Law enforcement officers from the Iowa State Police Association board came to Algona on March 30 to present a Purple Heart award to the family of Officer Kevin Cram.

The award presentation was led by Fred Lepley of Davenport, IA, current President of the Iowa State Police Association and Judy Kellen of Sioux City, Past President of the Association. The award was accepted by Officer Cram’s wife, Lara Cram, with many members of the Algona Police Department in attendance.

Algona Middle School Principal, James Rotert, and a group of concerned teachers just opened the BARK Food Pantry at the athletic field. They are open twice a week and carry food and household items that students and their families can come and get.

Items come from the Iowa Food Bank, Hy-Vee, Fareway, local businesses, civic groups as well as individual citizen’s of Kossuth County.

Railroads were a vital part of settling Kossuth County. Besides cargo trains, passenger trains ran between communities making travel much more convenient and faster than a horse and buggy.  The Chicago & Northwestern; Milwaukee Road; and the M & St.L (Minneapolis & St. Louis) lines all ran through Algona at one time and serviced many of the towns throughout the county. Almost every town in the county had its own depot.

The Algona City Council approved a Small Business Revolving Loan in the amount of $16,500 to TMCR, LLC, doing business as the Algona Dairy Queen, to assist with the purchase of new equipment.

By Molly Montag, News Correspondent

Setbacks from homes, property lines and public infrastructure topped the list of recommendations the Kossuth County Board of Supervisors have for a solar ordinance.

The setback distances were among several suggestions Board members had during the regular meeting on Tuesday, April 1, for Ahlers & Cooney, a Des Moines-based law firm chosen to craft regulations for commercial solar projects in Kossuth County.

By Molly Montag, News Correspondent

A Kossuth County Secondary Road department employee was disciplined recently for hitting a train during one of last month’s snowstorms.

The accident happened about 12:15 p.m., March 20 at a railroad crossing on a gravel road south of Highway 9 east of the Valero ethanol plant near Lakota, said Kossuth County Engineer Doug Miller.

The Friends of the West Bend Public Library invite you to meet author, Jocelyn Green, Saturday,  April 12 at 10 a.m. in the West Bend Public Library meeting room. Jocelyn inspires faith and courage as the award-winning and bestselling author of numerous fiction and nonfiction books, including The Metropolitan Affair, The Windy City Saga, The Mark of the King and The 5 Love Languages Military Edition, which she coauthored with bestselling author Dr. Gary Chapman.

Shareholders of Mid-Iowa Bancshares Co., the holding company of Iowa State Bank, received a message of stability and growth at their annual meeting held on Tuesday, March 18, 2025.

Valero Renewable Fuels in Lakota presented a check to Sara Preston for their annual Benefit For Children grant. This year the Lakota plant choose to give Farmer In My Classroom a donation of $25,000 towards their Virtual Farm Tours program, There’s a Farmer In My Classroom and There Is A Cow In My Classroom.

The Euchre results for Tuesday, March 25 at Pep’s are:

First place - Roger Radig and Gayle Meyer with 77.

Second place - Dean and Linda Frideres with 67.

Third place - Chuck and Keith Kollasch with 59.

Most loners - Three way tie between Roger Radig, Gayle Meyer and Dave McPeak with 5.

The door prize went to Bruce Hackbarth and Sandy Buscher.

United States inventory of all hogs and pigs on March 1, 2025 was 74.5 million head. This was down slightly from March 1, 2024 and down 1 percent from December 1, 2024.

Breeding inventory, at 5.98 million head, was down 1 percent from last year and down slightly from the previous quarter.

Market hog inventory, at 68.5 million head, was down slightly from last year and down 1 percent from last quarter.

Photos below:

Children made stained glass butterflies at the last story hour of the season.

The West Bend Library held a free homemade noodle workshop on Saturday, March 29. The library supplied the ingredients, enough to make a batch for the library fundraiser and a batch for people to take home. Submitted photos.

Registration is open for the all-area alumni golf tournament on Saturday, June 14, sponsored by the Algona Recreation Department. All area alumni from high schools in the Kossuth County area are invited to play. A rain date has been set for Sunday, June 15.