Mission work in Mississippi THATE’S TREE SERVICE Specializing in large Local volunteers traveled and difficult tree projects! to Greenville during February ice, snow storm 800-225-8733 n Page 4 www.thatetree.com 138th year Cottonwood County 11th edition $1.25 Tourney time Eagle boys split final two games n Page 9 VISIT US ONLINE AT WWW.WINDOMNEWS.COM WEDNESDAY, MARCH 17, 2021 WHAT’S INSIDE Schneider wins sixth, seventh Grammy Awards Counterfeit n Windom native wins for her Prince, Bob Dylan and Win- she received her sixth and Jazz Ensemble Album cat- dollars surface latest album and for the dom native Maria Schneider seventh Grammys at the egory. The other honor came Three businesses were hit composition of one of her have in common?” 2021 Grammy Awards in Los for “Sputnik,” a track on with counterfeit $20 bills songs on the album. The answer: All three were Angeles. She accepted the that album, which won Best born in Minnesota and all awards from her home in Instrumental Composition. in last week When it comes to Minneso- three have seven Grammy New York City. “I’m so grateful for both of n Page 2 ta and the Grammy Awards, Awards, the most by any Schneider received one these Grammys,” Schneider there could be a trivia Minnesota-born artist. award for her July album said. “This album has the question making the rounds On Sunday, Maria Schnei- release of “Data Lords,” fea- indelible mark of every in- Commissioners in music circles across the der, a 1979 graduate of turing the world-class Maria OK abatements state. Windom Area High School, Schneider Orchestra. The SEE GRAMMY Maria Schneider BRIENE LERMITTE Plans to convert Guardian The question: “What do joined that group when recording won in the Large • BACK PAGE Inn into apartments take another step forward n Back Page Buildings, roads ONLINE POLL take center stage at Last Week’s Results Have you changed your township meetings mind about getting a n The Dale Township board voted to switch COVID vaccine? to a mail-in system for all future township, 4 No, I’m % or general elections. o getting one .... 46 No, I’m not % In the end, it was a day of grassroots o getting one .....34 government at its finest. Township leaders gathered in their Yes, I’m % respective townships last week for their o getting one .....18 annual meetings, fine-tuning levies, go- Yes, I’m not % ing over road maintenance, and, in some o getting one ..........2 cases supervising elections. And while many clerks and supervisors referred to their meetings as “typical,” there were a Next Week few new wrinkles. Do you believe Derek 3/17 DMbefore 3 For instance, Great Bend Township Chauvin can get a fair trial? discussed the completion of Sixth Avenue, at the edge of Windom. The stretch shared with Windom was resurfaced in 2020. The Vote at township is looking for a solution to finish www.windomnews.com the project in cooperation with the city and state. In Dale Township, the decision was made to switch from in-person voting to a DID YOU KNOW? mail-in system for all future township, or February general elections. This is a topic that actu- ally emerged at the 2020 annual meeting. weather Meanwhile, Germantown Township’s recap primary topic was road rights-of-way. The township has had issues with farming in February was a chilly road ditches. The board stressed the need month with an average to receive permission before doing any- high temperature of 18.5 thing within those rights-of-ways. degrees and a low of 3.6. The big change for this year’s Amboy Township annual meeting was the loca- A year ago, the average tion. For the first time, the board met in was 30.7 and 9.6. its new township hall, located on Peavy There were six days with Street in Jeffers. The building, which includes a shop and grader storage, was a high temp at zero or DAVE FJELD 3/17 DMRafter 4 completed in September at a cost of below and 12 days with $175,000. the low temp below zero. In Mt. Lake Township, the big discus- The lowest temp was sion point was the plan to rebuild a gravel recorded on Feb. 14 at -18 Spring brown to winter white road, 390th Street, going west from County degrees; the high on Feb. Road 1. 