The Lanesboro Area Community Foundation is now accepting grant applications for requests ranging from $250 - $1,000 from registered 501(c)3 non-profits or government agencies whose projects will enhance the lives of people who call Lanesboro home through education, supportive services, the arts, etc. Applications are available by calling Jim Haugen at (507) 467-2242 or (507) … [Read more...]
Minnesota weekly fuel update and outlook
February 11 — Gasoline prices in Minnesota have risen 5.6 cents per gallon in the past week, averaging $2.12/g yesterday, according to GasBuddy’s daily survey of 2,856 stations in Minnesota. This compares with the national average that has increased 0.7 cents per gallon versus last week to $2.28/g, according to GasBuddy. Average gasoline prices on February 11 in Minnesota … [Read more...]
SE MN Ethanol, LLC dissolves under POET merger
In the mid 1990s, a group of local farmers decided that Southeastern Minnesota should have a biorefinery to create ethanol from corn, which would provide them with a new avenue of selling their corn. With that in mind, they created Southeast Minnesota Ethanol, LLC, also known as SME, and purchased some land just outside of Preston. The next step was to find someone willing to … [Read more...]
Variances granted for MiEnergy telecommunication towers
The Fillmore County Board of Adjustment met for the first time in 2019 on January 24. Steve Duxbury was elected chairman and Andy Bisek was elected vice-chairman. Meetings will continue to be scheduled for the third Thursday of the month at 7 p.m. A public hearing was held on each of MiEnergy variance requests. Chad Chaffee, MiEnergy vice president of system operations-MN, … [Read more...]
Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation seeks AmeriCorps VISTA partner sites
Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation (SMIF), in partnership with the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS), is seeking proposals from organizations within SMIF’s 20-county region interested in hosting full-time AmeriCorps VISTA members. The AmeriCorps VISTA program supports SMIF’s goal of creating economic vitality through entrepreneur development. Members … [Read more...]
Canton preps for “The Big One”
Residents of coastal California have long been worried about “The Big One,” referring to the fears that a major earthquake will eventually cause catastrophic damage to the population there. In the small Minnesota town of Canton, residents are preparing for a different type of “big one.” Every August, Canton holds their annual “Day Off” celebration, and every fifth year, an … [Read more...]
Find a home at Homespun Harmony
Marsha LaFreniere has a passion for knitting and crocheting that she recently translated into Harmony’s newest storefront on Main Avenue, Homespun Harmony. Originally from Albert Lea, LaFreniere spent 10 years in the Air Force, where she moved around a lot. She met her husband in Rochester and they looked for a place to set down roots. That place was Harmony and a country home … [Read more...]
The Parkway Market & Coffeehouse has the right formula
“We are like a natural foods store that also has pop rocks and some of these weird things that no other natural foods store would have,” says Caleb Lauritsen-Norby of The Parkway Market & Coffeehouse of Lanesboro, Minn., “But that mix works,” he states. Caleb and his partner Blake Lauritsen-Norby purchased the business a couple years ago and opened The Parkway Market … [Read more...]
Ostrander Care & Rehab feels like home
There’s been a nursing facility in Ostrander for approximately 50 years, but the staff there can tell you that it’s not “business as usual.” Janice Howe, administrator of Ostrander Care & Rehab explains, “We are a family-owned company, the owners are Grant and Andrea Thayer, out of Batavia, Ill. They own five facilities in Wisconsin, and then this facility. And Grant was … [Read more...]
An innovative family business puts the customer first
Norman A. Kopperud probably wouldn’t recognize Norman’s Electric Service (NES), the business he started in 1946. “Our dad was a visionary,” Glen Kopperud said. “But even he wouldn’t have predicted how different his business is today. Technology and electronic advances have played a huge role in dramatically changing our work. What he would recognize though, is that we’re still … [Read more...]