NYM council vote ends in 2-2 stalemate regarding city-owned liquor store A potential move of the city-owned off-sale liquor store to the Highway 10 corridor has been put on hold—at least for now. During its regularly meeting last Tuesday night, the New York Mills City Council found itself in a rare 2-2 tied vote concerning… Read More

Hammers Construction awarded the lowest bid By Chad Koenen Publisher There is good news and then there is what the Ottertail City Council received last week concerning the low bid for the Ottertail Fire Hall Expansion.  During its regularly scheduled meeting last week the Ottertail City Council approved a low bid of $1,873,827 from Hammers… Read More

By Chad Koenen Publisher Steve Dunrud has a passion for volleyball and wants to share his love of the game with a new generation of New York Mills Eagles. That’s what drove him to apply for the open head coach position after spending the previous seven years away from coaching varsity-level volleyball. “I thought I… Read More

Community helps Isabelle Aho, family fulfill vision By Matthew Johnson Reporter Years ago Isabelle Aho, 2025 Menahga High School (MHS) graduate and daughter of Rodney and Hannah Aho of Wolf Lake, envisioned a Little Free Library (LFL) being installed in Wolf Lake. The vision was brought to fruition on Monday, Aug. 3 as the support… Read More

By Tom Hintgen Otter Tail County Correspondent In 1898 a group of black families known as the “First 85” moved from Kentucky to Otter Tail County and settled in Fergus Falls. They left the Jim Crow South and sought a better way of life in Minnesota. This past month members of the Tate family boarded… Read More

Centers housed in NY Mills, Pelican Rapids By Tom Hintgen Otter Tail County Correspondent County commissioners, on Aug. 11, heard reviews of upgrades to buildings in Pelican Rapids and New York Mills which house Family Resource Centers. One of them is the Bridge Center, a former church building in Pelican Rapids, and the other is a… Read More

Annual festival to kick off Saturday in rural NYM By Chad Koenen Publisher Finn Creek Open Air Museum will turn back the clock of time during the annual Finn Creek Summer Folk Festival.  The festival will kick off Saturday morning with the pancake/pannukakku breakfast beginning at 8 a.m., before Maamme and Star Spangled Banner will… Read More

By Tom Hintgen Otter Tail County Correspondent County commissioners, in late July, passed resolutions in support of programs in both Rothsay and Pelican Rapids. The five-person county board authorized county government participation in the City of Rothsay Single-Family Tax Rebate Program as requested by the City of Rothsay. This will support housing goals within their… Read More

First show set for Friday night at NY Mills Corn Feed By Chad Koenen Publisher Larger than life puppets will come alive for a pair of performances in the New York Mills area this weekend. The 17th annual Kalevala Puppet Pageant will feature a lively, large-scale street theater production inspired by Finland’s national epic, “The… Read More

By Chad Koenen Publisher A Henning woman died when her home exploded on Tuesday morning.  Paulette Venzke, age 77 of Henning, was unaccounted for after her home exploded around 9:38 a.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 11. Her body was later discovered with the Otter Tail County Sheriff’s Office formally identifying her as the victim on Thursday… Read More