2010 Year in Review: April

April 1: The Osceola Recreation Trail Committee has started fundraising for its proposed 6.2-mile trail project around Sibley, and its next event is a pancake and sausage feed set for 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. April 17 at the Sibley Senior Center.

April 2: Area residents can expect to see turbine blades and generators moving across the county’s roads later this month as construction nears on the state’s second largest wind farm.

On Wednesday, enXco and Xcel Energy completed a purchase and sale agreement for Nobles Wind Project. The transfer of ownership makes this Xcel Energy’s second wind turbine project in Minnesota, and will push the company closer to its goal of generating 30 percent of its retail electrical sales with renewable power by 2020.

April 3: The day was a bit gray, the wind was a bit high, and the time was a bit earlier than planned, none of which stopped people from dropping whatever they were doing Friday to stand along the highway and welcome back Army National Guard soldiers from the 1st Battalion, 151st Field Artillery unit.

April 3: Farmers who have been out in recent days getting the rest of last year’s corn crop harvested are finding it over-wintered rather well, considering snow depths that, in some places, buried the entire corn stalk.

April 3: It may not be the most pleasant of tasks, but it has to be done. That’s why Slayton resident Mark Slettum has organized a fish cleanup following the winter’s fish kill.

Volunteers are asked to meet at 10 a.m. Monday on the first dike on Lake Shetek, near Valhalla Island

and are asked to bring buckets, baskets, pitch forks, shovels and waders if possible.

April 5: When John O’Brien was growing up in Worthington, he had no aspirations of being a college-level administrator — he just wanted to teach. But O’Brien was recently named president of North Hennepin Community College, and he’s up for the challenge.

April 6: With bids for the next phase of the Minnesota 60 four-lane expansion project due to the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) in less than three weeks, construction is still on track to start sometime around mid-July.

The good news is that there will not be a detour this year for the project.

April 7: Nobles County Commissioners tabled action on a resolution pertaining to the Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) consolidation during their meeting Tuesday.

The proposed project involves the consolidation of several county dispatch centers in southwest Minnesota into a central dispatch site. Six counties have participated in the PSAP study for the past several months.

April 7: Dist. 22A Rep. Doug Magnus, R-Slayton, announced Tuesday that he will not seek a fifth two-year term in the Minnesota House and will instead seek election to the Minnesota Senate in District 22.

April 8: A harp designed for therapy may help patients afflicted with dementia, deafness or weakness communicate with the volunteer helpers from Compassionate Care Hospice, thanks to a grant from the Worthington Regional Health Care Foundation.

April 12: While some areas of the state are still under flood warnings, the National Weather Service issued an extreme fire alert over the weekend for Cottonwood, Jackson, Lincoln, Lyon, Murray, Nobles, Pipestone and Rock counties.

Tags: year in review, news