Commissioners reach agreement for Henning Transfer Station By Tom Hintgen Otter Tail County Correspondent County Physical Plant Manager Terry Hoff gave an update to county commissioners in early January on the progress of the remodel projects currently underway at the Otter Tail County Courthouse, south of downtown Fergus Falls, and the Government Services Center (GSC) near the… Read More

Massive lake was four times bigger than Lake Superior By Tom Hintgen Otter Tail County Correspondent Many people driving along Highway 210 just west of the Fergus Falls municipal airport visualize what was once the shoreline of the massive Lake Agassiz. This huge lake, 12,000 years ago, was more than four times the size of Lake Superior. Eventually,… Read More

Former New York Mills School District secretary takes of Vergas coffee shop By Robert Willams Editor, Frazee-Vergas Forum Iowa native Stephanie Jorgenson had a dream to own a coffee shop but life hurdles kept getting in the way until she found her way to the Vergas area. Jorgenson is the new owner of Otter Coffee And Ice Cream… Read More

Vanessa Huwe, Real Estate Agent with Centennial Realty. Centennial Realty’s main office located in New York Mills and services Wadena, Perham, Henning, Battle Lake, Staples and beyond. Born and raised in the Brainerd lakes area, Vanessa graduated from Pine River High School and went on to earn her bachelor’s degree in business at St. Cloud State University…. Read More

By Tom Hintgen Otter Tail County Correspondent  Sheriff deputies, on Jan. 31, reported three scam attempts in Otter Tail County. Fortunately, none of the attempts resulted in loss of money for county residents. The three scam attempts included one related to a job search via “Indeed,” another when a scammer tried to obtain bank account information via access… Read More

Old-time restaurants provided more than food for a community By Tom Hintgen Otter Tail County Correspondent Many baby boomers in Otter Tail County remember the good old days in the 1960s when, before and after basketball games, kids could purchase a burger for 30 cents, French fries for 25 cents and a Coca-Cola for ten cents. A… Read More

Contributed photo The New York Mills VFW Post 3289 Auxiliary placed first at the State Department Conference in January with their entry for Poppy Promotion.  The display was made of 1,655 poppies and took 37.5 hours to make.  

Fifteen Minnesota counties are part of MICA By Tom Hintgen Otter Tail County Correspondent The Minnesota Inter-County Association (MICA), which includes Otter Tail County, is a voluntary, joint powers organization of 15 Minnesota counties. This includes most of Minnesota’s larger and faster growing counties. “We share interests with the larger counties in Minnesota, through our MICA membership,” said County… Read More

Certified midwives provide healthcare for women Allison Freese-Johnson, CNM, has joined the Tri-County Health Care team to expand its midwifery services. Freese-Johnson is a recent graduate of Bethel University and completed her undergraduate studies at Minnesota State University in Mankato.   “I want to make a positive impact in the lives of women and their families…. Read More

Photos by Tom Hintgen All that remains at the former site of Otter Tail Power Company’s Hoot Lake Plant east of Fergus Falls is a water power station and a large substation. Replacing Hoot Lake Plant is a natural gas station in northeastern South Dakota. A new solar-powered station is being built near the former Hoot… Read More