More road projects
If you like to take "Old Highway 16," now known as County Road 4, to Sioux Falls or Brandon, you'll have to take a different path next week.
The road, which becomes Main Street when passing through Luverne, will be closed from Monday, June 24, to Thursday, June 27, for railroad crossing repairs west of Manley.
A detour will be signed and includes Rock County Highway 17, Rock County Highway 13, Minnehaha County Highway 146 and Minnehaha County Highway 103.
Or, maybe you should just take Interstate 90.
Are you ready for new postal rates?
On June 30, the U.S. Postal Service will raise postal rates on average almost 8 percent.
The single-piece, one-ounce mail rate will increase from 34 cents to 37 cents.
The Office of Environmental Assistance would like you to save money and help the environment by following these easy tips:
Decrease the weight of most commonly used papers
Make double-sided printing the default setting on all printers
Clean up old mailing lists
Use standard size envelopes and mailers
Use postcards or self-mailers, which require less postage and no envelope waste
Send two-way envelopes for billing to avoid having to send an extra envelope
Use smaller fonts and margins to maximize use of paper.
You can still visit the Hinkly House
It may seem like it's impossible to get there, but you can still visit the Hinkly House Museum on North Freeman Avenue.
If you approach it from Lincoln street (south) you can park in front of the building along the 200 block of Freeman Avenue.
Summer hours for tours are 2 to 4 p.m. on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday afternoon.
Watch out for those turtles
The DNR is asking you to look out for those turtles.
According to Carrol Henderson, of the Minnesota DNR, turtles crossing the road this time of year are egg-laden females. "Turtles need help to safely reach their nest sites to produce future generations.
Henderson recommends that motorists watch for turtles crossing roads near wetlands, lakes and ponds during the next two weeks.
Some turtles may travel up to a mile from water to reach their nesting sites, so they may cross more than one road during their travels, according to Henderson.
They want you to buckle-up
The Minnesota Department of Public Affairs had a crackdown on unbuckled vehicle occupants in May.
State troopers in 13 counties of Southwest Minnesota stopped 475 drivers for various traffic violations resulting in 275 traffic tickets, of which 93 were seatbelt violations.
In addition, 512 warnings were also issued.
Statewide, more than 350 agencies, including local police departments and county sheriff's offices participated.
State troopers worked 156 extra hours to help Minnesota increase the state's seatbelt use rates by targeting vehicle occupant restraint violations.
Blood bank collects 48 pints
The Community Blood Bank, formerly known as the Sioux Falls Regional Blood Bank, recently collected 48 pints of blood at Luverne Community Hospital.
The blood drive was Tuesday, June 11.
According to information from the Blood Bank, that is enough blood to help at least 144 seriously ill patients.
The Community Blood Bank is the primary supplier of blood to Luverne Community Hospital.
Publisher Roger Tollefson can be contacted by e-mail at
tolly@star-herald.com