SOUTHWEST MINNESOTA

National Weather Service issues red flag warning for parts of Minnesota

Kelly Boldan — Mon, 10 Mar 2025 16:26:14 GMT

CHANHASSEN — A combination of warm temperatures and dry, breezy conditions forecast for Monday afternoon will lead to elevated or critical fire weather in parts of west central, southwestern and northwest Minnesota, according to the National Weather Service.

A red flag warning has been issued by the weather service for much of those regions. Any fires that develop can spread rapidly.

Counties included in the red flag warning are:

11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday: Becker, Clay, Clearwater, Grant, Hubbard, Mahnomen, Norman, Otter Tail, Wadena and Wilkin. 2 to 8 p.m. Monday: Chippewa, Douglas, Kandiyohi, Lac qui Parle, Meeker, Pope, Redwood, Renville, Stearns, Stevens, Swift, Todd and Yellow Medicine. 2 to 9 p.m. Monday: Big Stone, Traverse, Lincoln and Lyon.

A record warm air mass, with highs in the low 70s, will combine Monday afternoon with dew points dropping into the 20s, leading to humidity values falling to 15% to 25% by late Monday afternoon. Those conditions will be impacted further by increasing west winds in the afternoon, with gusts up to 35 mph by early evening.

These conditions will lead to critical fire danger thresholds being met.

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources is urging Minnesotans in the red flag warning areas to refrain from burning any items at this time.

"Any spark could become a wildfire under red flag conditions," said Karen Harrison, DNR wildfire prevention specialist.

To receive text updates on current wildfire risk and open burning restrictions in Minnesota, text “FIRE” to 66468.

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Rural Minnesota report card finds in-migration reducing population losses

Tom Cherveny — Thu, 13 Feb 2025 00:52:10 GMT

MANKATO, Minn. — An in-migration of new residents is helping slow, and in some cases reverse, population declines in many rural Minnesota counties where death rates continue to outpace birth rates.

And while earnings per capita in rural areas still fall well behind urban areas of the state, the rate of wage growth in rural areas is going up.

These are among the highlights of an annual “state of rural” report produced by the Center for Regional Policy and Development, based in Mankato, and released during a webinar Feb. 6. The center puts a “rural lens” to research data and offers an annual assessment of trends it sees for rural areas of the state, according to Julie Tesch, president and CEO.

The researchers behind the annual report — Kelly Asche and Marnie Werner — also used the webinar to highlight two significant concerns for rural counties. The number of skilled nursing beds in Minnesota has declined by one-third since 2005 as the population of elderly grows, especially in rural areas.

On the other side of the age equation, the number of youth needing mental health care is growing. In rural areas, accessing mental health care is more difficult due to a workforce shortage, long drives to care, job conflicts, and concerns about anonymity.

The population gains occurring due to in-migration “continues to surprise us,” said Asche, a senior researcher with the center. Most rural counties had been seeing more out-migration than in-migration, but that trend flipped for many counties in 2017-18 and has continued.

The in-migration is helping rural counties overcome the natural changes due to an aging population and decades-long trend of higher death rates than birth rates, according to Asche.

In 2019, 46 rural counties had lower populations in 2019 than in 2010. Now, only 21 counties have lower populations than they did in 2020, thanks to in-migration.

The in-migration is attributed to people moving into the counties from outside the region and country for jobs, as well as what University of Minnesota researcher Ben Winchester terms the rural “brain gain.” Rural counties are seeing a trend of people in the 30- to 49-year-old age bracket move from urban to rural areas, Asche explained.

As the in-migration continues, rural counties are seeing growth in diversity. Rural counties are becoming home to more people of color.

A concern for Asche is how rural counties will meet the needs of an aging population as the supply of skilled nursing beds decline. Minnesota saw skilled nursing bed numbers decline from roughly 38,000 to 25,000 from 2005 to 2024.

In rural counties, many of those beds have been lost due to the closing of smaller skilled nursing facilities. That makes it far more difficult to replace those lost beds than it is to replace them at larger facilities that may have decreased the number of beds but remain in operation, he pointed out.

Werner, the vice president of research and operations for the center, expressed concerns about the rising number of emergency room visits by youth for mental health services, a trend being seen across the country, and how to meet those needs in rural areas.

The number of emergency room visits has grown largely due to increasing numbers of youth experiencing mental health issues, including anxiety, conduct disorders and depression. Suicidal ideation has grown significantly, especially among girls.

The Center for Rural Behavioral Health at Minnesota State University, Mankato, has been examining the challenges. Werner said she is working with the center at the university to look at the issues and possible solutions.

The challenge of recruiting professionals to rural areas to replace a retiring workforce of mental health care workers is among the concerns she cited. The “pipeline” for recruiting someone into a mental health career is four to eight years, she noted.

Werner urged rural parents to do more to educate themselves on adolescent mental health needs, to intervene earlier when there are concerns, and to avail themselves of the assistance of their primary care physicians and staff in schools.

