PQA and TQA Certification sessions scheduled

University of Minnesota Extension, in partnership with Minnesota Pork Board, will offer Pork Quality Assurance (PQA) Plus and Transport Quality Assurance (TQA) certification sessions in Marshall on Tuesday, January 25.

Yellow Medicine Court Records

Yellow Medicine County Sheriff’s Office Haskins, Adam Steven Hamilton, Granite Falls; Offense date 10/2/21 Driving After Cancellation Inimical to Public Safety (Gross Misdemeanor); Plea 01/ 03/2022 Guilty; Disposition 01/03/ 2022 Convicted; Court Decision 01/03/ 2022 Sentenced; Local Confinement (180 Days, Stay 0 Yr 0 Mo 180 Days For 1 Yr); $200 Fine. Upper Sioux Community Police Department Brander, Wanda Jean, Benson; Offense date 10/9/20 Theft - Find and Appropriate Lost Property (Gross Misdemeanor); Plea 01/03/2022 Guilty; Disposition 01/03/2022 Convicted; Court Decision 01/03/2022 Sentenced; Local Confinement (365 Days, Stay 0 Yr 0 Mo 365 Days For 2 Yr); $200 Fine.

Clarkfield News

Dick & Elaine Petersen celebrated family Christmas at Debra & Tracy's in Minneapolis. Before a Scandinavian dinner, Christmas Eve hors d' oveurs were enjoyed outside by the firepit. Christmas day was a jigsaw puzzle time. Monday, Dec. 27th Nick & Taylor hosted a breakfast brunch at their apartment before granddaughters Taylor & Camille returned Dick & Elaine to Michael's at Hutchinson on their way to Clarkfield.

Shelly Bednar Joins Local Office of Ameriprise Financial

Shelly Bednar has joined the Montevideo office of Ameriprise Financial Services, LLC. as a financial advisor. She is joining Legacy Financial Partners, a private wealth advisory practice of Ameriprise Financial Services, LLC. Their office is located at 525 Legion Dr, Ste 4, in Montevideo.

The Quick(er) Way to Sign up for Benefits

Signing up for social security benefits or Medicare benefits doesn’t need to be a time-consuming hassle complete with long waits on the phone. Both can be done at ssa.gov which is the Social Security Administration’s secure website. No matter which end of the technology/comfort spectrum you are on: whether you are comfortable with online sign-ups and just want an extra set of eyes or don’t own a computer and wouldn’t know where to start, I am available to help you through the process.

River Ramblings

Although we are deep into winter, planning is underway for the next construction season’s street and utility improvements in most cities this time of the year. Granite Falls is no exception. Planning those future improvements is not restricted to only fair-weather months. It takes several meetings and a large amount of preparation to assemble a proposed list of projects. There is engineering work and financial planning to be done, as well as studying the impact of those projects on nearby property owners and the entire community.

FROM THE EDITOR

As I write this week's column, I'm sitting in a hotel room in New York City listening to the sounds of my sister snoring. Each year, we take a "sister's trip" somewhere. It's always a very short weekend filled with chaos and lots of running to and fro, trying to see as much as we can in a short amount of time, usually with a small budget.

Bitter cold moves into the area

After a streak of days with bitterly cold temperatures, we warmed-up on Saturday all across the state of Minnesota. High temperatures on Saturday were into the 20s above zero for many locations. However, many spots in southwestern Minnesota made it into the mid-30s. This was short-lived as a cold-front pushed back into the state. By Saturday afternoon, some locations had fallen into the lower teens.

Two new team members join the Department of Public Transformation

The Department of Public Transformation in Granite Falls announced in December that two new employees will be joining the staff this month. Holly Doll will be joining the staff as the Ignite Rural Program Coordinator, and Sarina Otaibi will be joining the staff as the Creative Rural Building Program Director. The Department of Public Transformation (or DoPT), is an artist-led organization working to develop creative strategies for increased community connection, civic pride, and equitable participation in rural areas.