News and Features

Lyman Hare: Insurance agent due to a change of policy.

“I began selling insurance on May 8, 1978, but I started selling insurance in Chatfield on May 1, 1986. There was a job opening at Root River State Bank for an insurance manager to Northwest Security Agency,” recalled Hare. Hare recently retired from being an insurance agent at Chosen Valley Insurance in Chatfield, having sold his interests to Krage Agency in Lanesboro in April. Hare has gone on to become an ad salesman for Bluff Country Newspaper Group to fill his days.

The falling sky is the culprit.

“It’s behind schedule. Rain has hampered efforts at times – it’s not way off, but it’s behind the schedule the contractor had. We’ll have a sharper focus on where things stand in early August as they review how much work remains,” stated Mike Dougherty Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) District 6 director of Public Engagement and Communications. He acknowledged that the Highway 52 reconstruction project from Chatfield to Marion is not on the original course set for it to be completed at the end of July.

Becky Brandt knew, when accepting her new position as Fillmore County’s new Third Judicial District court administrator, that she had big shoes to fill. Retiring administrator James Attwood has served the court for 31 years before retiring on June 3 of this year. Brandt stepped in on June 4.

Brandt describes herself as being a motivated and high-energy person. “I have to achieve or accomplish something every day, like working out, coming home and cleaning the garage after work, getting something off my checklist done,” she said.

A member of the milkweed family is August’s Weed of the Month. Black swallow-wort (Cynanchum louiseae), also called dog-strangling vine, is a perennial, herbaceous vine that can form large patches and crowd out native vegetation.

It was introduced to North America from southern Europe in the 1800s as an ornamental plant, and in 1864 was recorded escaping from a botanic garden in Massachusetts. Since its introduction to North America, it has been found invading abandoned farm fields, pastures, and prairies throughout the eastern and Midwestern United States.