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Western Minnesota's Swift County improving Appleton OHV, Swift Falls parks

Tom Cherveny — Fri, 01 Nov 2024 23:17:57 GMT

BENSON — With an eye toward attracting more visitors, and providing more recreation for residents, Swift County is moving forward with improvements to its two county parks, the Appleton Area Off-Highway Vehicle Park and the Swift Falls County Park.

The plans for the parks were outlined for the Swift County Board of Commissioners on Oct. 15 by Kody Fossum and Devon Savage with the county’s Parks, Drainage and Wetlands Department, and Jillian Reiner with Widseth Engineering.

The biggest improvements are coming to the Appleton Area OHV Park, thanks to a $1.03 million America Rescue Plan grant.

The improvements include developed parking areas, all-terrain vehicle washing stations and restrooms.

The plans also include developing a beach and picnic area on the small lake in the park, according to Reiner. The swimming and fishing area will be accessed by a path from the main parking area. The path will meet Americans with Disabilities Act requirements.

The beach will be 200 feet long and 50 feet wide, she told the commissioners. A concrete pathway will lead to a fishing pier on the south end of the lake.

The lake was Appleton’s original swimming area prior to the park’s flooding in 1997, according to Commissioner Gary Hendrickx, of Appleton.

The 348-acre park offers 20 miles of trails. It is one of the few parks offering trails to accommodate all four classes of off-highway vehicles.

The park attracts visitors from around the state and beyond, but there currently is no way to count how many users it hosts. There is no admission charged.

It is a busy park, according to Fossum. Chief Deputy Mike Hoffman with the Swift County Sheriff’s Office concurred. It sees visitors all week long, and is especially busy on the weekends, he told the commissioners.

Overall, the improvements planned for the park are estimated to cost $1.25 million, according to Reiner. The county will be responsible for providing $250,000 in funds for the improvements based on the current estimates.

Plans and specifications for the improvements are now being reviewed by the federal Economic Development Administration, a bureau of the U.S. Department of Commerce responsible for administering the grant. Once approved, a call for bids can be made with expectations of awarding the project in the first quarter of next year.

Plans are moving forward to expand the park. Fossum said purchase agreements are in place to expand the park by approximately 280 acres.

He and Savage have been working with users of the park to determine what types of improvements are desired to attract more people. Large events held at the park this past summer brought large number of visitors to the parks and benefited the local economy, he pointed out.

Reiner described the park as a very unique park among the state’s regional parks. She said the Greater Minnesota Parks and Trails Commission has encouraged the county to apply for additional funds toward improvements.

Swift Falls Park

Discussions with a committee of Swift Falls area residents and users of the Swift Falls County Park have led to a variety of suggestions on improvement to the quiet park on the Chippewa River in the community of Swift Falls.

Trail improvements, removing cattails and silt, and the possibility of removing the Swift Falls dam are among the suggestions raised at an initial meeting that attracted around 30 people, according to Fossum.

The county reopened and improved trails in the park this year due to the suggestions. The railings on one bridge have been replaced with plans to complete similar work on the other. Also, a grant from Countryside Public Health made it possible to install a picnic table and develop a viewing area overlooking the river on a park trail.

Improvements were made to the bathrooms, with textured flooring, graffiti-proof paint and LED lighting completed.

Park users and Swift Falls residents alike would like to see the cattails and sediment-choked upper basin cleaned out, said Fossum. Dredging would offer only a short-term fix, and would be extremely costly, he said.

A more viable option being explored is removing the 15-foot high dam. The concrete dam was built in 1967 in place of an original dam used for a mill at the site.

There is a good possibility of obtaining Minnesota Department of Natural Resources funding to remove the dam, according to Fossum. A series of rock riffles would replace the dam. The riffles and river continuity that the dam’s removal would make possible would improve fishing at the site.

There is not yet consensus on whether to remove the dam or not, Fossum told the commissioners.

There’s strong interest in seeing WiFi for internet access provided in the park, he said.

Commissioner Eric Rudningen said the meeting with residents and park users made it clear: There is immense pride in the community for the park.

The park is seeing increased usage by both campers and day users. Its 32 campsites were full virtually every weekend through the summer with 645 different parties registered at the sites, according to information from the county.

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Minnesota seeing uptick in reported rabies cases, state health department says

Julie Buntjer — Wed, 31 Jul 2024 17:06:00 GMT

REGIONAL — Rabid skunks and cattle have the Minnesota Department of Health urging area residents to vaccinate their pets, horses and cattle against rabies this summer.

Southern Minnesota counties are reporting an uptick in cases of rabies, with rabid skunks — including three in Pipestone County and one each in Nobles and Murray counties — and cattle — two in Rock County and one in Pipestone County — documented so far in 2024.

The rabies cases appear to be confined to the far southwest corner of Minnesota, with an incident also reported in Stearns County. There, three beef steers tested positive for rabies in mid-May after apparent skunk bites, according to reports from MDH and the Minnesota Board of Animal Health.

We had a really mild winter. We think that might have allowed more of the skunk population to survive and interact and spread rabies.

