The Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) is now accepting applications for the Agricultural Growth, Research, and Innovation (AGRI) Livestock Investment Grant. This annual grant opportunity is open to Minnesota livestock farmers and ranchers looking to improve their operations, supporting long-term development in Minnesota’s $8 billion livestock industry.
MDA anticipates awarding approximately $1.5 million in fiscal year 2024 for Livestock Investment Grants using a competitive review process. Grant funds are available for equipment purchases and physical improvements used to help start, improve or expand livestock operations in Minnesota.
Reimbursable investments include but are not limited to buildings or facilities for producing livestock, watering systems, fencing, feed equipment and waste management equipment used for raising livestock.
All principal operators of livestock farms in Minnesota are invited to apply, including those who have received grants in the past. Only one application will be accepted per farm. Preference will be given to applicants or farms that have not previously been awarded a grant.
Applicants may apply for up to 10 percent of their project’s total cost, with a minimum expense of $4,000 and a maximum expense of $250,000. Grant awards can range in size from $400 to $25,000. Only expenses incurred after the grant contract has been signed by all parties are eligible for reimbursement. The MDA expects to have contracts to grantees by early 2024.
Applications for the grant will be accepted until 4 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 12, 2023. Applicants must use the MDA’s online application portal to apply for the grant at https://www.mda.state.mn.us/business-dev-loans-grants/agri-livestock-inv....
Additional information can be found on the AGRI Livestock Investment Grant webpage.
 

Hills-Beaver Creek School District Superintendent Todd Holthaus continues to “meet expectations,” according to the annual evaluation by H-BC School Board members.
Holthaus’ overall average rating was 3.67 out of 4, falling on the four-point scale between “meets” and “exceeds” expectations.
The board met in closed session June 26 to discuss Holthaus’ performance in six areas.
They accepted and approved the evaluation July 11.
The evaluation was for the 2022-2023 school year. The seven-member board rated Holthaus using a common group evaluation rather than on an individual member basis.
A scale from 1 to 4 in each of the evaluation areas was used.
A “1’ indicated “unsatisfactory,” a 2 “needs improvement,” a 3 “meets expectations” and a 4 “exceeds expectations.”
Individual scores in the six areas included:
•policy and governance 3.5
•planning and assessment 3.67
•instructional leadership 3.5
•organizational management 3.85
•communications/community relations 3.75
•professionalism 3.75
Holthaus completed his second year of the current three-year contract. His contract ends on June 30, 2024.
For the 2021-22 school year, Holthaus received an overall average rating of 3.4.
He has been H-BC superintendent since 2011.
In other personnel matters, the board
•accepted the resignation from Katie Schreurs for part-time nursing-related services.
•assigned Lydia Scruggs as middle level communications arts/literature teacher for the 2023-24 school year. Her salary will be $47,422.
•hired Allesia Kolles as K-12 vocal music teacher for the 2023-24 school year at a salary of $44,970.

A bipartisan bill, the Community News and Small Business Support Act, has been introduced in Congress to help both newspapers and local businesses that have faced economic challenges in recent years.
Local newspapers make a difference in their communities, and that’s why Claudia Tenney, a New York Republican, and Suzan DelBene, a Washington Democrat, introduced the bill.
According to the bill authors, hometown news, unlike national media, is non-partisan and fundamental to the fabric of our local communities.
However, local newspapers, like other small businesses, continue to face significant economic challenges. On average, two newspapers are closing each week in the United States. 
The act would save local reporting jobs in community newsrooms by allowing local newspapers to maintain newsroom staff through a series of payroll tax credits. Here’s how it works:
•A five-year refundable tax credit is available to local newspapers and other local media to use for the compensation of journalists. The credit may be used on compensation up to $50,000 a year.
•The credit covers 50 percent of compensation, up to $25,000, in the first year and 30 percent of compensation, up to $50,000, in the subsequent four years. 
•A local newspaper may claim up to $25,000 per journalist in the first year and up to $15,000 per journalist per year in the next four years.
The act strengthens main street businesses by allowing businesses that invest in local newspaper advertising a non-refundable tax credit based on their advertising investment. The more they advertise, the stronger their business.
•This five-year non-refundable credit provides businesses with fewer than 50 employees up to $5,000 in the first year and up to $2,500 in the subsequent four years to spend with local newspaper and local media.
•The credit covers 80 percent of advertising costs in the first year and 50 percent in the next four years. To receive the full $5,000 in the first year, a business will have spent at least $6,250 on advertising in local newspapers and local media. 
The act fosters healthier communities by increasing access to information that reflects hometown values.
More local reporting means more access to hometown news citizens rely on, and stronger newspapers mean stronger advertising vehicles for local businesses.
We encourage you, our readers, to contact legislators and urge them to enact this legislation. For Rock County, our federal legislators are:
U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, 425 Dirksen Senate Office Building, Washington, DC 20510,
202- 224-3244
U.S. Sen. Tina Smith, 720 Hart Senate Office Building, Washington, DC 20510,
202- 224-5641
U.S. Rep. Brad Finstad, 1605 Longworth House Office Building, Washington, DC 20515, 202-225-2472

