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Southern Minnesota residents have one of the best advocates for schools serving them in the Minnesota Senate. State Senator Julie Rosen  has been named 2019 Legislator of Distinction by the Minnesota School Boards Association (MSBA). The organization honored Sen. Rosen with the award because of her support for local decision-making authority and her advocacy for stronger youth mental health support. This is the second consecutive year Sen. Rosen has been honored by MSBA. In 2018, the organization named her Legislator of the Year for her work on behalf of Minnesota schools. “Minnesota has some of the best schools in the [...]

The Corn Plus Ethanol Plant in Winnebago will be going into what company officials are calling a “cold idle.” Employees of the plant were notified of the decision on Tuesday and a member of the plant’s Board of Directors confirmed the decision on Wednesday. City Officials from Winnebago met Wednesday afternoon with officials from the plant. The plant employs about 2 dozen people, some of the are expected to be laid off next week. The plant will shut down as the industry battles low commodities prices. The plant could reopen under certain circumstances, like new ownership of the plant. [...]

The Care Providers of Minnesota have named District 23 State Senator Julie Rosen as their 2019 Public Official of the Year. The non-profit organization, which has been active in the effort to reform Minnesota’s elder abuse prevention laws, recognized Sen. Rosen for her senior care advocacy. “I am deeply honored and proud,” said Sen. Rosen. “I am proud of the historic elder care reform bill we passed this year, and eternally thankful for the Care Providers and their involvement in the effort to protect and care for our elderly and vulnerable.” “Senator Rosen was selected as this year’s recipient in [...]

The Fairmont School Board on Tuesday heard from new high school co-principals Jake Tietje and Alex Schmidt, who described changes to the high school student handbook. Tietje said a team met several times to go over the handbook. It included the dean of students, a social worker, a board member, two parents, two teachers, two students, a secretary and two principals. Tietje and Schmidt were not part of the process but studied the changes recently and added some of their own. “With that, the first key change that you’re going to see is the addition of the huddle time that [...]

The Fairmont Area School Board Tuesday heard from Tyler Garrison, buildings and grounds director, who went over lead in water testing results. Minnesota schools are required to do a lead in water test every five years. Garrison said they collected 92 water samples district-wide, with 53 at the high school and 39 at the elementary school. He said eight fixtures came back higher than they were five years ago. Those fixtures were replaced before the new school year. The Board tabled action on a new housing construction agreement to abate property taxes for 10 years for new construction of rental [...]

The Fairmont City Council acted on Councilor Ruth Cyphers’ request for a state forensic audit of the city’s finances. City Administrator Mike Humpal said there is a required resolution that must be submitted to the state auditor’s office and an affidavit assembled. He asked the council to direct city staff to put that information together to make the request. “City staff is 100 percent supportive of any type of audit the council wants to do and to show the general public and the citizens that there no irregularities in our finances,” Humpal said. “We’re more than happy to work [...]

The Fairmont City Council unanimously approved a 10-year tax abatement for CHS on Monday, but council members stressed that the soybean-processing plant address safety issues caused by semis backed up on the road during peak times and a water flow problem. Linsey Preuss, Fairmont’s economic development coordinator, told the council that CHS is the city’s highest taxpayer, paying more than $760,000 annually in property taxes. The company, which will continue to pay taxes on the existing property, requested the abatement on $5.3 million of the proposed $100 million capital investment, or $59,000 per year for the city’s share. The [...]