April 2023

com At Monday evening’s meeting of the Granite Falls City Council, Police Chief Brian Struffert submitted a monthly report, much of which discussed last week’s police standoff that resulted in an officer from the CEE VI Drug and Gang Task force receiving an injury from a bullet. (That incident outlined in a separate story in this week’s edition.) Chief Struffert described the incident, noting in his report that he estimates that there were 50 or more officers from departments around the area that showed up when reinforcements were called, including members of the Kandiyohi/Meeker County SWAT team.

com At last Tuesday’s meeting of the Yellow Medicine County Board of Commissioners, Yellow Medicine County Restorative Justice Coordinator Sharon Hendrichs presented a report on the Restorative Justice Department’s previous year. Hendrichs noted that the program includes Circle Sentencing, Family & Community Circle, Circle of Hope, Shift Circle, Transition Circle, and Family Safety Planning Meeting/ Parallel Protection Process.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced that producers in counties affected by eligible disaster events in Kentucky, Minnesota, South Dakota, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Missouri, North Dakota, and Tennessee can apply for cost-share assistance through the Emergency Grain Storage Facility Assistance Program (EGSFP). The new program provides cost-share assistance for the construction of new grain storage capacity and drying and handling needs, in order to support the orderly marketing of commodities. An initial allocation of $20 million in cost-share assistance is available to agricultural producers in affected counties impacted by the damage to or destruction of large commercial grain elevators as a result of natural disasters from Dec. 1, 2021, to Aug. 1, 2022. The application period opens later this month and closes Dec. 29, 2023.

– Xcel Energy is advising customers who are eager to start their spring planting or landscaping to always call 8-1-1 to have underground utility lines marked free of charge before starting any digging projects. April is National Safe Digging Month, which serves as a reminder that digging without locating utility lines causes injuries, loss of life, and property damage every year.

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources is waiving vehicle permit fees at all 75 state parks and recreation areas on Saturday, April 22. This “Free Park Day” is one of four days each year on which the DNR waives the requirement for a vehicle permit at state parks and recreation areas.