Stories from the summer ...

I've been offering quarterly updates on possible Top 10 stories of the year in the Sentinel coverage area, so here goes for July-September:

Martin Luther High School marked 25 years in July. Blue Earth saw the arrest and conviction of a young man who had bomb components in his home. There also was a standoff in rural Blue Earth. A $120 million biomass energy plant, to be built in Fairmont, was proposed in August. Fairmont also passed several ordinances to get citizens to clean up their yards and properly dispose of junk. The city also began demolishing several dilapidated homes.

The big news for the quarter was, of course, Fairmont Area Schools' $8.8 million referendum that earned voter approval in September. It marked the third time in a year that the school district had gone to citizens and asked for funding for facilities.

The final quarter of the year is off to an interesting start. There have been two major developments so far: Fairmont Area won approval from the state to sell $12 million in bonds for health and safety upgrades. And Avery Weigh-Tronix in Fairmont recently was sold to Illinois Tool Works.