Fergus Falls Forum

DETROIT LAKES, Minn. — (9:15 a.m.) The Minnesota Department of Transportation and the Minnesota State Patrol urge motorists to drive with caution as flooding affects area highways in Wilkin and Big Stone counties.

Road closures

The following state highways are closed until further notice:

• Highway 75 near Kent is closed from Wilkin County Road 24 to Wilkin County Road 22. Water is receding, but Mn/DOT crews are repairing washed out shoulders and a section of roadway under the railroad bridge. Traffic continues to be detoured using Wilkin County Roads 3 and 26.
• Highway 12 east of Ortonville is closed from Highway 75 to Big Stone County Road 21. The roadway is under water, causing dangerous driving conditions. Traffic is detoured using Highway 75 and Big Stone County Road 21.

Open – use caution

The following state highways are currently open but conditions can change rapidly. Motorists should use extreme caution approaching the following areas:

• Highway 12 east of Big Stone County Road 21 at Horseshoe Lake – Open to traffic, watch for water on the roadway.

Open – water receded

The following state highways are open and water has receded – water is no longer a threat to the roadway:

• Highway 75 one mile north of Kragnes – Open to traffic.
• Highway 200 east of Mahnomen at Twin Lake Creek between Mahnomen County Roads 3 and 4 – Open to traffic.

For more information

• Call 5-1-1 or log on to www.511mn.org for road condition information when traveling in western Minnesota where potential flooding conditions exist.
• Log on to www.dot.nd.gov/travel-info/ for North Dakota current road conditions.

·         Listen to your National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration weather radio or local radio stations for weather and flood warnings.

Four people were injured and taken to a hospital early Sunday morning after a one-vehicle rollover accident in Dalton, Minn.

Five people were traveling in a 2000 Subaru Legacy Outback and rolled over just before 7:00 am on Interstate 94 at mile marker 65, by Dalton, according to the Minnesota State Patrol.

Four of the five passengers were taken by ambulance to Lake Region Hospital in Fergus Falls. Abdulkadir Farah, 21 years old of Pelican Rapids, Halimo Adan, 19 years old, Samira Abdi, 17 years old, and Anisa Abdulle, 16 years old, were all taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Ismail Duale, 24 years old of Fargo, was not injured.

More information will be available Monday.

DETROIT LAKES, Minn. — (10:45 a.m.) The Minnesota Department of Transportation and the Minnesota State Patrol urge motorists to drive with caution as flooding affects area highways in Clay, Wilkin, Mahnomen and Big Stone counties.

Road closures

The following state highways are closed until further notice:

• Highway 75 near Kent is closed from Wilkin County Road 24 to Wilkin County Road 22. The roadway is under water, causing dangerous driving conditions. Traffic is detoured using Wilkin County Roads 3 and 26.
• Highway 12 east of Ortonville is closed from Highway 75 to Big Stone County Road 21. The roadway is under water, causing dangerous driving conditions. Traffic is detoured using Highway 75 and Big Stone County Road 21.

Open – use caution

The following state highways are currently open but conditions can change rapidly. Motorists should use extreme caution approaching the following areas:

• Highway 75 one mile north of Kragnes – Open to traffic, watch for water on the roadway.
• Highway 200 east of Mahnomen at Twin Lake Creek between Mahnomen County Roads 3 and 4 – Open to traffic, watch for water on the roadway.
• Highway 12 east of Big Stone County Road 21 at Horseshoe Lake – Open to traffic, watch for water on the roadway.

Motorists should also watch for icy patches at or near these areas as the weather forecast calls for colder temperatures and wind over the next few days.

For more information

• Call 5-1-1 or log on to www.511mn.org for road condition information when traveling in west central and northwest Minnesota where potential flooding conditions exist.
• Log on to www.dot.nd.gov/travel-info/ for North Dakota current road conditions.
• Listen to your National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration weather radio or local radio stations for weather and flood warnings.

DETROIT LAKES, Minn. — (9:45 a.m.) The Minnesota Department of Transportation and the Minnesota State Patrol urge motorists to drive with caution as flooding affects area highways in Wilkin and Mahnomen counties.

Road closures

The following state highways are closed until further notice:

· Highway 75 near Kent is closed from Wilkin County Road 24 to Wilkin County Road 22. The roadway is under water, causing dangerous driving conditions. Traffic is detoured using Wilkin County Roads 3 and 26.

Open – use caution

The following state highways are currently open but conditions can change rapidly. Motorists should use extreme caution approaching the following areas:

· Highway 210 at Wilkin County Road 15 – Open to traffic, watch for water on the roadway and sandbags along the highway.

· Highway 210 at Willow Creek east of Wilkin County Road 10 – Open to traffic, watch for water on the roadway and sandbags along the highway.

· Highway 200 east of Mahnomen at Twin Lake Creek between Mahnomen County Roads 3 and 4 – Open to traffic, watch for water on the roadway.

For more information

· Call 5-1-1 or log on to www.511mn.org for road condition information when traveling in west central and northwest Minnesota where potential flooding conditions exist.

· Log on to www.dot.nd.gov/travel-info/ for North Dakota current road conditions.

· Listen to your National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration weather radio or local radio stations for weather and flood warnings.

Juniors and Seniors at Perham High School will be able to combine in-classroom instruction with an online mix starting next year. Its something that the school is calling “Hybrid” classes.

These classes bring the best of both worlds to the table when it comes to education, which will advocate independent learning and cut classroom instruction time.

Instructors will be revamping their traditional lectures, and produce new online content which will include various activities, such as case studies, tutorials, simulations, and group collaborations.

A typical hybrid class will meet in a classroom three days a week, and on the other two days, students will have the option to work online at home or come into school and complete the online activities.

