December 2016

The Benson boys basketball team had one bad stretch during a home game with BOLD last Tuesday night, and it was just enough to give the visiting Warriors a 77-69 victory over the Braves.

Benson trailed by 15 points late in the first half (33-18), before outscoring BOLD 51-44 the rest of the way, including a 9-4 edge to close out the first half and 42-40 margin in the second half.

Benson, which fell to 0-3 overall, was also set to host the CASE IH Boys Invitational Friday and Saturday with Breckenridge, ACGC, and MACCRAY, but the tournament was canceled due to a winter blizzard.

The game with ACGC, that was set to open up the tournament Friday, will be made up as a conference game, Friday, Jan. 6 in Benson....
    

On the coldest morning in nearly seven years the power in northwest Benson went out. It would stay out from around 8:30 Sunday morning until nearly 6 that night.

At the time the power went out, the temperature in Benson was near a minus 25 degrees after hitting a low of 28 below zero. The wind chill was a dangerous 40 and 45 below. While temperatures “warmed” through the morning to a minus 8 degrees by noon, the temperature never got above zero as city electric crews worked into the late afternoon to find out what was causing the outage.

As soon as the power went out, the city’s on-call electric crew responded, City Manager Rob Wolfington told the Benson City Council Monday night. As the crew tried to fix what it thought was causing the problem things continued to go wrong. A burned out transformer was replaced, but there were other problems down the line that caused fuses, some the size of a baseball bat, to blow, he said.

Armory main floor, gymnasium safe for public use
 

A structural and environmental study of the Benson Armory building shows that for the most part it is safe for the public to use.

However, it also says that the two-story front office space on the 1927 building should be removed and replaced. Engineering and architectural firm Widseth, Smith and Nolting (WSN) of Alexandria, did the study, with architect Reed Becker overseeing it.

Benson’s City Council had been exploring the possibility of remodeling the Armory for use as a new city hall, police department, or possibly both. However, during a tour of the building in October, it found mold growing in the basement, paint peeling off the walls, and pipes wrapped with a material that likely contained asbestos.

It led the council to order the environmental study to ensure the building was safe for the Benson High School gymnastics program use, for roller skating, walkers, and for events.

ROGER H. MARQUARDT
APRIL 8, 1951 – DECEMBER 19, 2016
DEATH NOTICE
 
Roger Harold Marquardt, age 65, of Benson, Minnesota died Monday, December 19, 2016 at his home.  A private family burial will be held in the Belview City Cemetery at a later date.

Roger is survived by his siblings: Janet (Dwayne) Ousky of Belview, Viola (Murlin) Buske of Waseca, Shirley (David) Williamson of Appleton, and Ronald Marquardt of Burnsville; and many nieces and nephews.

Arrangements are with Zniewski Funeral Home in Benson.  www.zniewskifuneralhome.com