Dear Neighbors,
It’s been a busy last week or so to officially close out summer. I know my week is nothing compared to bustling parents and students getting ready for school. Since we’re starting another school year, I thought back to all we accomplished for Minnesota schools this session. If you're interested in finding out more, you can read my column here.
I believe all of our local classes have now started; good luck to the teachers, parents, and, most importantly, our area students!
Bonding Tours
As a member of the House Capital Investment Committee, I took part in three tours throughout the state to see potential projects for next year’s bonding bill. I was extremely happy to have the committee come to Albert Lea last week. We had an opportunity to tour both Riverland Community College and the Blazing Star Trail. I invited the committee to come here to see firsthand our local projects. Both of these are such important projects for our area, and they are up against many other worthy projects throughout the state. I will be advocating strongly for these local projects to be included in next year’s bonding bill and hoping they make the final cut! Here’s a more in-depth story about our Albert Lea stops.
We finished our tours this week with some stops in the Twin Cities, as well as a couple more in southeast Minnesota. Three stops on this tour that I found especially interesting were the National Eagle Center in Wabasha, where we had the amazing experience of seeing bald eagles up close; the Lanesboro State Fish Hatchery, which is where the DNR raises rainbow and brown trout for stocking our Minnesota streams and lakes—I found it so interesting to learn how they raise trout from eggs to fingerlings; and Niagara Cave in Harmony, which is a huge underground cave full of stalactites, stalagmites, ancient fossils, and a 60-foot waterfall. I had no idea that this amazing geological attraction was in our state!
Hospital Update
No firm decisions have been made one way or the other regarding Mayo’s restructuring of the Albert Lea and Austin campuses. I did want to thank Lt. Governor Tina Smith for coming to Albert Lea last week to listen to area concerns. At this point, I think it’s important to engage all decision-makers – like Lt. Governor Smith – to try and do what’s best for our area now and into the future.
Please Contact Me
As always, feel free to call or email me with questions or suggestions. I want to hear your viewpoint on any issue in our state.
Have a great weekend!
Peggy