLICY FOR HANDLING EMERGENCY ROOM PATIENTS.  THE EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT WILL BE CONDUCTING A TRIAGE ASSESSMENT ON EVERY PATIENT WHO COMES TO THE E-R.  TRIAGE MEANS ESTABLISHING A PRIORITY FOR DETERMINING WHICH PATIENTS WILL BE TREATED FIRST, BASED ON THE SEVERITY OF THEIR CONDITION.  AS A RESULT, PATIENTS WHO ARE NOT DEEMED TO BE IN SERIOUS CONDITION MAY HAVE TO WAIT LONGER BEFORE THEY ARE SEEN BY A DOCTOR.  IF YOUR MEDICAL CONDITION IS NOT AN EMERGENCY, WINDOM AREA HEALTH RECOMMENDS THAT YOU CONSIDER OTHER OPTIONS OR MAKE AN APPOINTMENT.