News

The Clay County Fair Association announced today that the 2020 edition of “The World’s Greatest County Fair” will not be held and will be postponed to September 11-19, 2021. The decision, announced following a vote by the Fair Executive Committee, was made amid concerns over the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. After weeks of exploring various options, it became clear that the Fair could not protect the health and safety of fairgoers, staff, volunteers, 4-H/FFA youth, exhibitors, vendors, sponsors, and entertainers during the nine-day event. “The decision to postpone the Fair came with emotion and somewhat disbelief that it was really happening,” said Fair [...]

THE MARTIN COUNTY BOARD MEETS TUESDAY AT 9AM. THE MEETING WILL BEGIN WITH A MOMENT OF SILENCE FOR THE LATE COUNTY COMISSIONER TOM MAHONEY., THEN A COVID-19 PANDEMIC UPDATE AND CONSIDERATION OF OPTIONS FOR REPLACEMENT OF THE COURTHOUSE ROOF. COMMISSIONERS WILL CONSIDER SETTING A PUBLIC HEARING FOR SINGLE FAMILY HOME TAX ABATEMENT REQUESTS, APPROVAL OF A PREPAREDNESS PLAN, DECLARE A VACANCY ON THE BOARD FOR COMMISSIONERS DISTRICT #2 AND WILL HEAR A PRESENTATION OF THE SUMMER YOUTH INTERNSHIP PROGRAM AT TUESDAY'S MEETING AT THE MARTIN COUNTY COURTHOUSE.

Community Health and Human Services of Martin and Faribault Counties reported on Thursday 1 new confirmed case of the coronavirus in Faribault County. The latest case is a 63 year old who is hospitalized. There are currently 19 active cases in Faribault County.  The total number of confirmed cases in the county is 54. No new cases were reported in Martin County and there are currently 13 active cases.  The total number of confirmed cases in Martin County is 161. Watonwan County has 215 confirmed cases. 48 active. The Minnesota Department of Health reports 13 more residents have died of COVID-19.  [...]

THE FAIRMONT CARDINAL ATHLETIC HALL OF FAME INDUCTION CEREMONY ORIGINALLY SCHEDULED THIS FALL HAS BEEN POSTPONED TO NEXT YEAR. THE NEW INDUCTEES INCLUDE: DEB HEINRICH SHANNA (DAWSON) HOOD JAMIE (ROONEY) STERNKE MAT MAHONEY BRAD HESTED TOM SEIFERT JOSH TIETJE J.R.POOLEY THOSE ARE THE FAIRMONT CARDINAL ATHLETIC HALL OF FAME CLASS OF 2021 INDUCTEES.

The Minnesota Department of Health reports 4 more Minnesota residents have died of COVID-19.  The deaths reported on Wednesday raised the state’s total to 1,445, with 1,135 deaths occurring in long term care or assisted living facilities. The Health Department also reported 426 new confirmed cases, increases Minnesota’s total to 36,718. As of Wednesday, 260 patients were hospitalized, with 125 in ICU’s across the state and a total of 31,947 patients were recovering and no longer needed isolation. Community Health and Human Services of Martin and Faribault County reported 5 new coronavirus cases in Martin County on Wednesday for a total [...]

United Hospital District Inc. (UHD) announces the sale of its former Adolescent Treatment Center (ATC) building to Genesis Classical Academy (GCA). Terms of the agreement were completed June 30, 2020. The Winnebago facility had recently become available after UHD closed the ATC program due in large part to the COVID-19 pandemic. According to UHD CEO Rick Ash, UHD had determined that internal use of the building was not feasible, therefore the best option was to find a way to keep its use local. “After the difficult decision to close the Adolescent Treatment Center, one of UHD’s key goals was to repurpose [...]

UPCOMING EVENTS IN FAIRMONT INCLUDE: The Fairmont Opera House will hold a concert at the Sylvania Park Bandshell Thursday July 2 at 7:00 p.m. The band Free Fallin' will be performing. They would also like to hold a "boat in concert" Friday, July 3, at 7:00 p.m. at Gomsrud Park. An area east of the bathhouse/restrooms will be utilized for the event. Dayna Johnson, Greenbriar Consulting will hold a July 4th Farmer's Market and Artisan Street Fair Saturday on Downtown Plaza. The event will include food trucks and events for kids. Fairmont Fireworks will launch from the west bank of Sisseton [...]

Fairmont 2020 Graduate Tyson Geerdes handed over the reins to YOCO (Youth Coalition) student leadership team recently. Geerdes stepped down from the position of President of the County-Wide Youth Coalition (YOCO) board before departing Fairmont to start the next chapter of his life in the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, CO. Geerdes has been in the president's position since August 2019. He established the President Position and created the by-laws for the board when he was asked by members of the MCSAP (Martin County Substance Abuse Prevention) Coalition board to help build a united leadership in the prevention of underage [...]

Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation (SMIF) awarded $9,620 worth of paint from Ace Hardware to eight communities across the region through its Paint the Town Grant Program. This program is a partnership between SMIF and 12 local Ace Hardware stores and is designed to engage volunteers and build collaborative efforts that beautify communities through painting community murals, welcome signs, or historic structures. Eight projects received a total of 260 gallons of paint. The grant is awarded to projects that will have a visual impact, provide a public benefit to the community, and involve volunteer participation.   The 2020 Paint the Town Grant award [...]

The Minnesota Department of Health reports 6 more residents have died from COVID-19.  The deaths reported on Tuesday raised the state’s total to 1,441, with 1,131 of the deaths occurring in long term care or assisted living facilities. The Health Department also reported 444 new confirmed cases, increasing the state’s total to 36,303. As of Tuesday, 270 patients were hospitalized, with 136 of them in intensive care. Martin County confirmed cases 156. Active 8. Recovered 143. Faribault County has 53 confirmed cases. Active 20 . Recovered 33. Currently known hospitalizations 2. County Health Officials from Community Health and Human Services of [...]