“Thanks for coming!”
Maybe you’ve heard or said those words recently or often in your life.
I sure have. I’m a “thank you” sayer. 
I’ve thanked police officers after pulling me over and even said thank you to another driver who hit my car in a parking lot. 
To be fair, the thank you was at the end of our interactions after the accident. I was thanking the man for taking responsibility, working together as we filed the report, etc.
But still … I thanked a stranger who just backed into my car. Think of that. 
I believe saying thank you is both important and beneficial. 
The older I get, the more I want to thank people for the things they do, for their time, for sharing an experience, or even just being a part of my life. 
Saying thank you tells someone they are valued and that they matter. 
I’ve been noticing a certain type of thank you more lately, like the times I’m told, “Thanks for coming.”
That type of thank you is one of my favorites.
Last winter I went to a junior varsity hockey game that my friend was coaching.
After the game my friend sent me a short text from the locker room saying, “Thanks for coming,” realizing that attending a JV game in which I know none of the players would not otherwise be on my to-do list. 
Sometimes when I attend LHS events, I’ve had parents say, “Thanks for coming,” as if I were there to watch only their child. Of course, I’m there to support many students, but I appreciate the sentiment just the same.
Showing up matters and showing appreciation to those who show up matters. 
When I attend my niece’s and nephew’s youth sporting events, their mom sometimes reminds them to tell Uncle Jason thanks for coming.
A couple of weeks ago, my niece thanked me for coming to her lacrosse game without her mom around. She’s learned well. 
Last month I went to Junior Legion baseball games that my friend’s son was playing in. Isaac was the only player I knew, but it was fun to see him play and spend time with his parents while watching. 
And he knew I was there to support him. 
After the game we went out for pizza with his team and their families. While there, Isaac sat with his teammates, and I didn’t get to talk to him much. 
As I was leaving the parking lot, though, I put down my window as he walked toward his dad’s pickup. He looked over, gave a big smile and said, “Thanks for coming!” (without his parents telling him to). 
That thank you sure felt good. I knew that it mattered that I drove to his games that day, that I matter to him and that he knows he and his family matter to me. 
Showing up matters. People matter.
Thank you for coming, indeed.

Keitel: 'Our water has become tainted'
Letter to the Editor:
I grew up in rural Luverne and understood crops, birds, rivers, streams, beaver, muskrat, snapping turtles, river bottoms and sand pits. I utilized the spring water that flowed out of the earth like a gift from God.
My first spring water was from the Blue Mounds where a pipe came out of the side of a hill and filled glass gallon jars that we brought home. The spring ran continuously.
My next spring water experience was near Adrian along the Kanaranzi River where clean water flowed directly out of a hillside along County Road 4, known to us as “Old Highway 16.”
People would plan their trips to stop and fill canteens, crockery and in later times fill glass jugs with ice-cold, clear water.
In the early 1990s high nitrate levels made the water undrinkable, and the spring was closed to the public.
But this didn’t happen overnight.
When we transitioned 6,000 years ago from hunters and gatherers to agrarian, we lost our height along with our varied diets as we became dependent on limited grains and a life of agrarian toil.
We planted, weeded and harvested crops, expending nearly twice the calories than when we hunted and gathered, and our life expectancy dropped.
Once we became farmers, we “pooped in our bath water” with domesticated animals and farming practices polluting water.
As long as you lived upstream and had no neighbors higher on the watershed, you were healthy, but your livestock and farming practices meanwhile polluted water for those downstream.
Our hunter and gatherer friends slowly died off because they could not produce offspring as fast as our sedentary agrarian friends. (Hunter gatherer ovulation cycles ceased while carrying a baby or toddler on the move).
Where human population was limited, springs and artesian wells were still functional.
I am fortunate to have grown up in a time when you could still appreciate clear, cold water flowing from a hillside, but in the blink of an eye, my children know nothing of this phenomenon.
Human population has grown along with agrarian practices of tilled soil and livestock feedlots depositing nitrates upstream from flowing water tables.
Our population has flourished, but our water has become tainted by corn, soybeans, cattle, hogs and chickens.
Our children and grandchildren are well fed and nourished, but alas, they know nothing of the spring water flowing from the hillside.
 
