News

By Reed Anfinson
Publisher
Swift County Monitor-News

It was one of the worst springs on record for planting crops in Minnesota and the Corn Belt states of America. With the release of the Farm Service Agencies figures on the acres farmers said they were unable to plant this year because of wet fields the reality of just how bad it was is evident.

In all, nearly 19.26 million acres didn’t get planted with crops this year.  Minnesota ranks sixth in the nation in prevented planting acres with 1,170,579. Most of the hard hit counties were in southwest Minnesota.

Swift County saw 44,169 acres go unplanted, a drastic increase from the fewer than 2,000 acres of prevented planting acres in 2018...

By Reed Anfinson
Publisher
Swift County Monitor-News

Benson will share the two payments Xcel Energy will be making to compensate for the loss of property taxes on Benson Power based on the current percentages of the Swift County tax statement.

It also voted at its meeting Monday night to agree to enter into a five-year lease agreement with the Benson Civic Center board and contribute $500,000 toward the renovation of the north end of the civic center.

Both actions are intended to give the Benson Public Schools Board of Education a commitment upon which it can make its decision on whether or not to sign a lease for the space with the civic center board.

Benson schools would use the renovated space for its gymnastics program and other school activities...

By Reed Anfinson
Publisher
Swift County Monitor-News

By Thanksgiving the remains of what was the generating facility for a 55-megawatt power plant fueled by turkey litter and wood chips should be gone and the portion of the site it sat on bare ground.

Last Wednesday morning, charges set over two months by Control Demolition from Phoenix, Maryland, exploded with a series of loud cracks as expectant watchers gathered for the demolition waited for the building and stack to fall. Those blasts were quickly followed by deeper, more powerful blasts that seemed to shake the ground...

For more on this story, and to keep up on all the latest in area sports, subscribe to the Swift County Monitor-News print edition or our PDF internet edition. Call 320-843-4111 and you can get all the local news and sports delivered to you!

By Reed Anfinson
Publisher
Swift County Monitor-News

The Swift County Fair opens Wednesday and runs through Sunday this week with the carnival featuring 10 to 12 rides and solid line-up of free music. There wll also be the 4-H competitions, a rodeo, lots of food, games at the carnival and a demo derby...

For more on this story, and to keep up on all the latest in area sports, subscribe to the Swift County Monitor-News print edition or our PDF internet edition. Call 320-843-4111 and you can get all the local news and sports delivered to you!

By Reed Anfinson
Publisher
Swift County Monitor-News

Two Swift County horses have been euthanized after falling ill recently, the Minnesota Department of Health reported on Monday. The second horse had a confirmed case of West Nile virus while the first was not tested.

The disease is carried by Culex tarsalis mosquitoes and can infect humans, horses and birds...

For more on this story, and to keep up on all the latest in area sports, subscribe to the Swift County Monitor-News print edition or our PDF internet edition. Call 320-843-4111 and you can get all the local news and sports delivered to you!

By Reed Anfinson
Publisher
Swift County Monitor-News

Swift County has not raised its tipping fees for dumping garbage at its environmental services facility since 1992, Environmental Services Director Scott told the county board of commissioners at their meeting Aug. 6.

“We have always been high,” Collins said of the county’s rates as compared to its neighbors. But after 27 years without an increase the county’s tipping fees are now in the same range as neighboring counties with some higher...

For more on this story, and to keep up on all the latest in area sports, subscribe to the Swift County Monitor-News print edition or our PDF internet edition. Call 320-843-4111 and you can get all the local news and sports delivered to you!

By Reed Anfinson
Publisher
Swift County Monitor-News

Whether or not Benson Public Schools will pursue a lease for the civic center is going to depend on just how the City of Benson splits the Xcel Energy funds it is expecting to receive as in-lieu-of-taxes payments.

It will also depend on the commitment of Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg (KMS) schools to financially support the gymnastics program, which will be the primary user of the civic center. It is expected that KMS students will account for 50 percent of the students involved.

And, finally, School Board Member Jim Berens said he would have a hard time taking the Xcel Energy dollars the school gets from the city’s spending them on the civic center when they should go to teacher salaries...

Doreen Touhey, 64, Benson died from injuries sustained Saturday when the motorcycle she was a passenger on struck a deer on Swift County Road 15 Saturday evening.

The Swift County Sheriff’s Office received a 911 call at 7:27 p.m. about a crash involving two motorcycles on Swift County 15 a half-mile north of Swift County 20 between Danvers and Clontarf.

Mike Touhey, 64, and Doreen Touhey, and Sylvia Bartells, 64, and Kenneth Bartells, 64, of Clitheral, were southbound on Swift County Road 15 when a doe and two fawns crossed the road, the sheriff’s office reported. The Touheys’ 2001 Honda motorcycle struck the doe and went into the ditch. The Bartells’ 2002 Harley tipped on its side avoiding Touhey’s motorcycle and the deer.

Mike and Doreen Touhey were transported to Swift County-Benson Health Services where Doreen Touhey was later pronounced dead. Mike Touhey and the Bartells were treated and released from the hospital.

By Reed Anfinson
Publisher
Swift County Monitor-News

Benson’s City Council wants additional questions answered before it agrees to invest $500,000 into improvements to the north of the civic center.

The funds would be funneled to the Benson Civic Center board, which would make the renovations, and then lease the facility to Benson Public Schools. The primary use of the facility would be for the school’s gymnastics program.

The work, if approved, would not be done in time for the 2019-20 gymnastics season, but would be in another year. Meanwhile, it would continue to use the Benson Armory.

There are two possible sources for the $500,000 needed for the loan that would finance the improvements to the north end of the civic center...

By Reed Anfinson
Publisher
Swift County Monitor-News

Homeowner Helen Flodstrom has been given until Aug. 29 to meeting to have a general contractor hired and building permits in hand to get a one-month extension on bringing her property up to city code.

Flodstrom appeared before the council Monday night for a continuation of a July 22 public hearing on the dilapidated home at 801 Kansas Avenue on the east side of Benson. Flodstrom had asked the council for the continuation to give her a chance to appear with her attorney.

While attorney Matt Franzese was scheduled to appear with Flodstrom Monday night, he was required to stay late for court in Traverse County, could not make the trip to Benson in time for the meeting. He requested that he be allowed to represent her by phone with the council agreeing.