At their August 1 meeting, the Houston School Board emphasized that now is the time to sign up to run for the board this fall. There are a total of four positions up for election this fall – one two-year term to complete the term of a board member who has resigned, and three four-year positions. The current board members also need to register in order to run for reelection. … [Read more...]
Rob and Bettie Bunke Celebrate 75th Anniversary
“As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” Joshua 24:15 was the Bunkes’ wedding verse when they got married 75 years ago. They have lived by that verse all these years. Rob declared, “I tell the Lord everyday how thankful I am for Bettie!” Rob and Bettie first met when Rob, a farm boy from Hart, came to town for a basketball game. Bettie, a town girl who lived in … [Read more...]
Efficient R-P Meeting
The Rushford-Peterson School Board held one of the shortest meetings ever on July 15. A mere seven minutes passed between the beginning of the meeting with the Pledge of Allegiance and the gavel ending the meeting. That is not to say that no business was accomplished. Superintendent Dr. Ben Bernard provides most of the information to the board before the meeting; as a result, … [Read more...]
Concurrent Enrollment Opportunities Increase at Houston High School
Michael Mangan, director of Educational Success and Innovation at Houston Schools, shared the Report Card on Redefining Ready and Concurrent Enrollment Board Update at the July 11 regular board meeting. Using assorted data and comparing with the previous year’s senior class, Mangan showed that overall, 70% of Houston’s 2024 seniors were college ready, 93% were career ready and … [Read more...]
Houston Ambulance Now State Training Center
At their July 8 meeting, the Houston City Council recognized ambulance employees Dave Runningen and Chris Cox for their impressive 40 years of service to the community on the ambulance. In addition, Anna Frauenkron shared that the ambulance has now officially become a training center for the state of Minnesota. With that, the ambulance crew can present EMT, EMR and refresher … [Read more...]
Lanesboro Contracts for Food Service
The Lanesboro School Board approved a contract with food service company Taher, at their July 10 meeting. After putting out an RFP (request for proposal), a single proposal was received from Taher. Following the requirements, a point system was used to evaluate the proposal with Taher receiving a total of 93 points. The contract is pending approval of MDE. The school had … [Read more...]
Milwaukee Road Enthusiasts Tour Local Depots
When MRHA (Milwaukee Road Historical Association) selected Winona as the site for their annual convention, they had an expert with local routes available to help plan a tour of the depots of Fillmore and Houston County. President of MRHA Jeff Goutcher hails from Preston originally. A tour was planned of depots remaining along the route of the Milwaukee Road. On June 28, three … [Read more...]
Rushford Rezones Former Windswept Inn
Following a public hearing on June 12, the Rushford City Council approved rezoning the former Windswept Inn at their regular June 24 council meeting. The new owners, PPS Properties, LLC., intend to create apartments rather than operate a motel. The zoning has been changed from Arterial Commercial to Multi-Family Housing. The plan is to create eight efficiency apartments from … [Read more...]
Hoff Purchases Riley Funeral Homes
Hoff Funeral and Cremation Service recently acquired the former Riley Funeral Homes in both Lanesboro and Chatfield, bringing their number of locations to eight. The Lanesboro and Chatfield locations will now have the same services available as all of the other Hoff locations. Changes will include the use of more technology, more personalization and updates to the facilities to … [Read more...]
Frac Sand Mine Proposed on Hwy. 30
Frac Sand Mining has once again been proposed in Fillmore County on the Roger Dabelstein property 13 miles west of Rushford on state highway 30. Twelve years ago, Minnesota Sands proposed a much larger project consisting of 11 mines. That project had been tabled since 2018 by the EQB (Environmental Quality Board) until this January. An EIS (Environmental Impact Statement) had … [Read more...]