Blue Earth is among 26 Minnesota cites receiving new state funding for water infrastructure upgrades, as the Minnesota Public Facilities Authority announced $91.7 million in loans and grants statewide. Blue Earth will receive $2.49 million to replace about 134 lead service lines with new copper lines, part of a larger ...

The deadline has come for Mayo Clinic Health Systems's consolidation plan, with six rural campuses and a surgery department in Albert Lea closed as of Wednesday. Mayo announced the closures in September, affecting facilities in Belle Plaine, Caledonia, Montgomery, North Mankato, Saint Peter and Wells. The system says ...

The Blue Earth Area School Board held its December meeting on Monday night and held the annual Truth in Taxation hearing. Fiscal Services Coordinator Alan Wilhelmi opened the meeting with a detailed explanation of how the school levy is set each year, noting that the process begins internally in August before the relea...

The 29th Annual KBEW/Darling Ingredients You Can Make a Difference Campout wrapped up on Saturday at noon. The local community once again made a difference with over $27,000 in monetary donations and 3,760 food items for the Faribault County Food Shelf and a trailer full of toys for the Western Faribault County Toy Dri...

A Winnebago Woman was injured in a one vehicle accident Monday morning in Nicollet County. According to the Minnesota State Patrol at approximately 10:01am, a 2024 Dodge Ram driven by 52 year old Elizabeth Ann Shavey of Winnebago was traveling northbound on a snow and ice covered Highway 169 in Lake Prairie Township, w...

A Blue Earth Teenager was injured in a one vehicle accident in Sibley County on Monday night. According to the Minnesota State Patrol at approximately 11:25pm, a 2009 Ford Edge driven by 18 year old Tiffany Madison Hernandez was traveling on a snow and ice covered Highway 15, where she lost control, left the road and e...

Faribault County Public Works Director April Wellman brief the County Board this week on a wide range of construction and road projects happening around the county. She said most of the work remains on track as the season wraps up. Highway 35 is now essentially complete and Highway 17 from Frost to the state line has...

The Kossuth County Board of Supervisors is preparing to extend its moratorium on large scale solar projects, which is currently set to expire December 31st. At Tuesday's meeting, Board Chair Carter Nath said supervisors couldn't move forward with setting a public hearing date for anew solar ordinance because the county...

The Faribault County Board of Commissioners met on Tuesday and set their pay and per diems for 2026. The board unanimously approved an annual salary of $25,913 for commissioners next year, which represents a 3% increase over the previous year. Each commissioner will continue to receive a $100 per day per diem for servi...

Blue Earth Area School District leaders are restarting community outreach as they work on long term facility needs. Superintendent Mandy Fletcher says the process began in 2023, when the district discovered a major plumbing failure at the K-7 building. It was found that the amount to completely fix the plumbing issue...

The 29th Annual KBEW/Darling Ingredients You Can Make a Difference Campout will be held Thursday through Saturday in downtown Blue Earth. The campers will be in the Juba's south parking lot for 50 hours accepting donations for the Faribault County Food Shelf and the Western Faribault County Toy Drive beginning at 8am o...

A Monday night house fire on the 300 block of South Park Street in Fairmont has claimed the life of a 43 year old man, according to Fairmont Police Captain Mike Beletti. Fire crews, police and Mayo Ambulance were dispatched just before 5pm. Officers arrived to find flames engulfing the basement and attempted to knock ...

A North Mankato man charged with 18 felony sex crimes is taking a plea deal. Fifty five year old Michael Allen Swanson was charged in July 2024 with 16 counts of first degree criminal sexual conduct, one count of second degree criminal sexual conduct and one count of third degree criminal sexual conduct. Court document...

Private well owners in the Martin County area can get their water tested for free this week. The Minnesota Well Owners Organization is offering onsite testing for nitrates, chlorides and arsenic on Thursday, from 11am-6pm, at the Knights of Columbus in Fairmont. President Paul Wotzka says to bring one quart of water in...

A five vehicle crash on Highway 15 at Torgerson Drive in Fairmont sent one driver and a passenger to the hospital late Tuesday afternoon. According to the Minnesota State Patrol, all vehicles were traveling northbound when they collided on a wet roadway at approximately 5:40pm. A 2018 Cadillac XT5 SUV, driven by 91 yea...