COTTONWOOD — A fire early Wednesday morning destroyed part of a local business in Cottonwood, although fire officials said responders were able to keep the blaze from spreading beyond a shop building. The fire, at the G&B Wood Chips property on East Fourth Street, was reported at 6:15 ...

PIPESTONE — A meat processing plant that was about to be closed down will be bought by another food company instead. On Tuesday, beef and pork processor JBS USA announced it reached an agreement to lease the J&B Group meat processing facility in Pipestone, with the intent to buy the ...

MARSHALL — An ankle injury piqued his interest into the medical field and a catastrophic spinal injury steered him into spinal cord research. Willmar native Dr. Peter Grahn, a 2011 Southwest Minnesota State alumnus and a neurosurgery professor at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, was the ...

NEW ULM — District 16B Rep. Paul Torkelson, R-Hanska, told Brown County commissioners he thinks there will be a Minnesota budget surplus next year. “There may or may not be a surplus, but we think there will be. If so, there are lots funding needs,” Torkelson said. Due to a St. Paul ...

MARSHALL — Lyon County employees in several different positions could move up into new pay ranges next year after county commissioners voted to approve a new pay structure. Most of the current employees affected by the changes will be county jailers and dispatchers, said Lyon County Human ...

MARSHALL — Local government takes many forms — counties, cities, townships, and school districts. And Minnesota State Auditor, Julie Blaha works with all of them. There’s a lot to learn about local governments and the communities they serve, so Blaha has been taking road trips through ...

COTTONWOOD — An early morning fire destroyed part of a wood chipping business in Cottonwood on Wednesday. Area fire departments, including the Cottonwood, Marshall, Hanley Falls and Wood Lake Fire Departments, responded to the scene of a fire reported at the G&B Wood Chips plant before 7 ...

WOOD LAKE — Friday, Nov. 15, started out as a normal day for the Berends family of Wood Lake. Landyn Berends, 12, helped his mother, Jenni Berends, get his 2-year-old twin brothers ready for the day before getting on the school bus to Lakeview School. “He said ‘have a good day,’” ...

GRANITE FALLS — The nationwide Yellowstone Trail will be spotlighted more often next year in several area counties. The regional Yellowstone Trail Alliance of Western Minnesota is expanding its promotional efforts to include the portion of the trail route between Granite Falls and ...

MARSHALL — The weekend for many families is typically spent at home or out enjoying an activity. For the Andries family, during the months of August through November, Saturdays consist of one common thing: college football. For the past couple of seasons, the Andries family can be seen ...

MARSHALL — Mavin Stolp was a little hesitant to talk when he approached Santa at Independence Park Saturday night. “What do you want?” Santa asked Stolp. “A girlfriend? Don’t tell me a Green Packer jersey,” Santa said. “I won’t tell you,” Mavin answered. Santa laughed and ...

MARSHALL — They were ready for the cold, all bundled up in their hockey gear. But there were still some finishing touches before Isabelle Deutz, Aubree Metheny and Grace Bump could climb aboard a flatbed parked not far from Main Street. Deutz stood still as strands of lights were wrapped ...

MARSHALL — Looks like it’s going to be a good weekend to stay indoors. A winter storm warning — the second in a week — is in effect until noon Sunday. Brad Adams, one of the meteorologists at The National Weather Service in Sioux Falls, S.D., says the Marshall area could get possibly ...

ARSHALL — The city of Marshall and Marshall Municipal Utilities work together in a lot of ways — so many, in fact, that the city and the utility regularly enter into partnership agreements to help keep track of them all. An agreement for 2020 that members of the Marshall City Council ...

MARSHALL — Thursday marked a big change for Marshall’s community Thanksgiving meal. The event moved from the National Guard Armory, where it had been held for years, to Grace Life Church, at the former East Side Elementary campus. But although the venue had changed, the tradition hadn’t. ...

=MINNEAPOLIS — A Guatemalan woman who was convicted of four counts of criminal vehicular homicide after a deadly crash with a school bus, was arrested Tuesday for illegally re-entering the U.S., U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement reported. Olga Franco del Cid, 35, was arrested at her ...

MARSHALL — It’s not all “doom and gloom” for small retailers this Christmas shopping season when it comes to competing with the big box stores and Amazon. That’s how Lyle Patzer feels about the 10th annual Small Business Saturday which is promoted by American Express. Patzer owns ...

MARSHALL — They were there for a city permit. But representatives of Marshall Public Schools also used their time at the Marshall City Council meeting on Tuesday to give council members an update on construction plans for a new elementary school. Chris Ziemer, project director with ICS ...

Photo by Deb Gau The roads were still icy in places, but that didn’t deter local residents taking part in the sixth annual Gobble Wobble 5K on Thursday morning. A total of 286 participants, as well as a few dogs, ran across the starting line on A Street just outside the Marshall Area YMCA. ...

MARSHALL — It’s been a long road to get to this point. But even with construction bids approved, it will still take over a year to renovate Marshall’s 55-year-old Municipal Building. Last week, Marshall City Administrator Sharon Hanson outlined some of the next steps in the process, ...