At the Faribault County Commissioners meeting this week, the commissioners were updated by Central Services Director Pam Krill on filing the vacant employee positions. Commissioner Bruce Anderson says that some of positions have been filled, but there are still open positions available. There is an opening for a staff engineer in the Public Works Department,…… read more »
Category Archives: Local News
AAA Reports Lower Gas Prices in MN & Iowa
Heading into the third weekend of August, AAA reports that gasoline prices in Minnesota and Iowa are lower than they were a week ago. The average gas price in Minnesota is reported at $3.84 a gallon, compared to $3.90 a gallon one week ago. The average price in Iowa is currently $3.57 a gallon, compared…… read more »
Drought in Iowa Expanded in the Last 7 Days
Much of the state of Iowa saw some much needed rainfall late last weekend and early this week, but it wasn’t enough to reverse the drought trends. The latest Drought Monitor report from the USDA shows Iowa’s drought expanded slightly in the last seven days. According to the report, 66.9% of the state is currently…… read more »
B.E. Council Decides to Not Investigate Complaints About Fire Chief
The Blue Earth City Council conducted a closed session after Monday night’s council meeting to address a personnel complaint against Blue Earth Fire Department Chief Steve Brown. Mayor Rick Scholtes said Brown was doing his job to what the description requires and the council then voted to not investigate the complaints against Brown. Three elected…… read more »
Five Grants Given to Area Communities Through the Small Town Grant Program
Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation recently approved 22 grants totaling $190,215 to support small towns of 10,000 or less in the foundation’s 20 county region. Five of the grants that directly impact our area are: $10,000 to the Blue Earth EDA for the “B.E. Welcoming Project” which will focus on community education and outreach for Diversity,…… read more »
Minnesota’s July Unemployment Rate Holds Steady From June
Minnesota’s unemployment rate held steady at 1.8% in July, tying the record low since the metric started being tracked in 1976, according to numbers released today by the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development. This was also the all time lowest state rate on record in the United States as of June. On a…… read more »
Iowa’s Unemployment Rate Down in July
Iowa’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate dropped to 2.5% in July, down from 2.6% in June and 4.4% one year ago. The U.S. unemployment rate decreased to 3.5% in July. The number of unemployed Iowans decreased to 43,000 in July from 43,900 in June. The total number of working Iowans increased to 1,667,200 in July, 1,800…… read more »
Filing Period for Open Seats on BEA School Board and B.E. Council Closed Tuesday
Filings for open seats on the Blue Earth Area School Board and for the City of Blue Earth ended on Tuesday. Incumbents Ann Hanna and Dan Ristau are running for an at large seat on the City Council, as well as Jacque Drew, where 3 seats are available. Also running for a special election for…… read more »
MN Officials Say Applicants Denied “Hero” Bonuses Have Until End of the Month to Appeal
State Officials say nearly 18% of applications for pandemic “hero” bonuses in Minnesota are facing denial. That adds up to more than 214,000 of the nearly 1.2 million applications submitted by last month’s deadline. Those who were denied should have been notified by email on Tuesday, people have until the end of the month to…… read more »
Suspect in Albert Lea Shooting Death Waives Extradition in Iowa, Will be Returned to Freeborn County
The man arrested for allegedly shooting and killing another man south of Albert Lea last week waived extradition Tuesday in a hearing at the Hancock County Courthouse. With the action, 32 year old Ben Moreno is expected to be returned to the custody of Freeborn County in the near future, where he will face charges.…… read more »