News

Pictured are Queen Mariah Ahrndt and King Carlos Gonsor following the BHS Homecoming coronation.

TEAM Promise is seeking volunteers to help it expand the number of mentors who can help provide life skills training to area youth.

The program’s goal is to have at least one volunteer from each area church/organization each week to help make this a venture that is truly a community-wide outreach to lift up and support at-risk youth in our community, its directors say...
 

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

That it has been an extraordinarily wet year isn’t something you have to tell people with homes along the east side of Minnesota Highway 29 a mile or so north of Benson.

Basements that are too often flooded and ponds of water in their backyards tell the story of a high water table. When there is a heavy rain event, they see the fast flow of water along the border between their yards and the adjacent field.

Changes over the years along their property involving a birm that was removed, a wind row of trees that was altered, and the installation of pattern tiling in a field to the east may have all played a role in increased flooding residents are seeing.  However, no definitive study has been conducted to determine specifically what is causing the problem...

By Reed Anfinson
Publisher
Swift County Monitor-News

It is rare for October to see snowfalls of 2 inches or more for the month – it had only happened only eight times since 1952. This past weekend’s winter storm pushed that number to nine with 2 inches of snow falling in the Benson area along with a cold drizzle and rain over the weekend.

As the temperature warmed to 37 degrees Saturday the snow quickly melted with not a trace remaining by the afternoon.

There are still 16 days to go in the month, so the 2019 snowfall total could increase. However, the forecast is for warmer temperatures through the rest of the week with no snow in the forecast...

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

In the Swift County Monitor-News story last week about Sgt. David J. Barduson being posthumously awarded The Order of Saint Maurice Medallion it was stated that he was the only fatality the county suffered in the Vietnam War.

There were actually two other young men from the county who died in Vietnam. Army Cpl. Delvin Martinson of Benson and Army Cpl. Kenneth Meulebroeck of Murdock who were both killed in action in 1969.

Barduson of West Bank Township was killed in action near Phu Bai in northern South Vietnam Feb. 24, 1968. He was 22-years-old at the time. 

Martinson was killed near Long An in the Mekong Delta in Vietnam Nov. 28, 1969. It was the day after Thanksgiving, and he was 23 at the time. He had arrived in Vietnam Sept. 1, 1969. He was the first graduate of Concordia College in Moorhead to die in the Vietnam War.

By Reed Anfinson
Publisher
Swift County Monitor-News

With the first frost of the season holding off well into October the area’s foliage still looks amazingly green and lush. That is going to change significantly later this week.

Our first frost and freeze, as well as an unusually early snowfall, are forecast for Thursday night into Friday. Friday’s high is forecast to be only 37 degrees with a low of 29. The average high for Oct. 11 is 61 degrees and the average low 37 degrees.

If it only reaches 37 degrees Friday, it will break the record for a low high for Oct. 11. The current record is 39 degrees set in 1959 and 2009. Highs are forecasted to be in the 30s Friday through Sunday. Average highs in the mid-30s are more typical of the middle of November...

By Reed Anfinson
Publisher
Swift County Monitor-News

Benson’s City Council has approved the first reading of an ordinance that would govern parking in yards of not just vehicles, but fish houses, boats campers, trailers and other things that can be pulled behind a vehicle. The action took place at its meeting Monday night.

A second reading of the ordinance and a public hearing to take citizen input is set for the council’s Monday, Oct. 21, meeting. The meeting starts at 5:30 p.m. and is in the council chambers in city hall.

Several people that were at Monday night’s meeting had questions about the impact of the new parking restrictions and potential problems they could create for people...

By Reed Anfinson
Publisher
Swift County Monitor-News

Swift County-Benson Health Services could see a draft of what an agreement for leasing the facility to Carris Health of Willmar will look like later this week. However, the final agreement between Carris and SCBHS is not expected to be signed until the end of the year.

Monday night the SCBHS governing board was given an update on the progress of the lease arrangement discussions. There are currently 14 committees working on different areas of how SCBHS and Carris would merge into a new operating entity...

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 Deputy Sheriff Chris Joyce, 38, was injured Thursday when the 2004 Chevrolet Silverado crew cab pickup he was driving collided with a BNSF train just west of DeGraff.

Joyce was not on duty at the time of the accident.

According to the Minnesota State Patrol accident report, Joyce was headed east on Swift County Road 14. The road parallels U.S. Highway 12 before curving left to the north just before the BNSF tracks and U.S. 12. The BNSF train was also traveling east.

The Chevrolet Silverado braked and came a stop at the tracks when the train collided with it, the patrol report says. The truck landed on its top in the east ditch of Swift County Road 14 next to the tracks.

By Reed Anfinson
Publisher
Swift County Monitor-News

Benson’s City Council is revisiting its discussion from nearly three years ago about renovating the Armory building into a new city hall.

One significant difference between that late 2016 discussion and the current one is that the issue of displacing the Benson High School gymnastics program may no longer be a concern.

In August, the council voted unanimously 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. The primary use of the renovated space would be for the gymnastics program, which has operated out of the cramped space of the armory for decades.

Benson Public Schools has yet to confirm its willingness to take on the rent of the building if the renovation of the civic center proceeds. The city also has yet to get the updated costs of renovating the space...