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ST. PAUL (KMHL) – There was some good news on the state’s budget situation yesterday. Minnesota Management and Budget office released its November budget forecast showing a $1.332 billion surplus during the 2020-2021 Biennium. Gov. Tim Walz said yesterday that he would like to see some of the surplus go to help better fund rural Minnesota schools. Walz notes that rural taxpayers have been picking up the slack for funding education for years. "I've made the case that it becomes harder to do, especially for greater Minnesota schools," said Walz. He would like to see some of the surplus money go to [...]

ST. PAUL (KMHL) – Gov. Tim Walz and state Attorney General Keith Ellison announced yesterday the state of Minnesota has filed a lawsuit against e-cigarette manufacturer JUUL Labs. Ellison says the company has violated multiple state consumer-protection laws. "Our lawsuit asks the court to find that JUUL is responsible for creating a public nuisance, for violating several state consumer laws including consumer fraud, deceptive trade practices, unlawful trade practices and false advertising," said Ellison. JUUL says its customer is the world’s one billion adult smokers and they are not intending to attract underage users – but that’s a claim that Gov. [...]

COTTONWOOD (KMHL) – A fire has destroyed the building that housed G&B Wood Chips in Cottonwood. Fire officials say the call came in around 6:15 a.m. this (Wednesday) morning. Cottonwood Assistant Fire Chief Jeremy Dieken tells Marshall Radio that no one was injured in the fire, but the building was fully engulfed in flames by the time the first officer arrived on scene. "Right now we got it contained to the one building," said Dieken. "That is what our main priority was." He adds the state fire marshal has been called in to help investigate. Fire officials say no one [...]

PIPESTONE (LEARFIELD)  --  The purchase of a meat processing plant in Pipestone which was about to close has rescued more than 130 jobs. A September announcement had indicated the facility would shut down this month.  Now, J-B-S U-S-A says it will lease the plant with plans to eventually buy it. Brazil-based J-B-S is the world’s largest beef and pork processing company.  The processing plant in Pipestone becomes its third location in Minnesota. J-B-S also runs the nearby plant in Worthington.

SPRINGFIELD (KMHL) – Mayo Clinic will close their locations in Springfield and Lamberton in March. According to a press release from Mayo, both locations have had difficulty with staffing and recruiting and retaining physicians. Mayo says the closures will affect 60 employees, who will be offered positions at other Mayo Clinic sites. Mayo says it came to the difficult decision after careful review of patient volumes, ongoing staffing issues and regulatory concerns. The closures will affect the hospital and emergency department in Springfield and the clinic in Lamberton.

CLARKFIELD (KMHL) – An unoccupied house caught fire last week in Clarkfield. The Yellow Medicine County Sheriff’s Office says they received a call of a house fire on the 500 block of 9th Avenue in Clarkfield. Authorities say no one was living in the house at the time of the fire that was reported in the early morning hours of November 27th – last Wednesday morning. Anyone with information on the fire is asked to contact the Yellow Medicine County Sheriff’s Office as they are continuing to investigate the incident.

UNDATED (LEARFIELD) - State officials are advising farmers now for planning purposes that the cut-off date for applying dicamba (die-CAM-buh) to soybean fields will be June 20th again next year. It's to avoid the weed-killing herbicide drifting onto other fields that might not have crops which are resistant to it. "In 2017 we had almost a quarter million acres of reported drift, this last year we had less than 1,000 acres with that date," said Petersen. Officials say in 2019 there were 760 acres affected. "If you're using a dicamba spray and it does move onto other beans it can harm [...]

MINNEAPOLIS (LEARFIELD)--  The major winter storm complicated travel in Minnesota over the weekend. The Minnesota State Patrol reports nearly 320 car crashes and more than 520 spin-outs caused by the weather.  The numbers were as of Sunday and should go higher. At least eight semi-trucks jack-knifed on state roads.  Snow, rain, sleet and strong winds made navigating Minnesota highways almost impossible. Nearly 30 of the accidents resulted in injuries, leaving two of the victims in critical condition.

GREEN VALLEY (KMHL) – A Garfield woman received non-life threatening injuries in a two-vehicle crash that occurred along Highway 23 North of Green Valley. The Minnesota State Patrol says Alvina Simonson, 18, of Garfield, was taken to Avera Marshall Regional Center after the 2004 Chevrolet Tracker she was driving slid out of control on Highway 23 and collided with a 2010 Kia Soul that was stopped on the shoulder of the highway. The driver of the Soul, was not injured.

MARSHALL (KMHL) - Another major winter storm is getting set to move into the region just in time for the tail end of the long Thanksgiving holiday weekend. The National Weather Service has added Lincoln and Lyon counties to the winter storm warning that had been issued for the counties to the north. Forecasters are calling for between 7 and 10 inches of snow in the area as temperatures are now expected to be a little cooler than what forecasters thought it would be previously. They are predicting two rounds of snow, the first on Friday night, followed by a second [...]