Initially, Perham High School will only allow first and fifth hour classes to offer a hybrid option.

A Frazee teen with terminal cancer whose wish prompted volunteers to restore his Pontiac Fiero has died.

Tyler Shipman, 18, died Sunday night, according to a message on his CaringBridge site.

“Tyler lost his very brave and valiant fight with cancer and went home to be with his heavenly Father at approximately 7:45 tonight,” the message states.

Shipman suffered from a rare form of cancer called synovial sarcoma. After attempts to treat the cancer failed, he decided to step up efforts to restore his 1986 Fiero GT to mint condition.

He sought help on an online message board for Fiero fans, and about 20 people from across the country came together in November to restore the car.

The Wahpeton School District appointed Rick Jacobson as the new superintendent on Monday. According to board President, Deb Mauch, they chose him because of his experience, as well as his background in finance.

Wahpeton was forced to find a new superintendent after Mike Connell, who currently holds the position, announced that he would be retiring at the end of the school year, after serving the district for 21 years.

Jacobson accepted the offer on Monday, and the district issued a two-year contract on Tuesday. He will assume the role as superintendent on July 1, and receive a salary of $105,000.

Jacobson was selected out of a group of five finalists, after hearing input from staff, teachers, students, as well as administrators.

Wahpeton is located 25 miles west of Fergus Falls, and serves nearly 1,200 students in pre-kindergarten through 12th grade.

Residents in Otter Tail County, on average, spend $867 per month on shopping, $436 on house and home, $559 on health and family, $430 on transportation, $350 food and drink, and $164 on travel and leisure. While at first it may seem as if Otter Tail County residents are spending a lot, the area matches up closely with Fargo and Minneapolis with their spending.

SHOPPING

With shopping being the largest category we spend our money on (beating house and home by almost double!), we thought we should break down this category even more.

On average, residents spend $696 on general shopping, $65 on clothing, shoes, and other wear, $64 on hobbies, $26 on electronics, and $16 on office supplies.

For general shopping, the most popular stores in Fergus Falls include Mills Fleet Farm, Walmart, Target, and Kmart, with the average purchase size being $122. For clothing, shoes, and other wear, you wont see many citizens buying their items in Fergus Falls, however. With an average of $65 spent on this  category, it’s all pouring out to other communities. TJ Maxx, Eddie Bauer, and DSW, are some of the places residents of the area choose to buy their clothing.

HEALTH & FAMILY

With $559, on average, being spent on our health, as well as our families, this category comes in second for residents of the area.

$249 is spent per month on insurance, $148 on health-care, and $100 on childcare.  Other subcategories include $24 per month being spent on pets, $22 being spent on personal care, and $16 being donated to charity.

HOUSE & HOME

With $436 being spent on our house and home, its obvious that residents in the area take pride in taking care of their homes. $182 is spent monthly on utilities expenses, $147 on home improvement, $80 on our monthly phone bill, and $27 on home maintenance.

GETTING AROUND

$430 of our monthly budget is spent on getting around. Residents spend, on average, $179 per month on gas, with Holiday, Casey’s General Store, and M & H, being the place residents chose to make their gasoline purchases. Residents also spend $251 on auto expenses, per month, with people in the 90th percentile spending a whopping $680 on their auto expenses!

FOOD & DRINK

Trailing behind transportation, is the food & drink category. $350 of our monthly household budget is spent on this category, on average. According to the data, more residents are choosing to dine at home, rather than dine at a restaurant. $215 is being spent on groceries per month versus $135 being spent on dining out.  If we look further into the data, our dining out purchases go to Applebee’s, McDonald’s, and Subway.

TRAVEL & LEISURE

The smallest category that residents of the area spend their money on is travel & leisure. With $116 being spent on travel, $32 spent on cabal/satellite, and $16 being spent on other entertainment, residents spend roughly $164 per month on this category.  The majority of the residents in the area prefer to take cruises according to the data, while hotel stay is toward the bottom of the list.

WHAT ABOUT YOU?

Is this data consistent with your average budget? Use the nifty comment feature and let us know!

Data from Bundle.com, MSN Money, Citi Group, and Morningstar Financial. Latest data available was from October 2009.

The giant otter statue that resides in Grotto Park, on the east side of Fergus Falls, will be featured in an upcoming South by South West (SXSW) film called “World’s Largest”. The documentary features small towns across the United States who claim the “world’s largest” something.

“Our intention in making World’s Largest was to create a portrait of a changing place and time – small-town America at this moment”, says filmmaker Amy C. Elliott. “The result is a multilayered tapestry of dozens of first person accounts that are candid, poignant, funny and sad; peppered with the images of these often beautiful statues and the vanishing worlds they were built to represent.”

The people behind the film, ‘World’s Largest’, were in Fergus Falls several years ago, and filmed several residents in town, and even interview one of the artists behind the statue.

Other communities in the area were also featured in the film. The prairie chicken in Rothsay, the loon in Vergas, the pelican in Pelican Rapids, as well as a list of others were also featured.

The film will have its world premier during the SXSW Film Conference and Festival, which is being held March 12th through the 20th.

More information on the film, “World’s Largest”, can be found on their website, http://www.worldslargestdoc.com.

People who own property on Minnesota’s more than 10,000 lakes are facing higher fees to take out permits to control aquatic plants along their shorelines.

Three public hearings on proposed changes are set for later this month: Feb. 23 in Fergus Falls, Feb. 24 in Little Falls and Feb. 25 in Plymouth.

The Legislature directed the Department of Natural Resources to recover the costs of its aquatic plant management permit program through fees.

The DNR proposes to increase permit fees for aquatic plant control adjacent to privately owned lake shore from the current $35 to $90. It also proposes a new $100 fee for businesses that remove aquatic plants.

Another revision would prohibit control of lotus flowers in public waters.