Bill Keitel,
Worthington

Today, Thursday, our youngest grandchild, Ellee, turns 6. Like all grandparents, Mary and I are proud as punch of all our grandkids.
Those of us that make up our morning coffee group that are grandparents share stories (brag) about our grandkids at least once a week. Most of the stories are sports-related or how old they are or what grade they are in school, or recently, where they might be going to college.
The story I shared (bragged about) at coffee this week was about Ellee’s birthday party.
Like most 6-year-old girls, Ellee had given a fair amount of thought as to what kind of birthday party she wanted to have. With the Barbie craze going on, one might think the Barbie theme would take center stage, but thankfully that was not the case.
I was sure her party theme request would be balloons, games and inflatables, but once again not the case.
Early on, Ellee knew where she wanted to have her birthday party. One would think maybe Pizza Ranch or Dave and Buster’s, but nope, Ellee’s rather odd request for her birthday party location was at the Hartford Dog Park. I know that threw me for a loop, too.
This past summer Ellee and her 8-year-old sister, Brooke, hosted a couple of lemonade stands, and they decided to use the proceeds from those stands to buy 50 Pup Cups at the Hartford Dairy Queen.
Ellee, with her parents’ help, put together a social media post announcing an open invite to Hartford residents to bring their friendly dog to the Hartford Dog Park on Ellee’s birthday. The first 50 dogs will be treated to a Pup Cup, courtesy of Ellee and Brooke, and Dairy Queen donates the Pup Cup proceeds to the local Animal Rescue. How cool is that?
Did I just do a little proud grandparent bragging? Probably, … but it feels so good.

Dispatch report
July 28
•Complainant at the Verne Drive-In requested an unlock.
•Complainant east-bound on Interstate 90, mile marker 11, Luverne, reported a driving complaint.
•Complainant on E. 1st Street, Beaver Creek, requested assistance from another department.
•Complainant on S. Fairview Drive reported theft.
•Complainant in Luverne reported a family/child civil issue.
•A warrant was issued on Oak Drive.
•Road closure on Highway 75, Luverne.
•Extra patrol was requested at the fairground.
•Complainant on 190th Avenue and 21st Street
July 29
•Complainant on S. Church Avenue reported property damage.
July 30
•Complainant on 21st and 90th, Edgerton, reported fleeing.
•Complainant westbound on Interstate 90, mile marker 18, Magnolia, reported a driving complaint.
July 31
•Complainant on W. Veterans Drive reported theft/larceny.
•Complainant on 150th Avenue and 41st Street reported suspicious activity.
•Complainant on 1st Street, Leota, requested assistance from another department.
Aug. 1
•A warrant was issued on Crawford Street and Oakley Street.
•Complainant east-bound on Interstate 90, mile marker 13, Luverne, reported debris.
•Complainant on E. Main Street reported suspicious activity.
•Complainant on Highway 75, mile marker 18, Hardwick, reported road and drive law issue.
Aug. 2
•Complainant in Hills reported a driving complaint.
•Complainant on 31st Street, Hills, reported weapons.
 
In addition, officers responded to 4 motor vehicle accidents, 2 transports, 2 transport, 1 escort, 13 ambulance runs, 3 parking violations, 3 paper services, 4 animal complaints, 3 fingerprint requests, 1 burn permit, 1 background check, 1 drug court test, 2 purchase and carry permits, 4 stalled vehicles, 36 traffic stops, 10 abandoned 911 calls, 2 welfare checks, 1 report of cattle out, 1 curfew check and 1 follow-up.

