Breaking News

Local News

Slate of candidates posted day after deadline

MARTIN COUNTY – Though they filed on time, a slate of candidates were posted to the Secretary of State’s website Wednesday July 29, the day after the deadline. One Fairmont candidate, Peter Bode, was added to the mayoral race. Bode was the city’s Planning and Zoning Official from 2019 to his 2025 resignation. Nine candidates were posted to the Secretary of State’s website Wednesday for Martin County West’s three school board seats. Sarah Jagodzinske Rohman was the only current board member to file again, while Danielle Wilmes and Nathan Vrieze did not file again. Instead, ...

Truman Pride meets on Aug. 5

TRUMAN — August is Family Fun Month. This is such a wonderful time to make memories before the kids are off to school. Minnesota State Fair tickets are on sale. Visit the Fairmont Area Chamber of Commerce to purchase your entrance tickets for $17, ride tickets for $40, and bargain ...

Council acts again on property

FAIRMONT—The Fairmont City Council revisited conversation about a property at 1524 Albion Avenue during its meeting on Monday. “This property was brought to my attention day one starting with the city of Fairmont as a concern,” City Administrator Jason Baker said. Previous council ...

Filing deadline ends with a rush of candidates

MARTIN COUNTY – With filing for city and school board races ending Tuesday, the past two days provided a decent chunk of available candidates in Fairmont and elsewhere. Current Fairmont Mayor Lee Baarts did not file to run for re-election. Instead, six people filed to be his replacement: Peter Bode, Logan Kelly, Krystaline Krumrey, Nathanael Landsteiner, Jerome Niss and Todd Smith. Bode was the city's Planning and Zoning Official from 2019 to his 2025 resignation. Smith is the only one to have ran for city office before, when he received 40.9 percent of the vote against Wayne Hasek ...

Partial council goes through LMC training

FAIRMONT— The Fairmont City Council held a workshop on Monday afternoon that went over roles and responsibilities with members of the League of Minnesota Cities (LMC). Council members present spent a portion of the time talking about communication, best practices and proper procedure. Council Members Britney Kawecki and Randy Lubenow were not present for the workshop. Aimee Gourlay, a collaboration services manager with the league who works on conflict resolution and problem solving with councils, was accompanied by Josie Rosene, a staff attorney with the league. Gourlay said that ...

Local youth dies in farming accident

GRANADA – Leighton Hugoson, 18, died Sunday after a tragic farming accident at the family farm in rural Granada. The accident occurred on Friday, July 24. According to the Martin County Sheriff’s Office’s official report, Hugoson was found at around 9:20 a.m. with his neck pinned between a metal cover and edge in the rear of a feed truck, around 15 minutes after he was last seen. Hugoson was in the hospital for two days fighting to recover, but was declared neurologically dead at 4:11 p.m. Sunday. According to a CaringBridge post from his mother, Jamie Hugoson, his organs were ...