ALBERT LEA, Minn. – UPDATE: The Albert Lea City Council voted Monday to approve the sale of four properties with the hope of revitalizing downtown. Future plans for the sites, all on the 300 block of South Broadway avenue, vary from apartments to restaurants to office space. The investment group is asking the city for … Read more
ALBERT LEA, Minn. – After two and a half years of work, the new Albert Lea water tower is entering its final stages of construction. Crews are getting ready to paint the city logo onto the structure within the next couple of weeks. While the city is still hoping to make the mid-July deadline for … Read more
The second of the two women arrested during the search for a Freeborn County murder suspect last year has accepted a plea deal in the case. Raquel Isabel Vasquez, 26, pleaded guilty recently [Thursday] in Freeborn County District Court to third-degree burglary, stemming from the August 2022 incident in which she’s accused of breaking into … Read more
AUSTIN, Minn. – The Austin chapter of the Izaak Walton League of America is working to clean up lead after toxic tackles were found in some fishing gear. The league is teaming up with the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency to protect state birds and is collecting old, dangerous tackles from fishers and replacing them with … Read more
ALBERT LEA, Minn. – An Owatonna man has been sentenced in connection to a string of laundromat thefts and vandalism in Freeborn County in 2020. Russell Christopher Bailey pleaded guilty to first-degree criminal damage to property in march, after investigators say the 50 year old used a crowbar and a screwdriver to try and pry … Read more
AUSTIN, Minn. – The Jay C. Hormel Nature Center is becoming Mower County’s first biocontrol site – fighting emerald ash borers (EAB) by releasing wasps. Across southeast Minnesota, EAB have been a major problem for ash trees for years. However, the U.S. Department of Agriculture believes these wasps could turn the tides, as they are … Read more
The Iowa Court of Appeals has reversed a multi-million dollar judgment against a Winnebago County nursing home and ordered a new trial. A jury awarded the estate of Darlene Weaver six million dollars from the Timely Mission Nursing Home in Buffalo Center after family members claimed gross negligence and elderly abuse prior to her death … Read more
ALBERT LEA, Minn. – Two Albert Lea women connected to a 2022 Freeborn County murder case have accepted a plea deal. Both women, Ashely Marie Estrada, 35, and Raquel Isabel Vasquez’, 26, pleaded guilty to third-degree burglary, after police say they were found at a home being searched for murder suspect, Ben Vidal Moreno, 33 … Read more
AUSTIN, Minn. – An August 7 trial date has been set for an Austin man who contends he accidently shot a man during an altercation earlier this month. Denroy Ashan Jeffers-Brown, 34, of Austin, is charged with second-degree attempted murder, after the victim identified Jeffers-Brown as the man who shot him in the chest. Jeffers-Brown … Read more
PRESTON, Minn. – An Albert Lea woman accused in the overdose death of her sister is pleading not guilty. Jeanne Ellen Penhollow, 50, is charged in Fillmore County District Court with third-degree murder, stemming from the 2021 incident in which the Fillmore County Sheriff’s Office says Teresa Marie Conway was found in a garage in … Read more