MARCH 20 - We were teased with it earlier this week, with temps hitting 60 degrees in New Ulm on Thursday for the first time in over 4 months, and now Spring officially arrives today!
The Vernal Equinox takes place at approximately 12:32pm today as the sun sails over the equator and into the northern sky.
The sun's northward motion is fastest during the Month of March, with Minnesota gaining a total of 1 hour and 34 minutes of daylight through the course of the month.
MARCH 19 - Nicollet and Sibley County-area legislators will be holding a series of Town Hall meetings this Saturday.
State Senator Kathy Sheran and Representatives Terry Morrow and Kathy Brynaert will be meeting with the public from 10 to 11am on Saturday at the United Farmers Cooperative Corporate Office in Winthrop, from Noon to 1 at the St. Peter Community Center, and from 2 to 3pm at South Central College's Heritage Hall in North Mankato.
Topics discussed will include agriculture, higher education, health care, and K-12 education. The public is encouraged to attend.
MARCH 18 - Three Glencoe Silver Lake High School students have their artwork on display in the state capitol this week, and one of them had the winning design.
Desiree Christensen was selected as the winner of the Youth Art Month Flag design competition. Her work was selected out of more than 200 entries by the Art Educators of Minnesota.
Abby Landes received 1 of 2 honorable mentions for the competition as well, and Taylor Mohr's entry was selected for display at the Capitol.
The 2010 Capitol Art Show runs through this Saturday in the Capitol Rotunda in St. Paul.
MARCH 16 - The New Ulm Area Chamber of Commerce presented the annual Athena Award Monday afternoon.
The Athena Award recognizes women who bring leadership skills to the community and serve as postive role-models for others, and the honoree is selected through a nomination process.
This year's Athena Award recipient is Anne Makepeace. She has been involved with the Historic Preservation Commission, is a past director of the United Way, a member of the New Ulm Retail Development Corporation, and current Director of Human Resources at the New Ulm Medical Center.
She and her husband John own the Grand Kabaret in downtown New Ulm.
MARCH 17 - The New Ulm City Council spent nearly an hour and a half discussing the city's flood response policy with concerned citizens Tuesday evening, but in the end left the city's policy of not using city funds to protect private property in place.
That policy was enacted in 2003 after the city spent nearly $300,000 fighting floods in 1997 and 2001. The idea of creating a task force to find a long-term solution to protecting homes from floods was discussed as well.
In other business, a public hearing on upcoming road work in New Ulm this summer was held. Affected residents are assessed about 17% of the total cost of the project, which equals around $2,700 per-parcel payable through property taxes over 10 years. Interest is typically around 5%.
The Council also agreed to implement a fee for some of the lockers at the New Ulm Recreation Center, and approved a proposal to save money on paper agendas by purchasing laptop computers for the council chambers.
MARCH 20 - A Flood Warning for much of southern Minnesota continues.
The Minnesota River at New Ulm was at 802.84 feet as of late Friday afternoon, and is now expected to crest at 803.1 feet today (SAT). The Cottonwood River at New Ulm crested at 15.5 feet as of early this morning, and is now expected to start dropping. The Minnesota River at Henderson is now expected to crest early Monday morning.
Numerous county and township roads remain closed due to flooding, and Mn/DOT closed Highway 99 east of St. Peter into LeSueur on Friday. Highway 93 from 169 to LeSueur and Highways 19 and 93 near Henderson remain closed as well.
For a detailed look at river levels around the region click HERE.
MARCH 20 - The Morgan City Council recently accepted the resignation of the city's chief of police.
Robert Fischer suffered severe burns in a welding accident last August and has been unable to fulfill his duties as police chief. The city has been contracting with the Redwood County Sheriff's Office since the accident.
Applications for the Morgan Police Chief position are being accepted through March 29th, at which point the interview process will begin.
Fischer will continue in his role as the Mayor of Morgan.
The rising flood waters at Riverside Park in New Ulm on Thursday, March 18.
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - The state of Minnesota has agreed to settle its lawsuit against contractor URS in the Interstate 35W bridge collapse. URS does not admit any liability or fault in the $5 million settlement. The contractor had a longstanding contract with the state Transportation Department to evaluate the bridge's structural integrity before it fell.
MOORHEAD, Minn. (AP) - Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty toured parts of Moorhead and the nearby Oakport Township area yesterday. He says he thought any flooding would be manageable. Pawlenty will meet with federal emergency officials today in St. Paul.
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) - State regulators have shut down State Bank of Aurora. The FDIC has taken over receivership and says Northern State Bank of Wisconsin has agreed to assume State Bank's deposits. State Bank's sole branch in Aurora will reopen Monday as a Northern State branch. Customers can access their money this weekend through checks or ATM or credit cards.