3 at 39 degrees. Winter has rarely been known to go quietly in Minne- dumping 3 inches of snow on the area, turning every- “We have a gravel road that sees a lot sota and 2021 apparently is no exception. thing that had been tan and brown, with some spots of semi traffic, so we need to rebuild it Snowfall, however, was On Saturday, Windom area residents enjoyed sun- of green, back to white. The snow was the heavy, wet to handle the traffic,” said Mark Hanson, just 5.1 inches, three shine and temperatures that climbed into the upper 50s. variety yielding almost .3 inches of moisture. clerk. While Sunday was overcast, windy and a bit cooler, early With temperatures expected to be near 60 by the inches less than 2020, spring was still in the air. weekend, this latest sneeze from Old Man Winter isn’t with a moisture content of Less than 24 hours later, winter reared its white head, expected to stick around long. SEE TOWNSHIPS •BACK PAGE just .41 inches. WEATHER A look back . Housing issue remains city’s top focus for ’21 H L P Tues. 68 39 — n Windom officials have Wed. 41 33 .27” STATE OF THE CITY Thurs. 38 26 — made significant progress on Fri. 38 29 — meeting housing challenges ognizing these influences, Sat. 57 36 — in the past year. the city council has worked Sun. 45 31 — to grow the community, a Mon. 34 31 3.5”sn “What is the city’s biggest goal that goes back several issue for 2021?” years.” There was a slight hesita- tion as City Administrator Housing progress Steve Nasby pondered the The key to that goal is question — only slight. There housing. Nasby pointed out was also a grin, as if to say, that the new Lakeside Apart- FILE “well, we have quite the ‘to ments, a 45-unit market rate IF ALL GOES AS planned, the spec building site will be the home of a new 84-unit apartment do’ list.” apartment complex, opened complex. However, there are still a few hurdles to clear before that project becomes reality. Nasby quickly settled on near Cottonwood Lake last housing, the same answer he summer. Since last summer, used for nine relatively progress. The Cemstone of electric transmission has given the past few years. recent single family home project could be a couple of lines through Windom. Join Hy-Vee’s NEW there have been other apart- It’s no surprise to most, projects, including three years away. We have applied “We have submitted plans premium membership today! ment efforts at the Guardian although the city did make announced within the past for a redevelopment grant, for the transmission line,” For only $99 per year, get: Inn and the EDA spec build- significant progress in that ing property. month. The Gove Acres proj- but that takes time.” Nasby said. “These (above + Fuel savings every time area in 2020. ect launched by Jerry Bauer ground) lines are from the + Exclusive monthly deals New homes and town Infrastructure efforts “Last year, we had the sale homes are also part of the and Lindsey Cartwright of 1960s and 1970s. They are + Free 2-hour pickup of Prime Pork to HyLife and solution, Nasby noted. Windom, is a 55-and-over When it comes to top reaching the end of life and + Free grocery delivery their plans included adding “There is an ongoing community planned for issues, Nasby sees infra- need to have reliability.” + Get and give real-time a second shift,” Nasby point- discussion about a possible 11 cottages and four town structure as a “close number The electric project should feedback as your online ed out. “That has created a development at Cemstone homes. Groundwork on the two.” be finished in late 2021 order is shopped demand for employment, (concrete plant) and Cot- 19th Street site adjacent to Nasby pointed out that the or early 2022, Nasby said. + Much, much more! along with the demand we tonwood Lake,” Nasby said. Windom’s west water tower city recently completed a $4 Because it is part of the grid see from Toro, Fast Global, “And it looks like the Gove is expected to occur very million street project and is that runs from Minnesota the hospital, nursing home, Acres development is com- soon. virtually finished with its to Louisiana (the power for school and a number of ing to fruition. We’re also “We are comfortable $19 million wastewater treat- others relies on it), Windom other good-sized employers. working hard on the tax with where we are,” Nasby ment plant project. will recover its costs for the “The demand for labor is abatement programs.” said. “We’re still in need of The summer of 2021 will 7 28028 20721 7 continual, so obviously, rec- Tax abatement has been housing, but we’re making bring a $3.5 million rebuild SEE CITY• BACK PAGE ■ COTTONWOOD COUNTY CITIZEN WEDNESDAY, MARCH 17, 2021 2 ■ DISTRICT COURT Shelter fund drive gains steam THE EDGE Speeding: Wendy J. J. Bertrand, Sleepy Eye, Summer detour to Baker, Savage, $130; Chayla $130.