Breaking News

Local News

Marshall council to discuss possible library cuts

MARSHALL — Possible funding cuts by Lyon County could mean reductions in operations at the Marshall-Lyon County Library, according to agenda materials for this week’s Marshall City Council meeting. A discussion of 2027 library funding is on the agenda for Tuesday’s council meeting. Funding allocations for the library have been part of ongoing budget talks for the Lyon County Board of Commissioners this summer. The county is facing budget challenges like rising costs for insurance and health and human services. At earlier budget talks, Lyon County commissioners considered ...

Tyler man charged with child pornography possession

LINCOLN COUNTY — A Tyler man was charged this week with possessing and distributing child pornography, Lincoln County District Court records said. Court records said Niel Jeffery Jensen, 56, appeared at a hearing Thursday on 12 counts of possession of child pornography and two counts of distribution of child pornography charges. A criminal complaint alleges that, on Aug. 18, the Buffalo Ridge Drug and Violent Crimes Task Force received a tip from the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, saying that Jensen had shared a pornographic image of a juvenile through Instagram chat ...

Habitat home takes shape

MARSHALL — Construction of a new Habitat for Humanity home in Marshall has made rapid progress over the past couple of weeks. The house’s exterior walls and roof of the building are now in place, and Habitat representatives would also be looking at landscaping options soon, said Kayla ...

Murray County to examine jail needs

SLAYTON — With the cost of housing inmates at the Lyon County Jail set to increase in the next couple of years, Murray County officials are looking for possible alternatives in the future. At this week’s Murray County Commissioner meeting, commissioners voted to have a building committee do an assessment of correctional facilities needs in the county. On Friday, Murray County Sheriff Heath Landsman said the committee could look at the feasibility of different potential options, including whether to build a correctional facility in Murray County, or possibly whether to try and ...

Connecting with those in poverty

MARSHALL — For the longest time, Southwest Minnesota State University Associate Professor of Science Dr. Kris Cleveland has shared her experiences involving mission trips to Guatemala with SMSU women’s Assistant Basketball Coach Hanna Geistfeld. Then one day, Geistfeld sent an email to ...

Tyler library construction progressing toward December opening

TYLER — Construction of a new public library building in the city of Tyler has made a lot of progress since this spring. The goal for the Tyler Library is to be in the new building by December, said library director Shelly Finzen. “They’re doing the finishing work on the inside,” ...