Change — What is our response to change? If we view change as an opportunity, we tend to be more proactive. If we look at change as a loss, we may be more reactive. Depending on our day, our response to change may be proactive, reactive or somewhere in between. Because COVID-19 came on so ...

All voters who have requested an Absentee ballot should have received it in the mail by now. All ballots were mailed on July 15th. Over 2,500 voters took advantage of Voting Safely At Home for the Primary election on August 11th. Voters in our townships along with the cities of Cobden, Evan ...

What’s your favorite fair food?( Asked Sunday at the Brown County Fairgrounds)

The Gopher State One Call (GSOC) is Minnesota’s one-call notification center for the excavating community. The GSOC center answers phone calls and online requests from homeowners and contractors who would like to excavate. The information is then processed and all underground utilities in the ...

Question: If I sell my vehicle to a private party, what do you recommend I do to protect myself in the event the new owner gets into a crash or is arrested prior to them transferring the title into their name? Answer: If the vehicle you sold is involved in a hit and run or pursuit and the ...

We are extremely pleased with the VOTE AT HOME campaign that we have been promoting for the safety of voters and poll workers alike. We encourage voters to get their applications to us this week if they plan to vote in the primary on August 11th. Our team needs to update the ballot request in ...

Pandemics make you do funny things. A few weeks ago, I got my old bike out of the shed where it’s been since the kids were young. After cleaning off dust and bird poop and pumpng up the tires, I went to circle our town’s lake trail. I was wobbly at first. Steering and braking were ...

Has the recent lockdown inspired you to make healthier life choices?

Studies by the Asphalt Institute and the Asphalt Emulsion Manufacturers Association show that seal coating surface treatments provide low-cost, all-weather surface for light to medium traffic loads. The New Ulm Street Department staff is dedicated to maintaining the streets and alleys in the ...

Question: I have heard speeding over 100 MPH has increased. What is the State Patrol doing about this problem? Answer: The Minnesota State Patrol, along with law enforcement agencies across the state, are currently conducting enhanced speed enforcement on the roadways through July 19. The ...

With Congress considering adding a new state, do you think the U.S. will have a 51st state soon?

Job sites, especially construction sites, usually have many workers doing multiple tasks at the same time. Since many of these tasks are routine, it is easy to downplay the safety risks involved. New Ulm Public Utilities (NUPU) urges contractors, or anyone doing construction work, to take ...

At the beginning of the growing season, farmers talk about getting out in the fields and “scratching around in the dirt.” We anticipate that all winter. The dirt is our paint brush, the seed is our paint. Or something like that. Dirt, soil, earth, ground are all words we use for that ...

Absentee applications have been sent to all registered voters in New Ulm, Sleepy Eye and Springfield. The response has been overwhelming by our voters in choosing this method for voting in the 2020 elections. Please note that this is an option being offered to voters. At this time we ...

Why does the motto “Black Lives Matter” strike such a negative reaction among some people? Protestors chant the motto at demonstrations protesting the killing of unarmed Blacks at the hands of law enforcement. The George Floyd killing is the latest, and perhaps the most outrageous example ...

Since 1985, America has celebrated July as the nation’s official Park and Recreation Month. Created by the National Recreation Parks Association (NRPA), Park and Recreation Month specifically highlights the vital and powerful role parks and recreation play in conservation, health and ...

On June 16, my good buddy Randy texted to our Baseball Texting Group, “Brian Piccolo died 50 years ago today.” Brian died of testicular cancer in 1970 at the age of 26. You may recall crying to a made-for-TV movie titled Brian’s Song. I can remember burying myself out of view, hidden ...

The Income Maintenance Department (otherwise known as the financial assistance unit) is located in the Brown County Human Services Building at 1117 Center Street in New Ulm. The unit helps members of our community access a variety of programs. We serve people of all ages, from newborns to the ...

What do you want for Father’s Day?

There is a lot of information on the utility bill that you receive in the mail. Some of it is pretty straightforward, as in, the amount of kWhrs (kilowatt hours) of electricity or ccf (hundred cubic feet) of gas used during the month. The cost per unit times the units used gives you the total ...