Tonight at 6:30pm at City Hall in Windom is the Public Hearing to discuss the financing and building plans for the proposed $30 million dollar Windom Area Health project. This public meeting is an opportunity for citizens to ask questions and give their thoughts and opinions on the revenue bonds for the city and the four-story 57,000- square foot medical office building. CEO of Windom Area Health, Shelby Medina and Chief Financial Officer John Pereyl will be present to answer questions from the public and city council. If you would like your voice to be heard, tonight is the night to show up and show support or not for this 30-million-dollar project.
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Jackson County Sheriff’s Office reported they had 38 calls from August 29th to the 3rd of September. Deputies had two reports of egging’s in Jackson, 2 assists for the Jackson Ambulance, assisted Windom PD with a foot pursuit from a vehicle and K-9 track, conducted 5 traffic stops, responded to two juvenile issues in Jackson and had one reported scam. Jackson County Deputies also assisted another agency with a hit and run, responded to 3 disturbances and one domestic disturbance, worked 2 accidents, had one warrant arrest, delt with a civil issue, investigated two thefts, had a report of a found pistol in the ditch on County Road 9 north of Okabena but it was determined it was a BB Gun, conducted two Boat & Water patrols on area lakes, and issued one I Got Caught wearing a helmet coupon.
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The Following meetings will be held TODAY :
- Murray County Board of Commissioners will meet at 8:30am in the Murray County Government Center. If you would like to listen in by calling or view the meeting via zoom you can find the information on the Murray County Homepage.
- Jackson County Board of Commissioners and the Drainage Authority will start at 9am at the Jackson County Court House Commissioners Board Room
- The Cottonwood County Board of Commissioners will meet at 9:05am at the Cottonwood County Courthouse in the Commissioners Room.
- Fulda City Council will hold a meeting at 5pm in the Fulda City Hall Council Chambers.
- The St James City Council starts at 5:30pm at the St James Community Building. Meetings can be viewed live or anytime on the City of St James’s YouTube Channel.
- Mt Lake City Council will hold the Redevelopment Project & TIF 2-2 Public Hearing, the Hotel Abatement Public Hearing, and the Mt Lake City Council Meeting at 6:30pm in the Mt Lake City Hall.
- The Windom City Council meets at 6:30pm at Windom City Hall in the City Council Chambers
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August Weather Stats 9/1/23
The monthly weather statistics have been reported for the city of Windom in August. The information is compiled by Dave Fjeld, a local weather observer and reported to the National Weather Service Office in Sioux Falls. The high temperature for the month was 98 degrees on August 23rd. The average high for the month was 82.8 degrees. The low temperature for August was 51 degrees on August 15th and August 27th. We received just an inch and eighty-five hundredths of precipitation for the month compared to four and sixteen hundredths of an inch in 2022. But, for the year we have received 19 and 35 hundredths of an inch are all almost three quarters of an inch ahead of last year.
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The latest U.S. drought monitor for Minnesota spelled out more bad news as the Twin Cities metro is back in severe drought while extreme drought has more than quadrupled to cover a full 10% percent of the state. The increased severity in the drought this week is largely due to the rare late August heat wave we had last week, in addition to rainfall impacting only localized, isolated areas the past seven days. Last week’s drought monitor (which is data valid through August 22) and this week’s (valid through August 29), show extreme drought in north-central Minnesota and southeast Minnesota. Much of east-central Minnesota, which had moved into ‘moderate drought,’ is back in severe drought.
The progress made up in early August has basically been erased with the recent weeks of dry weather and consistently above normal or even hot temperatures.
According to the Drought Monitor, it will be nearly impossible to make up the nearly 7-inch rainfall deficit this fall because fall averages show less rainfall than summer. September averages 30% less rainfall than August and October is 15% less than even September rainfall. The report went on to say we’d have to receive more than double our normal fall rainfall over the entire three-month period to make up that kind of deficit. BUT, last year over the course of the fall, winter and early spring we did make up the deficit from the summer drought but our deficit wasn’t as large and we weren’t in an El Nino winter pattern. Typically, El Nino winters yield less precipitation. All we can do is wait and see.
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The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources is waiving vehicle permit fees at all 75 state parks and recreation areas on Saturday, Sept. 9. This “Free Park Day” is one of four days each year on which the Minnesota DNR waives the requirement for a vehicle permit at state parks and recreation areas.
“September is such a great time to be outdoors as we look forward to the changing seasons,” said Ann Pierce, director of the Minnesota DNR Parks and Trails Division. “We hope Minnesotans who haven’t been to a state park before or haven’t visited in a while will come out to enjoy time in nature and make memories with friends and family.”
Most Minnesotans live within 30 miles of a state park. Visitors looking for certain recreational opportunities or amenities can use the ParkFinder tool (mndnr.gov/parkfinder) to find the best state park or recreation area for their trip.
Visitors on Sept. 9 will have many activity options:
- If the weather is warm, cool off at one of 33 state park swimming beaches. Find beach locations on the Minnesota DNR swimming beaches webpage (mndnr.gov/swimming).
- Hiking is the most popular state park activity. Find hiking tips and locations on the Minnesota DNR hiking page (mndnr.gov/hiking).
- All-terrain track chairs are available to borrow at 13 state parks, giving visitors with limited mobility the opportunity to explore trails that aren’t accessible with a regular wheelchair. Find details at the Minnesota DNR track chair webpage (mndnr.gov/track-chairs).
- Visitors can bike, walk or roll on paved trails at 33 state parks. Find paved trails at the Minnesota DNR biking webpage (mndnr.gov/biking).
- Picnic areas are plentiful and provide great places to enjoy a meal with family and friends. Find picnic planning tips, recipes and more on the Minnesota DNR’s how to picnic like a pro webpage (mndnr.gov/picnic).
Visitors are advised to look for alerts and notices on park webpages of the Minnesota DNR website (mndnr.gov/parks) before heading out to be aware of construction, trail closures or other circumstances that might impact their trip.
For more information, visit the Minnesota DNR’s Free Park Days webpage (mndnr.gov/freeparkdays).