According to Andrea Christoffer, Marketing and Communications Manager for Federated- More than 2,000 Federated members lost power overnight in Jackson and Martin Counties due to the strong winds causing outages, but all were restored by 4 am. The first major outage affected Martin County at approximately 6:15pm. Round two came at about 10:13pm when the Wilder Substation lost power due to the winds.
Federated thanks members for their patience. Federated’s Operations Manager George Madden said, “You don’t often see tornado watches in December. Today crews will be repairing broken and leaning poles, plus dangling wires damaged from the gusty winds. Call Federated to report these repairs.”
Federated is a Touchstone Energy Cooperative serving more than 6,800 members in Jackson and Martin Counties.
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In Mountain Lake, according to City Administrator Michael Mueller, last nights storm left no known storm damage. Power was lost power around midnight, but was restored shortly thereafter. Mueller went onto say they ran the generators last night and everyone should have power and be restored.
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According to Windom City Administrator, Steve Nasby the storm that rolled through had the Street Department removing one large branch off the street and one private tree that had fallen- blocking an alley, in which the property owner was contacted. Windom’s Electric Superintendent, Jason Sykora stated there were no power outages nor any storm damage to our system in Windom.
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TONIGHT, is the Night to be in Windom… Christmas by Candlelight in the square will have lots of fun activities. Horse drawn Carriage rides from 4-6pm, real reindeer, and businesses throughout town will have open houses for treats and drinks. The County Courthouse will be open for people to warm up and be entranced with the beauty of the giant Christmas tree. Reindeer games, a photo booth and snowman soup will be at the Public Library as you roam around you will hear carolers and the Evangelical Free Church will be open with prayer stations. Pastors from the E Free, American Lutheran, First United Methodist, First Presbyterian, and the Gathering Churches will be available. If you have a desire to tour the Lights and decorations of Windom, a local transit bus will escort groups around Windom. Seats are on a first come- first serve basis and will have pickup times at 5:30 and 6:30pm, outside of the Courthouse. Come enjoy the Spirit of Christmas and check out all the cool businesses on the square.
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TODAY is the last day to vote for your favorite Christmas Display. To vote go to windomchamber.com You can find a map of the houses and businesses to vote for on Facebook, the Citizen Paper or by stopping by the Chamber Office on the square.
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Cottonwood County Sheriff’s Office received a report of a burglar at a residence on County Road 5 in Lamberton in Highwater Township. A padlock on a building was cut to access a shed. Approximately eighteen hundred dollars worth of tools and equipment were stolen. Case remains under investigation.
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According to the Minnesota State Patrol, A 40-year-old Vernon Center woman was hospitalized following a crash near Mountain Lake on Tuesday, December 14th. The crash happened on Highway 60 at County Road 27 just before 5 p.m., in Midway Township.
A crash report says the woman was driving an SUV westbound on Highway 60, and a Buick Rainier was eastbound, making a left-hand turn on County Road 27 when the vehicles collided in the intersection. The woman was transported to Windom Area Health with non-life-threatening injuries following the crash. The driver of the Rainier was not injured. Both drivers were wearing seat belts according to the patrol.
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The Windom Police Department were called to a traffic accident Tuesday December 13th on the 900th Block of Highway 60. Two vehicles were both Northbound on Highway 60. A 2019 Chevy Camaro was in the left lane and a 2018 Chevy Equinox was in the right. The Equinox went to change lanes and struck the Camaro. Minor damage to both vehicles, no injuries reported.
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Mt Lake is working toward bringing a fiber-based broadband system to Mt Lake. According to Mountain Lake Economic Development Director, Rob Anderson “This effort was brought to light by the local need to install fiber optic cable in the Mountain Lake Commercial Park for faster and more reliable service. Also, federal government COVID relief is partially focused on increasing broadband in rural areas so that families and businesses have the same internet access as larger metropolitan areas.”
The Mountain Lake EDA and city council have established a Memorandum of Understanding with MVTV Wireless that sets out guidelines of the project. It includes the appointment of 2 people from MVTV Wireless, 2 people from the city council, and 2 people from the EDA to a steering committee. The steering committee will work with an engineering firm to outline a plan.
The process of determining a project scope of work, obtaining funding, and beginning to physically install fiber will likely be 8 to 12 months. The plan is to provide broadband fiber optic capability to all Mountain Lake businesses and homes. The first Steering Committee meeting is scheduled for early in January.
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The Anoka County Sheriff’s Office is asking for the public’s assistance in locating 15 year old, Halle Marie Kelly Kennedy. She was last seen at 9:10 am this morning leaving her Andover home on a black mountain bike wearing a black coat, gray sweatpants, blue winter hat with a puffy ball on top and black boots. If you have any information about her whereabouts please contact Anoka County dispatch at 763-427-1212 or dial 911.
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The Roseville Police Department is requesting the publics assistance in locating 14 year old, Izaich Mardis. Izaich left for school on Tuesday December 14th and did not show up at school and has not had contact with family since. He was last seen wearing a Minnesota Twins winter stocking cap, Minnesota Twins backpack, gray puffy coat with a red hoodie underneath and black sweat pants. If you have any information about his whereabouts please contact Roseville Police Department via Ramsey County Dispatch Center at 651-767-0640 or dial 911.
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Give the gift of Life…
The Red Cross will be having two more Blood Drives locally in December.
Friday December 17th from 11:30am-5:30 pm at the Storden American Legion on Main Street in Storden.
And on Wednesday December 29th at the Mountain Lake Community Center located at 1027 2nd Ave in Mountain Lake from 1:30-7:30pm.
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On a personal note…
I am running a little behind BUT I just want to give a shout out to the City Crews that removed snow from this past weekends snow storm. They did a fantastic job clearing the town! I for one am feeling blessed to have dedicated people that work hard to keep our city safe and open to travel around.
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