News

By Reed Anfinson
Publisher
Swift County Monitor-News

Swift County’s Board of Commissioners set the preliminary 2022 budget levy at $12,282,608, which is a 2% increase over the 2021 levy.

Those state funds reduce the final net levy to $11,686,400.

Local units of government are required to set their proposed levies before the end of September. While they can lower the levy amount prior to adopting their final budgets and levies in December, the levy can’t be raised after the preliminary amount has been approved...

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

Last week Benson City Manager Rob Wolfington received notice from the U.S. Economic Development Administration that the city had been awarded a $1,413,684 grant.

Those grant funds will be used toward a $1,767,10 project to provide flood protection for the city’s wastewater treatment plant and for an economic development project. Benson’s share of the project cost is $353,422, which represents a 20% match.

A majority of the funding would be used to construct a 1,080-foot ring dike around the city’s wastewater treatment plant located on the east bank of the Chippewa River just south of the Minnesota Highway 9 bridge...

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

As the City of Benson’s plans to pursue a partnership with Danish firm Nature Energy to build a biogas facility on the former Fibrominn site, it agreed it needed to send representatives to visit the company’s plants.

Only through first-hand knowledge could the council be assured that the facility proposed for Benson would not create an offensive order degrading the quality of life in the community.

Using dairy cow manure, turkey litter and food waste, Nature Energy’s proposed plant would produce enough renewable natural gas to heat between 11,000 and 12,000 homes...

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

With farmers getting their crops in on time this past spring and plenty of growing degree units during the summer, when the first frost of 2021 arrives isn’t going to matter.

The soybean, corn and sugar beet harvests are already well underway now that all too frequent rains of late August and September have taken a pause. Between Aug. 20 and Sept. 20, the Benson area saw nearly a foot of rain.

At this point, a good frost would help kill some of the weeds that infest some fields. However, that first frost is nowhere in sight, at least according to the 10-day 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

Proposed language for the job descriptions for the Swift County chief deputy and assistant county attorneys was met with stiff opposition from Sheriff John Holtz and County Attorney Danielle Olson.

The language was considered at the Swift County Board of Commissioners meeting Sept. 21. It stated that “the county board, county administrator or appropriate elected official retains the discretion to add duties or changes of duties of this position at any time,” Holtz said, reading from the proposed job description for the chief deputy.

“After checking with other sheriffs in the surrounding area, there is no wording like this in their job descriptions. I believe when you have all this verbiage it is confusing to the employee who their boss is,” Holtz wrote in a memo to the county board...

By Reed Anfinson
Publisher
Swift County Monitor-News

Two Swift County-Benson Health Services employees are resigning rather than get the COVID-19 vaccine. At the same time, it has seen its already high vaccination percentage among its employees increase.

In late July, SCBHS was told by CentraCare that its staff had by far the highest vaccination rate among its employees among all its facilities at 80%. The percentage has gone up in recent weeks.

“We have had one staff resignation and one staff share their intention of not getting the required vaccine but willingness to work up until the final deadline,” SCBHS Chief Nursing and Clinical Officer and Co-CEO McGinty-Thompson told the governing board at its meeting Monday night

By Reed Anfinson
Publisher
Swift County Monitor-News

While neighboring Stevens County has seen a recent substantial spike in its number of COVID-19 cases, Swift County is registering a much smaller but steady rise.

In one week, Stevens County saw its number of COVID-19 cases jump by 110 cases. Thursday saw the biggest increase with the Minnesota Department of Health reporting 48 cases followed by Friday with another 28.

It took from May 13 to Sept. 10, nearly five months, to post the past 110 cases. The county posted 48 new cases last Thursday, another 24 Friday, and then with Monday’s MDH report it added another 30. No specific reasons for the spike in Stevens County cases has been given...

By Reed Anfinson
Publisher
Swift County Monitor-News

Early voting is already underway in Minnesota though there isn’t much on the ballot since this is an off-year election. It started last Friday.

Election day is Tuesday, Nov. 2, however, early voting takes place all the way up to Nov. 1.

There are no statewide races or presidential election this year. There are no county races or school board elections...

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

After 70 years as a main street Benson business owned by the Breen family, Breen’s Pharmacy has been sold.

Large pharmacy chain Thrifty White bought Breen’s Pharmacy and Lewis Drug located in the Do-Mat’s store on west U.S. Highway 12 at virtually the same time. They have closed the Breen’s pharmacy business and moved it to what is now a Thrifty White pharmacy.

Breen’s Pharmacy’s downtown location is staying open through October as it sells off its retail goods. However, the pharmacy operation shut down effective at 7 p.m. last Friday. Monday morning, all the prescription medicine side of the business and Breen’s Pharmacy employees were at the new location...

Members of the BHS Homecoming royalty are pictured above.  In front from left to right are Mya Kurkosky, Madi Wrobleski, first grade crown carriers Cassidy Buenaventura and Luis Zehringer, Angelina Buboltz, and Adysen Himley.  Back -- Grant Gunlogson, Nathan Bolduc, Levi Gunlogson, Queen Sara Evenson, King Andrew Olson, Braden Rodahl, Sam Thompson, and Elle Kletscher.