Workers with W&N Construction are digging up a portion of North Freeman Avenue to replace a one-inch water service line to the Palace Theatre. After a number of recent remodeling improvements inside the Palace, the larger water service line was necessary to accommodate the building’s sprinkler system. The work could take two to three days to complete and Freeman Avenue may need to remain closed or partially closed to traffic during that time.

Starting Aug. 1, Minnesotans can legally possess and use cannabis and cannabis products. However, it’s still illegal to operate a motor vehicle, boat, off-highway vehicle or snowmobile while impaired by cannabis.
The Minnesota departments of Public Safety (DPS) and Natural Resources (DNR) want Minnesotans to learn the new law and plan a safe and sober ride if they’re cannabis consumers.
“Impaired is impaired on the road, regardless of the substance, and the effects can be tragic for everyone else on the road,” said Col. Matt Langer, chief of the Minnesota State Patrol.
“Our focus is on impaired driving, regardless of substance, and keeping Minnesotans safe by enforcing the law. Just like with alcohol, anyone opting to consume cannabis needs to make the right choice by planning a safe and sober ride.”
 
Make the safe and sober choice on the water or riding the trails
That also remains true for those enjoying boating and other recreational activities.
“Minnesota’s trails and waterways have never been busier, with people out enjoying Minnesota’s natural resources,” said Col. Rodmen Smith, DNR Enforcement Division director.
“There’s no excuse for operating a recreational vehicle or watercraft while impaired. Conservation officers will not give a second chance to anyone who operates while impaired and willfully puts everyone else on the trail or on the water at risk.”
The right choice keeps people safe and avoids the dangers and penalties of a poor decision.
Operating a boat, off-highway vehicle (OHV) or snowmobile under the influence is one of the main factors in fatal crashes in Minnesota. Each year, about half of all fatal incidents involving boats, OHVs and snowmobiles involve impairment.
The penalties associated with operating a motor vehicle under the influence apply the same to operating a boat, OHV or snowmobile under the influence.
People convicted of operating any of them under the influence lose their privilege to operate all of them.
 
Drugged driving is dangerous driving
Drugged driving-related driving while impaired (DWI) incidents on the road are increasing in Minnesota.
Drugged driving accounted for 6,941 DWI incidents from 2012-2016 compared with 15,747 from 2017-2021 — that’s a 127 percent increase.
In cases involving driving under the influence of drugs, cannabinoids are one of the most prevalent drug classes indicated in the screening of blood and urine samples. They are often seen in conjunction with other controlled substances and alcohol.
 
Effects of cannabis on driving
Cannabis has measurable effects that can impair the ability to drive and react quickly in critical situations, including:
•Difficulties in road tracking.
•Lane-position variability.
•Decreased, divided attention.
•Impaired executive functions, including route planning, decision making and risk taking.
“Sadly, driving while impaired by drugs is nothing new in Minnesota,” DPS Office of Traffic Safety Director Mike Hanson said.
“Changing behaviors and understanding the dangers of impairment require enforcement and education. Preventing tragedy is possible, and ultimately it comes down to taking personal responsibility for a safe and sober ride. Make that smart choice for yourself and your loved ones.”
 
Learn the law
Just like how drinking alcohol in a vehicle is illegal, it’s illegal under the new cannabis law for:
•Drivers or passengers to open any cannabis packaging, use marijuana or consume other cannabis products.
•Drivers or passengers to have an unsealed container of marijuana (for example, 2 ounces in a zip-close bag). Similar to alcohol, the exception is an unsealed container or other opened products may be kept in the trunk of a car or another area not accessible by the driver or passengers.
•The driver to be impaired by marijuana or other cannabis products. Driving high is a DWI.
 
Impaired enforcement and awareness promote safe driving choices
Troopers, deputies and police officers participate in statewide extra DWI enforcement and awareness throughout the year. The awareness efforts this year include new advertising highlighting how “Driving High is a DWI.”
During the legislative session, lawmakers approved additional resources for impaired driving and cannabis traffic safety efforts, including funding for:
•Expanded drug recognition evaluator (DRE) and related law enforcement training programs.
•An oral fluid pilot project. The pilot program will test a tool that law enforcement can use to evaluate a driver for possible drug impairment by cannabis or other substances.
It is a roadside test similar to the preliminary breath test (PBT) law enforcement use to detect drunk driving.