News

Swift County’s Fair has been improving every year as it becomes one of the premier county fairs in western Minnesota.

By some accounts, 2017’s fair was the best in years featuring what might have been one of the biggest crowds ever as an estimated 5,000 to 6,000 fans packed into and around the Chuck Brown building to hear country western star Marty Stuart perform.

“The fair had an awesome year as you can see,” Fair Board President Jon Panzer told Swift County commissioners at their meeting Nov. 21. “We had a record at the gate.” Attendance was over 20,500.

General fair revenues were up nearly $15,000 over last year due to an increased gate, carnival, rentals, and camping income. Fair operation expenses were up, too, but it still saw a net profit of  $784. The fair sees plus or minus $3,000 or $4,000 at the end of the fair; that is typically how the fair turns out, Panzer said.

The 6th-8th, and 9th-12th grade holiday band concerts are set for Monday, Dec. 4, while the Holiday Choir Concert is set for Monday, Dec. 11, and the elementary holiday programs are set for Thursday and Friday, Dec. 7-8....

Pictured: Anna Samuelson (right), Riley Grube (second from right) and other members of the BHS trombone section perform during the Veteran’s Day program Nov. 13.  Members of the BHS music department will be busy this month with Holiday concerts.

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Nissen says accountability and leadership needed

By Reed Anfinson
Publisher
Swift County Monitor-News

Nearly 30 people attended Monday night’s District 777 Board of Education meeting for a discussion on the state of Benson High School athletics; only one was allowed to speak.

Angela Nissen, a 1991 BHS graduate, told the school board that she was the mother of four children, a son who is a third grader, a boy who is a ninth grader, and two daughters who have graduated, one in 2013 and one in 2017.

Nissen was one of several parents and district residents who addressed the school board at its Oct. 16 meeting with their concerns about persistent losing records. They were not on the agenda but allowed to speak under the citizens’ comments section at the start of the meeting.

Minnesota’s Public Utility Commission (PUC) is scheduled to meet Thursday, Nov. 30, to decide what action it will take on Xcel Energy’s proposed termination of its power purchase agreement with Benson Power, LLC.

The PUC could approve Xcel’s petition, deny it, or delay a decision. Parties unhappy with the PUC’s action, for or against, could appeal it.

The agreement requires Xcel to buy the 55 megawatts of electricity produced by the power plant, which burns a combination of turkey litter and wood chips, through 2028.

When Benson Power, known initially as Fibrominn, was constructed back in 2005, Xcel signed the 22-year power purchase agreement obligating it to buy the plant’s power. The deal helped satisfy Xcel’s requirement to buy 125 megawatts of green energy under the state’s biomass mandate. Passed as part of an agreement under which Xcel was permitted to store spent nuclear fuel at Prairie Island, the mandate has become a financial burden.

While the testing should go off without anyone noticing, the City of Benson wants every business owner and resident to be aware that there is a remote possibility they could suddenly lose electric power.

Thursday, Dec. 6, the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) is going to be testing the substation through which power flows from Benson Power, LLC, into the region’s electric grid. The City of Benson’s electricity also comes through the substation and it is tied into some Agralite Electric Cooperative customers.

The city is meeting with GRE, NERC, Agralite and Otter Tail Power at 11 a.m., Tuesday, Nov. 28, to go over the testing plan.

They are testing the relay switches at the substation through which Benson Power’s 55 megawatts of power flow. The switches are designed to detect any fault currents and open the switch to protect the grid. Fault signals are sent to the substation to see if switches react.

Sunday and Monday’s warm temperatures were blown away by winds gusting to 40 mph out of the north Monday night.

Sunday’s high of 50 degrees was the first 50-degree high in November. Monday’s high of 52 degrees was the warmest November temperature. But the strong north winds had temperatures sinking to 19 degrees Tuesday morning with the high forecast to only reach 28.

During the third week in November, highs average 35 and lows 19. By the end of the month, the high average falls to 30 degrees and the low average to 14.

Minnesota farmers took advantage of the 5.4 days suitable for fieldwork and harvested 11 percent of the state’s corn acreage during the week ending November 19, according to USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service. While some farmers were putting away equipment for the season, others were harvesting, baling corn stalks, spreading fertilizer, and working on fall tillage.

The Benson High School chapter of the National Honor Society held its annual reception and induction ceremony Tuesday, Nov. 14 in the senior high cafeteria.

During the induction ceremony, 15 juniors and two seniors became the newest members of the NHS at Benson High School.  These juniors and seniors were elected for their exemplary standards of leadership, character, service, and academic performance.

The new members of the Benson High School NHS are:  seniors Grace Lee and Madisen Wieber; and juniors Gracie Lenz, Matilyn Short, Matthew Ebnet, Paige Cain, Brenna Knutson, Jacquelyn Hanson, Jonas Habben, Riley Grube, Madison Gelhar, Matthew Goossen, Anna Samuelson, Maranda Wieber, Adam Forsberg, Katelyn Tolifson (junior representative), and Sophia Curriel.

Sussner Construction, the company doing the $3.573 million renovation work at the Swift County courthouse, has recommended that it not install the lightning protection system saving the county $31,815.

However, Jonathon Loose of Wold Architects & Engineers says the county should reject that recommendation. Wold has worked with the county board on the redesign of the courthouse interior to improve its energy efficiency, safety for employees of the courts, and for its functionality in serving county residents.

“We recommend rejecting that offer being it is a critical building of a historic nature, it is taller than most other buildings around, knowing there have been lightning strikes to the building and it is a wood framed roof and attic structure,” Loose told commissioners at their Nov. 7 meeting. “We think it is a small investment to channel those potential lightning strikes down to the ground and not affect the building,” he said.

Persistent losing records affect not just the school but the whole community, school board told
 

Concerned about the persistent losing records of several of Benson High School’s major varsity sports, a group of parents came to the Oct. 16 Board of Education meeting looking for answers.

They told the board of education that the losing records were having a negative impact not just on athlete and student morale, but were also having an impact on the ability of businesses to bring employees to the community.

It has been leading some parents to consider leaving the Benson area to give their children a chance to play for schools with winning programs.

Ethanol plant recognized for energy innovation and contribution to Minnesota’s rural economy
 

The Chippewa Valley Ethanol Company (CVEC) of Benson, was named the 2017 Ag Innovator of the Year by the Agricultural Utilization Research Institute (AURI).

The award, which has been given annually for the past 15 years, will be accepted by CVEC Board Chair, David Thompson and General Manager Chad Friese at the company’s board meeting next Monday in Benson.

AURI was created and funded by the Minnesota Legislature with three primary goals in mind: