Thankfully, the Minnesota River appears to have crested and barring a major rain event, the river will continue to slowly subside in elevation. The crest, occurring early last week, reached 890.6 feet above sea level, as measured by the US Geological Service at the Highway 212 bridge. The National Weather Service uses those measurements to forecast river elevations during high-flow times and keeps records of the past river crests here.
Mark your calendars for May 19th-21st, when not one but three artists will travel from far-flung locations to Granite Falls for a collective micro-residency! The Advisory Board has chosen three finalists for the 2023 CAIR position. On those dates in mid-May, they’ll be flying in from places like Missouri (Emily Havemeyer), Louisiana (Ellen Ogden), and upstate New York (Walker Tuffts) to see over the course of a weekend what it might be like to practice art here for six months.
Letter to the Editor A recent opinion column took me to task a bit about blaming the media for using my title of “Mayor” when I was speaking in regard to the proposed transfer of ownership of Upper Sioux Agency State Park from the public (the State of Minnesota) to the Upper Sioux Community. In fact, I did say that the several media outlets had identified my views as coming from the “Mayor”, despite that I did not use that title when speaking.
Avera Health Last week, Avera announced that President and CEO Bob Sutton has made the difficult decision to step down due to a recently diagnosed serious medical condition that requires an intensive treatment regimen. Sutton’s last day at Avera will be September 30.
Temperatures continue to be below average for this time of the year. Parts of Minnesota once again saw some light rain and some light snow on Sunday as a weak surface low pushed across the region.
Question: My husband always used to say “never use your cruise control during any rain”. Is that still true with advances on tires and technology? Answer: He is correct, cruise control should never be used on wet or icy roadways.
Spring leaped out at us in New York last week — suddenly one day it was 80, just like me — it sprang at us shang a lang lang as once we’d sung so we were sprung from the steel corset of winter and I took a couple of Londoners to lunch at the Oyster Bar in Grand Central Station where, when I was 11, I ate my first oyster on a trip from Minnesota with my dad. I saw him eat one and so I ate one and I trace my independence back to that 1953 oyster — when you eagerly devour something that would disgust your beloved aunts, you’ve taken a step toward becoming your own person.
One week ago, we were enjoying temperatures in the 60s and 70s across much of the state. Parts of Minnesota were even in the 80s and lower 90s across the Twin Cities and southern Minnesota.
Question: My son recently got his driver’s license. Does his name need to be on the proof of auto insurance card? Answer: Minnesota accepts proof of auto insurance on paper or electronically.
OF THE WEEK Vegetable Cheese Casserole 4 cups cooked asparagus 2 cups cooked ham 1 and 1/2 cups milk 2 tablespoons butter 2 tablespoons flour 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup grated cheese Buttered bread crumbs Place asparagus and ham into a buttered dish. Cover with a white sauce made of the milk, butter and flour and salt.