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A Winsted man serving in the Minnesota Army National Guard was one of the three guardsmen killed when a helicopter crashed Thursday afternoon, Dec. 5, southwest of St. Cloud.
Chief Warrant Officer 2 James A. Rogers Jr., 28, died when the UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter crashed along a tree line adjacent to a farm field during a test flight. The helicopter took off from St. Cloud at 1:55 p.m. and crashed nine minutes into the flight.

(For the complete story, see the Dec. 11 print edition of The Chronicle.)

McLeod County Commissioner Doug Krueger and anyone of like mind on the Trailblazer Transit Board of Directors owes the transit board and taxpayers in McLeod, Sibley and Wright counties a sincere apology.
Krueger said at a meeting earlier this year he hates public transit – not dislikes, or is frustrated by, or finds intolerable. Nope, he went with hate.
Hate. Really, commish?

To the editor,
On Thursday, Minnesota Management and Budget (MMB) released its annual November budget forecast, showing an estimated budget surplus of $1.332 billion for the 2020-2021 biennium. The forecast, which is updated twice each year to reflect the state’s revenues and expenditures, will be used to guide the consideration of a supplemental budget during the upcoming legislative session.

The city of Stewart increased its property tax levy by a half percent, amounting to just over $2,000 more than last year. The city is levying for a total amount of $420,939.
Stewart being one of the only cities in McLeod County to have a budget surplus of approximately $17,000, Mayor Jason Peirce suggested the council look at pouring that money into a street maintenance account that was cut by $30,000 to recoup some of the losses.

The end of Tuesday’s McLeod County Board meeting brought with it the formal announcement of the end of Commissioner Ron Shimanski’s career in elected office. He’ll retire from the county board when his 2020 term expires.
Before the county went to closed session to discuss contract negotiations during the Dec. 3 meeting, Shimanski said, “I would like to announce that I will not be seeking re-election in 2020 for the office of McLeod County commissioner. At the conclusion of my current term, I will have spent 14 years in elected office.”