MDH Epidemiologist Carrie Klumb said Monday there has been an unusually high number of rabid animals so far this year in Minnesota, including 14 bats, 12 skunks, six cattle and one cat. In a typical year, she said the state may record three to five cases of rabid skunks and zero to one rabid cattle.

What makes this year so unusual?

“We don’t know exactly why this is happening,” Klumb said. “We had a really mild winter. We think that might have allowed more of the skunk population to survive and interact and spread rabies.”

In Minnesota, skunks are one of the main reservoirs for rabies, she said, noting that southern Indiana is also seeing an uptick in rabies cases spread from infected skunks this year.

With the unusually high number of rabies cases reported in animals, there is a corresponding high number of humans who have had to be treated for likely or possible exposure to rabies.

As of Monday, there were 17 instances in which people needed to get the series of four rabies shots. That’s because they were either bitten by a rabid animal or were exposed to the animal’s saliva through close contact, such as while administering medication.

“You do need to have a break in the skin where the virus gets into the body,” said Klumb. “Where we have cattle (infected), we are being very conservative.”

If a producer sticks their hand inside an infected animal’s mouth, just having lots of saliva exposure would lead MDH to recommend they get the rabies shot.

While that scenario may be unusual, Klumb said the most common way to get rabies from an animal is through a bite. And, if that happens, a person should call their healthcare provider or the MDH help line at (651) 201-5414 for a risk assessment.

If the animal that caused the bite wound is wild and is not captured, the recommendation is to start the series of shots. If it is a known animal, such as a dog, cat or livestock species, Klumb recommends confining the animal for 10 days and watching for any abnormal behavior.

The only way to truly know if the animal has rabies is to test its brain.

Rabies shots are administered to humans over a period of two weeks, with shots given in the arm on Days 0, 3, 7 and 14. People are also given Human Rabies Immune Globulin, a pre-made antibody from people who are already vaccinated. The HRIG dose is given in the opposite arm as the four rabies shots, and the amount is based on the person’s bodyweight.

Of course, avoiding exposure to rabid animals is best, which is why MDH is encouraging pet owners, as well as owners of horses and cattle, to vaccinate their animals for rabies.

“We want them to vaccinate their dogs and cats against rabies; vaccinate horses, vaccinate cattle,” Klumb said. “We know that’s not always possible if you have a large herd, but we are seeing more activity in skunks.”

Klumb also encourages the public to leave wild animals alone, and if you see a nocturnal animal out in the daytime, to understand that they might be sick and you should stay away from them and keep your animals inside.

We want them to vaccinate their dogs and cats against rabies; vaccinate horses, vaccinate cattle.

Connie McNab, a small animal veterinarian at the Veterinary Medical Center in Worthington, said puppies should be vaccinated at four months of age and then given a booster a year later. After that, rabies vaccinations are recommended every three years.

“If a pet did get exposure — especially if we know the exposure was a positive skunk — we’d definitely booster,” McNab said. “A lot of times we booster regardless because a lot of times we don’t have that answer from the exposure.”

With pets, McNab said owners should watch them for abnormal behavior — staggering, lethargy, drooling, difficulty swallowing or neurological effects — for 45 days. And, if a pet isn’t current on their rabies vaccination, there’s a six-month quarantine period once they’re given a booster.

“It can take anywhere from a 2-week incubation to six months,” McNab said of the length of time it could take for a pet to show signs of rabies. “If they got bit in the tail, it could take up to six months.”

The VMC has not received any reports this year involving rabies in pets.

For information on rabies testing, including how to submit animals and bats for testing, visit health.state.mn.us/diseases/rabies/index.html

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Natural gas customers encouraged to conserve energy during this national winter storm

West Central Tribune staff report — Sat, 13 Jan 2024 12:44:00 GMT

WILLMAR — Xcel Energy is encouraging customers to conserve energy, due to an increase in wholesale gas prices that is expected to last a few days as cold weather will spread across most of the U.S.

The cold weather is expected to affect the production and demand for natural gas, which Xcel Energy purchases to deliver to customers and to generate electricity.

According to a press release Friday from the company, Xcel stated that while supply and demand have increased the price of wholesale gas, the increase expected will be significantly smaller than the increase in price in 2021 during Winter Storm Uri.

Xcel said the biggest step customers can take to conserve energy is to lower their thermostats a few degrees if they have a natural gas furnace. Xcel recommends people to set their thermostats between 65 and 70 degrees while they’re home, and 58 degrees if they’re away.

Open blinds can also take advantage of the sun's warmth during the day. Closing them at night will also help insulate against the cold air outside. Ceiling fans can also be run so warm air near the ceiling is forced down.

Clean air filters also go a long way in reducing the work required by a furnace to heat a home. Xcel says replacing the air filter once a month during the winter season can reduce heating costs by as much as 15%.

As always, if you smell a scent like sulfur or rotten eggs in or near the home, leave immediately and do not turn on or off any electrical devices, as it could be a possible gas leak. Go outside and call Xcel Energy at 1-800-895-2999 to report the problem. In a life threatening emergency call 911.

More tips can be found on the Energy Savings Tips page at xcelenergy.com.

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