Local News Headlines – Thursday, January 7th

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.   

 

THE WINDOM CITY COUNCIL MET THIS WEEK.   THE COUNCIL VOTED TO SUBMIT AN APPLICATION TO THE STATE TRANSPORTATION ALTERNATIVES PROGRAM.  THE CITY IS SEEKING GRANT FUNDS TO EXTEND WALKING TRAILS AND CREATE A NEW WALKING AND BIKING PATH NEXT TO COTTONWOOD LAKE DRIVE.  IF THE GRANT IS APPROVED, THE CITY WOULD NEED TO PROVIDE MATCHING FUNDS.  DISCUSSION WAS HELD ON TWO HOUSING PROJECTS.  THE E-D-A IS ASKING THE COUNCIL TO CONSIDER ADJUSTMENTS TO THE CITY’S HOUSING TAX ABATEMENT PROGRAM IN ORDER TO PROVIDE SOME ADDITIONAL FUNDING FOR THE RENOVATION OF THE GUARDIAN INN INTO APARTMENTS, AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE ‘GOVE ACRES’ HOUSING PROJECT ON 19TH STREET.   

 

THE NATIONAL TRANSPORTATION SAFETY BOARD HAS RELEASED A PRELIMINARY REPORT ON A FATAL AIRPLANE ACCIDENT IN WINDOM.   THE PRELIMINARY REPORT DOES NOT LIST A PROBABLY CAUSE FOR THE ACCIDENT.  SCOTT FREDIN OF WINDOM DIED AFTER HIS PIPER AIRPLANE CRASHED ON DECEMBER 6TH.  ACCORDING TO THE PRELIMINARY REPORT, THE AIRPLANE LEFT THE WINDOM AIRPORT AT 6:21 IN THE MORNING.  ABOUT TWO MINUTES AFTER TAKING OFF, THE PLAN MADE SEVERAL TURNS ABOUT TWO MILES NORTH OF THE AIRPORT.  THE LAST RADAR DATA WAS RECORDED ABOUT 4 MINUTES AFTER TAKEOFF.  THE PLAN CRASHED IN A PLOWED FIELD ABOUT 2-AND-A-HALF MILES FROM THE END OF THE RUNWAY.  THE RIGHT WING MADE INITIAL IMPACT.  THE AIRPLANE WAS DESTROYED, LEAVING A DEBRIS PATH OF ROUGHLY 220 FEET.   

 

THE FULDA CITY COUNCIL MET THIS WEEK.   THE PAY EQUITY REPORT WAS READ AND APPROVED.  THE COUNCIL ADOPTED THE 2021 SCHEDULE OF FEES AND CHARGES FOR CITY SERVICES AND ADMINISTRATIVE FINES.  THE FEE FOR SNOW REMOVAL SERVICES WAS INCREASED.  THE COUNCIL ACCEPTED A QUOTE TO HAVE NEW KEY PADS INSTALLED FOR THE POLICE DEPARTMENT AND AMBULANCE GARAGE.  A NUMBER OF OFFICIAL DESIGNATIONS AND APPOINTMENTS WERE APPROVED.  THE COUNCIL APPROVED A CHARITABLE GAMBLING PERMIT FOR THE TOWN-AND-COUNTRY GOLF COURSE.   THE COUNCIL APPROVED A 2% COST-OF-LIVING INCREASE FOR FULL-TIME EMPLOYEES.  QUOTES WERE REVIEWED FOR THE POSSIBLE PURCHASE OF REMOTE EQUIPMENT FOR READING UTILITY METERS.   

 

LET’S REVIEW SOME OF THE YEARLY WEATHER STATISTICS FOR THE CITY OF WINDOM IN 2020.  TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR CAME TO JUST UNDER 25” WITH MEASUREABLE PRECIPITATION ON 92 DAYS.  THAT IS ROUGHLY 18” LESS THAN THE PREVIOUS YEAR.  JULY WAS THE WETTEST MONTH; DECEMBER WAS THE DRIEST MONTH.  THE HEAVIEST SINGLE-DAY SNOWFALL WAS 6.2” ON FEBRUARY 9TH.  THE HIGH TEMPERATURE FOR THE YEAR WAS 98-DEGREES ON JUNE 8TH.  THERE WERE 18 DAYS IN THE 90’s DURING THE YEAR.  JULY WAS THE WARMEST MONTH.  THE LOW TEMP FOR THE YEAR WAS 15-BELOW ZERO ON FEBRUARY 13TH AND 14TH.  THERE WERE 17 DAYS WITH BELOW-ZERO READINGS.  FEBRUARY HAD THE COLDEST AVERAGE DAILY TEMPERATURE.