State’s minimum wage to increase in the New Year

Dec. 19, 1963 – Area residents were getting used to the acrobatic stunts necessary to drive cars on the county’s roads when the second half of winter’s onslaught, a plummeting thermometer, hit. Temperatures dropped to 14 and 16 degrees below zero. The highest temperature recorded in a seventy-day period was 18 degrees above. The Tribune reported that only ice fishermen were excited. The ice on Lake Minnewaska was between 5 and 7 inches thick. 

L.D. Kramer announced the purchase of an Austin nursing home by Assembly Homes, Inc., headquartered in Glenwood. This brought to four the number of nursing homes owned locally. Kramer also said that three more were under construction in the state.

The 31st annual all-school Christmas program was about to be held. Participating would be elementary students, the junior and senior high choirs, directed by Harold Skilbred, and the junior and senior high bands, directed by George Opheim. 

Dec. 20, 1973 – It took a couple of crews and two wreckers four hours to pick the first vehicle through the ice on Lake Minnewaska from its watery position. The vehicle was a new 1973 GMC pickup which went in about a quarter of a mile from shore and apparently hit the bottom of the lake. The truck’s owner was not injured. 

Starting the new year, some area employees would be affected by the state’s increasing minimum wage. The new state law required that most employers pay at least $1.80 per hour, a figure which came out to $72 for a 40-hour week.

Glenwood Fire Department secretary, Howard Edinger, reported that firemen had been called out 64 times in 1973. This included 22 grass fire alarms and three tornado watches. The 64 calls were slightly above the usual yearly average.

Dec. 22, 1983 – A cold snap moved in late last week and sent the temperatures plunging to lows of -20, -25 and -30 or more for several days. The Tribune reported that the cold had even slowed down area residents preparations for Christmas.

Calling a balance of $200,000 “unrealistic,” Glenwood school board members decided instead that a flexible balance in the general fund would be more appropriate. Considerable cuts would be more appropriate. Considerable cuts would need to be made in school operations if the $200,000 figure were to be maintained.

Dr. Howard Lecander had sold the Glenwood Chiropractic Clinic to Dr. Randall Pederson. Pederson had practiced with Lecander for several months. Lecander said he would relocate to the Twin Cities. 

Dec. 20, 1993 – Area homes decorated for the holiday season were pictured in the Tribune. Some of the homes belonged to David and Treva Benton, of Glenwood, Milo and Karen Holte, of Starbuck, and  Mike and Carolyn Martin, of Lowry. 

After 15 years in a position which had taken her into the homes of the 180 of “her” children who participated in the Head Start program, Arloa Knutson was retiring as a family education specialist at the end of the month. She was leaving her job with one of the highest honors a Head Start teacher could receive, Teacher of the Year for Region V, which included the six states of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio. She was in national competition and the winner was to be announced in April 1994. 

Glenwood-Lowry, Villard, Starbuck and Minnewaska Area Schools had lost nearly $877,000 in state aid over the last 10 years due to the state of Minnesota changes in aid. The state had periodically held back aid over the years to help balance the state budget crunches. This year the state had required districts to count the spring tax settlement in the current year’s income.

Dec. 15, 2003 – The truth and taxation hearing is held each year in order to give city residents a chance to ask the commissioners questions about their taxes. At this year’s meeting, no members of the public attended, so without any objections, the commissioners tentatively agreed on a total levy of $729,404. This was less than the 740,000 proposed Sept. 15, but more than the 2003 levy of $696, 827.

What started as parent concerns about the importance of early childhood education had lasted 30 years at Ann and Andy Preschool in Glenwood. The center was celebrating three decades of working with children.

Help was on the way for early childhood development efforts in Pope County. The county was chosen as one of the 36 communities to participate in the statewide Minnesota Early Childhood Initiative. The Pope County Family Collaborative would receive $15,000 to support its programming.

Dec. 9, 2013 – Steve Gilmer, president of Delano State Bank, was present at the Glacial Hills Elementary School Board meeting on Nov. 25 and discussed with the board that they would like to sell the building because banks are not in the business of owning property. A purchase proposal was presented. The board discussed with Gilmer that charter schools cannot own property and have no taxing authority and therefore cannot make the purchase. 

Customers of Xcel Energy in Pope County can ring in the new year with some good news. Pope/Douglas Solid Waste Management (PDSWM) announced that beginning Jan. 1, 2014, Xcel Energy is joining the PDSWM cooperative fluorescent light bulb recycling program. 

TSP, Inc. of Marshall and Studio E Architects of Glenwood were selected by the Minnewaska Area Board of Education last week to develop a long-range facility plan for the district.