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) - Ramsey County Attorney Susan Gaertner has hired a mechanical engineer to inspect a 1996 Toyota involved in a crash that killed three people in St. Paul. She said yesterday that the Camry isn't part of the recent Toyota recall. But she says her office wants to know if there's evidence of sudden acceleration.
MARCH 18 - Area retailers are being warned to be on the lookout for a potential scam that was used against 2 Lake Crystal convenience store cashiers this week.
Surveillance video from Kevin's Market in Lake Crystal shows a black male in a black hat and jacket scamming the cashier by using a 'quick change scam' in which the customer buys a small item with a large bill and then tries to buy the bill back, and in the process they take out more money and confuse the cashier into giving them more money than they should.
A black woman in a white hat and shirt scammed a cashier at the Collis C Store in Lake Crystal in the same manner as well. Police say both stores could be missing hundreds of dollars.
Anyone with information on these crimes is asked to call the Lake Crystal Police Department at 726-2056.
Click here for a nomination form and more information.
Bob Beussman of New Ulm was selected as the Hometown Hero for March.
Click on the links below for information/pictures on KNUJ/SAM past events:
Farm City Day '08
MARCH 20 - Three new Dairy Princesses were recently crowned in Renville County.
They are sisters Kate and Meg Kanne, the daughters of James Kanne and Mary Sullivan of Franklin and Rebecca Radtke, the daughter of Leon and Lisa Radtke of Cosmos.
They were crowned during the Renville County All Ag Banquet last weekend in Bird Island.
MARCH 19 - A hit and run accident on Highway 22 Thursday morning led to a standoff with police at the Mankato Wal-Mart.
The hit and run report was received at just after 6:30am and the driver, 47-year-old Raymond Edward Mager Junior of Minnesota Lake apparently fled the scene and police gave chase. Mager then entered the Wal-Mart parking lot and drove into the building, at which point he began waving a gun.
Store officials then evacuated the building, although some customers were hiding inside a cooler. The weapon turned out to be a pellet gun, and Mager was arrested shortly before 7am and was taken to Immanuel St. Joseph's Hospital for a psychiatric evaluation.
Authorities are requesting several charges, including 1st-degree assault and fleeing police in a motor vehicle. One person was hospitalized during the incident, but police say it was apparently an anxiety attack and that she should be OK.
MARCH 19 - The candidate chosen to be the City of Gaylord's new police chief has decided to wait on the job until issues with the former police chief have been cleared up.
Thomas Fadden of New Prague was set to begin the police chief duties on April 5th after being hired by the Gaylord City Council at it's recent meeting, but will now wait until a decision is made concerning former Chief Dale Roiger, who has challenged his termination.
Roiger was fired after criminal charges were filed against him when he was accused of having a "bug" placed in the city's chamber of commerce office. He has challenged the termination through the Veterans Preference Act, and a hearing is scheduled to take place on the matter soon.
MARCH 18 - Cases of H1-N1 Flu remain low across Minnesota, although 1 school in Brown County did report an outbreak to the department of health last week.
There were no outbreaks in long-term care facilities, and no deaths from the flu were reported last week.
Since last April a total of 1,810 people have been hospitalized for H1-N1 in Minnesota and there have been 58 confirmed H1-N1 deaths since last May.
MARCH 17 - An 18-year-old Sleepy Eye man pleaded guilty to 3rd-degree criminal sexual conduct on Monday in Brown County Court and was sentenced to 36 months in prison and 10 years of conditional release after that.
Paul Andrew Alonzo was arrested last August after videotaping himself having sex with a 14-year-old girl a week after his 18th birthday. He admitted to police that he had sex with the girl multiple times.
He will spend 15 days on probation prior to being sent to prison, and has also been ordered to have no contact with persons under 18 years old and has been forbidden from using the internet.
A charge of use of a minor in a pornographic work was dismissed in exchange for the guilty plea.
MARCH 16 - Three people were rescued in Redwood County Monday evening after attempting to drive through standing floodwater.
A Chevy Silverado had been caught by an undercurrent when 22-year-old Andrew McNamara of Bird Island tried to drive through it at about 9:30pm in Delhi Township. The pickup was swept about 150 yards downstream before becoming submerged.
McNamara and his 2 passengers, Ty Dooner of Olivia and Carl Sander of Bird Island were rescued from atop the floating vehicle by Redwood Falls fire and rescue crews. They were treated for minor injuries at the Redwood Area Hospital.
The pickup was totaled.