By Tucker Henderson Reporter For the past several decades, Detroit Lakes area native Bruce Beck has been painting, making carpentry repairs, snow blowing and everything in between. Beck started his painting contracting company Lakes Painting, LLC 29 years ago and has been hard at work ever since. “Anyone can paint!” said Beck. “It is not hard, most… Read More

Photos by Tucker Henderson Kindergarten through third grade students held their annual holiday concerts at the school last week. The students performed a variety of holiday music, including using bells and a recorder. The kindergarten students even had a special guest when the Grinch stopped by their show. 

Bishop Patrick Neary visits Fergus Falls church By Tom Hintgen Otter Tail County Correspondent Bishop Patrick Neary presided during a bilingual Mass with Spanish Monday evening, Dec. 8, at Our Lady of Victory Church, Fergus Falls. OLV is part of the Area Catholic Community which also includes Pelican Rapids and Elizabeth. The bishop, who heads the St…. Read More

Fargo VA Health Care System helped house 177 Veterans locally The Department of Veterans Affairs announced that it permanently housed 51,936 homeless Veterans across the country in fiscal year 2025.  That number is 4,011 more Veterans than VA housed last year. The nationwide numbers include 177 Veterans permanently housed by the Fargo VA Health Care System. This is… Read More

With the demand for electricity on the rise, the current transmission system cannot handle the level of growth it is expected to face without significant upgrades. This could have major implications for rural electricity customers and communities, which is why the Center for Rural Affairs is investigating solutions. While future estimates vary, one study indicates that… Read More

Contributed photos New York Mills School students gathered 516 pounds of food and raised $84 in cash to donate to the NY Mills Food Shelf. The Fill the Yeti promotion was part of Lakes 99.5/Leighton Media event.

By Tom Hintgen Otter Tail County Correspondent  Sheriff deputies, in coordination with the State Highway Patrol, responded to several traffic accidents during a winter snowstorm that lasted from Tuesday, Dec. 9, to Wednesday, Dec. 10. It was a tough two days on roadways all cross the state of Minnesota. Two people were injured in a traffic accident on… Read More

Property Minders is looking to celebrate “Community Heroes” over the course of the next year. Community Heroes can be a volunteer who goes above and beyond the call of duty to make life better for other people. Nominations for the honor can be anonymous and the goal is to simply highlight some of the contributions the… Read More

Fresh curricula from new partnership with Green Flower Minnesota State Community and Technical College (M State) has expanded its online cannabis career certificate offerings through its partnership with Green Flower, a national leader in cannabis education.  The college has announced updates to its original three certificate programs and launched three new options, doubling the number of cannabis… Read More

By Tom Hintgen Otter Tail County Correspondent The late 1960s and early 1970s was a remarkable time to be working at newspapers in Otter Tail County. About 1972 newspapers in our county and across the state of Minnesota saw the transition from letterpress hot type to offset cold type printing. In Fergus Falls, Daily Journal employees moved in… Read More