SMAC awards art project grants

On May 22, Southwest Minnesota Arts Council awarded the Southwest West Central Cooperative of Marshall a Local Arts Initiative grant in the amount of $2,500 to support its 2018 Conference for Young Artists.

The following organization within the 18 county region of southwest Minnesota was among those awarded Art Project Grants on May 22 from SMAC. These grants provide organizations in the SMAC region with up to $7,000 in matching funds to stimulate and encourage the creation, performance and appreciation of the arts. The next application deadline for Art Project grants is July 25.

The Marshall-Lyon County Library in Marshall has been awarded $2,448 to offer an all-day writing workshop for teens and adults with author/poet Candace Simar and poet/memorist Angela Foster. The workshop will be for ages 16+ and take place Saturday, Sept. 15, in the community room. Funding will go toward supporting: instructor fees, copies of handouts, artist mileage and lodging, posters, newspaper ads, boosting Facebook ads, printed bookmarks for promotion, and providing food for participants and instructors.

Free classes offered for people new to Medicare

There are important decisions that need to be made when you become eligible for Medicare. Making the wrong decision can lead to not having any or enough health care coverage and financial penalties. The Senior LinkAge Line through the Minnesota River Area Agency on Aging is sponsoring two classes for people who will soon be eligible for Medicare. Participants will learn the basics of Medicare and their coverage options in Minnesota during the first class. They will also learn how to research these options using non-biased tools, such as the Medicare website and the Medicare Plan Finder Tool during the second class.

Classes are held in Slayton on the second and third Monday of the month. Call the Senior LinkAge Line at 1-800-333-2433 to register.

The Senior LinkAge Line is a free statewide service of the Minnesota Board on Aging and Area Agencies on Aging. The Senior LinkAge Line is the federally-designated State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP) for Minnesota and is the place to call for Medicare and health insurance issues. Call 1-800-333-2433 for assistance or go to www.MinnesotaHelp.info to chat live with a Senior LinkAge Line specialist.

Suspect in woman’s abduction arrested in Otter Tail County

FERGUS FALLS (AP) — A woman abducted at gunpoint from her rural Fergus Falls home has been found and a suspect has been arrested.

The mother of the woman abducted Sunday afternoon told KFGO a masked man armed with a gun entered her daughter’s home through an unlocked basement door. She said the intruder forced her daughter to leave with him in his pickup truck. One of the woman’s four children called their father, who called 911.

The children were able to provide authorities with information that helped them spot the pickup on Highway 59 in northern Otter Tail County about four hours later. A brief pursuit ended in a field near Erhard where the suspect, a registered sex offender with a history of kidnapping, was taken into custody.

Breastfeeding at public pool prompts police call

MORA (AP) — Dozens of mothers and their children gathered over the weekend for what they called a “nurse-in” to support two women who were chastised for breastfeeding at a public swimming pool in eastern Minnesota.

The women gathered Saturday near the Mora Aquatic Center in Mora to defend Stephanie Buchanan and Mary Davis, two sisters-in-law whose breastfeeding of their infants last week prompted a call to police.

Buchanan said a pool patron approached them and asked them to cover up while they nursed because her boys were swimming nearby. Then a staff member made the same request and suggested they move to the locker room. Buchanan cited Minnesota state law which protects breastfeeding in public whether a woman is covered up or not.

The women eventually left the pool with their children when police were called.

Former guard raises concerns about Minnesota prison

STILLWATER (AP) — A former Minnesota corrections officer, who resigned following a colleague’s death, says he’s concerned that the state Department of Corrections is putting profit from its prison industry program above corrections officers’ safety.

Joe Miller is one of three officers who quit after Joseph Gomm was killed last week at the Minnesota Correctional Facility-Stillwater, Minnesota Public Radio News reported. Gomm was allegedly killed by an inmate in a MINNCOR Industries building, where inmates make products for public agencies and private companies.

Gomm is the first Minnesota corrections officer to die on duty, the department said.

The MINNCOR program generates less than 1 percent of the agency’s budget, the department said. The funds are used for education and re-entry programs, along with maintenance projects and security equipment, the department said.

The prison has had about 20 staff for the 300 inmates spread out in buildings that have numerous blind spots, Miller said. He said he’s voicing his concerns to honor Gomm and that he hopes changes in the department can prevent another loss.

“If I can say something that helps, I will,” Miller said. “But I’m done.”

The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees has also expressed concerns about insufficient staffing in Minnesota correctional facilities. The union said it has lobbied the Legislature for increased staffing and funding to no avail.

State Corrections Commissioner Tom Roy said he and other leaders of the department have for years tried to secure funding from the Legislature for more corrections officers.