After the state mandated Truth in Taxation meeting held at the regular December 16 school board meeting, the R-P School Board certified a levy of $2,632,416; this is an 11.63% increase from the previous year. Toni Oian, Rushford-Peterson’s business manager, presented an informational spreadsheet regarding the district’s finances during the TNT meeting. Oian pointed out that … [Read more...]
New Signage Considered for Houston School
Timothy VanEijl, of Graphic House National Sign Firm, visited the Houston School Board meeting December 5 to share possible designs to replace the current wall sign at the school. VanEijl told the board that the 48-year-old, woman-owned company approaches design from the budget in order to create a customized sign within the budget. The company manufactures, installs and … [Read more...]
Lanesboro Schools Focus on Finances
The December 11 Lanesboro School Board brought both its Truth in Taxation meeting and the presentation of the 2023-2024 audit by Kali Lentz of Smith Schafer. Superintendent Matt Schultz began the TNT meeting with a required informational slideshow about how taxes are calculated based on a state formula and the assessed value of properties. Last year, Lanesboro School had total … [Read more...]
Houston Finds a Police Officer Trainee
Police Chief Brett Hurley brought an applicant’s name for the newly established police officer trainee position in Houston to the city council’s December 9 meeting. He recommended the hiring of Curtis Chapel for the position, commenting that Chapel was local and had already served as an intern in the police department in Houston. Chapel was approved pending the usual … [Read more...]
Tiger Trail Lefse Chip Co.
Tiger Trail Lefse Chip Company opened its doors just five months ago on June 14, 2024, right before the Gammel Dag celebration. The store and its showcased offerings of both sweet and savory lefse chips were a huge hit with the hometown crowd returning for the festivities. Owners Terry and Lori Pelzl, their son Jordan and his wife Anna, and their daughter Jade and her … [Read more...]
Keep the Wheels Turning for Meals on Wheels
Volunteers are essential to Meals on Wheels – without them, those wheels would screech to a halt and many deserving senior citizens would be left without a nutritious meal option and might not be able to stay in their own homes as long. According to Carolyn Freese, lead program coordinator of senior nutrition at Semcac, people aren’t volunteering like they used to. Meals on … [Read more...]
HAM – Houston Area Museum
In May 2023, a ribbon cutting heralded a new museum in Houston, Minn. Called HAM, at first a person might think it was a cousin to the Spam Museum in Austin, but that’s not the case! HAM is an acronym for Houston Area Museum. The museum is located at 109 West Maple Street in the former community center. For many years, Shelley Jerviss thought Houston needed a museum. At the … [Read more...]
Planning Ahead at R-P
The Rushford-Peterson School Board heard a presentation by Rob Brown from Nexus Solutions at their regular meeting November 18. Nexus is a consulting firm that helps schools plan for future needs of a school. Brown shared sample 10-year plans the company had completed for other area schools such as St. Charles and Dover-Eyota. R-P has recently completed their strategic plan; … [Read more...]
Skifton to Continue as Houston Fire Chief
At their November 12 meeting, the Houston City Council decided to retain Steve Skifton for two more years as fire chief. Skifton had previously notified the council he wished to retire. The position was posted, and one person applied. At the interview, the applicant honestly shared that he had only applied to provide an option, but this had not been part of his plan for himself … [Read more...]
Lisa Schultz Joins the Houston School Board
At their November 7 meeting, the Houston School Board acknowledged the unofficial results of the recent board elections. At this time, they know that Lisa Schultz will be joining the board to fill out the remaining two years of the position formerly held by Marissa Grams. Both Mimi Carlson and Josh Norlien were re-elected as well for four year positions. A third four-year … [Read more...]
Electric Buses Coming in July to Lanesboro
The Lanesboro School Board heard at their regular November 13 meeting that the long-awaited new electric school buses will be delivered in July. The buses will come at zero expense to the school. Using a rebate program, the school will purchase the two buses and receive a $690,000 rebate on them and the chargers. The school was responsible for the installation of the … [Read more...]
Clark Wiger and the Last Battle of Vietnam
Clark Wiger, a former Chatfield resident, was recognized for his “heroic achievement in connection with operations against the enemy” while involved in the last battle of Vietnam which took place on Koh Tang Island 50 years ago on May 15, 1975. Now he is busy getting prepared for the 50th reunion of the veterans of Koh Tang. The Koh Tang Veterans Organization meets in a … [Read more...]
Need a Trailer? Bluff Country Ag and Equipment’s Got it!
Just a year and a half ago, Creighton and Charles Horihan moved into their new building located along Highway 43 on the outskirts of Rushford. At that time, when asked if they had plans of adding any more businesses, Creighton had hinted at another one coming soon. Fast forward to today and that additional business has become a successful reality. Very visible from the … [Read more...]
R-P Paraprofessionals Address School Board
The Rushford-Peterson School Board October 21 meeting was visited by many of the paraprofessionals employed by the district. Contract negotiations have been ongoing since February; the paras came to the meeting to publicly comment on the sticking points. Before the public comment period was opened, board chair Chris Grindland reminded the meeting that the time was not … [Read more...]
Root River Market Cooperative – a Grocery Store for Houston
When Red’s IGA left Houston in the fall of 1998, Houston was left without a grocery store for two years. What a change from the five grocery stores in Houston in the 1950s! Sorely missing a grocery store, a group of community members got together and started a cooperative in an effort to bring a store back to Houston. In 1999, Larry Connery, Peter Denzer, Sharon Onsgard, … [Read more...]