The five Houston County librarians – Jana Halverson of Spring Grove, Stephanie Eggert of Caledonia, Gina Herman of Hokah, Jess Witkins of La Crescent and Beth Peterson-Lee of Houston — along with SELCO Executive Director Krista Ross, presented their annual report, “Why Libraries Matter,” during the 9 a.m. August 25 Houston County Board of Commissioners meeting. Commissioners in … [Read more...]

Another joint meeting of the Harmony City Council, Planning and Zoning and EDA was held August 26 after written comments and questions from the public about the proposed data center ordinance were collected over the past two weeks.  A total of 42 submissions were sent to the group. City Attorney Greg Schieber and City Administrator Alissa Stelpfug organized the input and … [Read more...]

As the schemes and chance of being victim to fraud continues to rise, the city of Rushford is the most recent hit. At the August 24 meeting, City Administrator Hayden Stensgard broke the news publicly, providing details of the type of fraud and what’s been done to recover the funds totaling $252,716. On August 16, city hall was made aware of the wire fraud on one of its … [Read more...]

The Spring Grove School Board unanimously approved the 2026-2027 Spring Grove Student Handbook during its August 17 meeting. Principal Matt Rosaaen said the handbook was updated to reflect new dates and staff changes. He also noted that the Table of Contents and Appendix, which had been removed the previous year, were added back based on feedback from parents. Rosaaen said … [Read more...]

The Rushford-Peterson School Board approved the handbooks for both the MSHS and the elementary school at their regular monthly meeting August 17. The board had tabled the handbooks last month pending further research with parents. MSHS Principal Brent Olson reported to the board that he had sent out 290 surveys and received many replies. Parents of middle school students … [Read more...]

The Spring Grove City Council had a heated discussion at the end of its August 18 meeting. All members were present and gave input. At issue was whether to include the Ambulance in the scope for the project’s Request for Qualifications (RFQ) for the Fire Hall Project. Councilmember Trent Turner explained the project’s history, and that at the beginning the ambulance department … [Read more...]

Mabel-Canton School Superintendent Michael Harvey emphasized the importance of CPR training and automated external defibrillators (AEDs) during the school’s August 18 meeting, sharing a recent incident in which CPR and an AED helped save a life. Harvey gave a “huge shout-out” to the school’s custodial staff, noting that their work goes beyond keeping the building looking … [Read more...]

Houston County commissioners voted August 18 to begin the process to discontinue county operation of the driver’s license center and support a private entity to provide driver and vehicle services to Houston County residents. County officials said the decision was driven by staffing challenges at the license center, including a recent retirement and an employee on leave. … [Read more...]

Caledonia Superintendent Craig Ihrke told the school board at its August 17 meeting that teacher workshops started on August 17 so they could introduce and meet new staff members, and a second day of workshops the following day featured a session on “How to AI-Proof Lessons.” Ihrke said the gym floor at the elementary school is still curing, but otherwise the staff is “ready to … [Read more...]