Iowa Lakes Electric Cooperative's Members Charitable Foundation awarded a $2,500 grant to Backstage in Bancroft.
The grant will assist with improvements to the stage, including microphones for the cast members.
Get all the details in the March 14 Advance.

The city of Burt is working with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to replace an old gym floor in the activity complex and move the emergency shelter to the activity complex.
Damage during the summer flooding prompted the city to replace the gym floor. The cost is estimated at $30,000.
Get all the details in the March 14 Kossuth County Advance.

Sara Winkelman, the owner of S&B Dustillery, has been honored with the 2019 Deb Dalziel Woman Entrepreneur award. On Friday, March 15, there will be a ceremony at 2 p.m. at the Bancroft business.
The original award ceremony was at the state capitol in Des Moines last month, but because of the blizzard, the winners could not attend. Lisa Shimkat, Iowa Small Business Development Center director, will present the award at the distillery.

Joe Carter is the new Algona Community School District superintendent. He will take over the position on July 1. He has a two-year contract at $145,000 per year.
The Algona Community School District Board approved his contract at the school board meeting Monday.
Get all the details in the March 14 Kossuth County Advance.

Ag Processing Inc. (AGP) recently supported the Algona Fire Department with a donation to improve the department's response capability.
Fire Chief Mitch Ulrick said the $10,000 donation will be used to purchase new respirator equipment for the local volunteer fire and rescue department.
Read the entire story in the March 14 Kossuth County Advance.

An outdoor recreation project that includes a shelter house in Tietz Park is moving forward.
The Algona City Council adopted three resolutions in a special meeting at the Algona Council Chambers on Monday.
Read the entire story in the March 14 Kossuth County Advance.

Fourteen members of the Algona FFA chapter participated in the North Central District FFA Leadership competition on Saturday, March 2, and 10 advanced to state competition.
The students competed in various leadership development events to enhance communication and employability skills.
Get all the details in the March 14 Kossuth County Advance.

The Black and Blue Ball was a special occasion, but it was also an evening when three Algona natives who are now in the law enforcement field had a chance for reminiscing and a few laughs.

County residents will see a slight increase in their millage rate for 2019-20 because of raise in the mental health levy.
The Kossuth County Board of Supervisors passed the budget at its Feb. 26 meeting. Total revenue is expected to be more than $27.7 million. Beginning balance and property taxes account for almost 65 percent of the total revenue generated.
Read the entire story in the March 7 Kossuth County Advance.

There is no question technology has changed the way businesses and individuals operate. It is no different for the health care industry and in particular, Kossuth Regional Health Center (KRHC).
KRHC Administrator Scoot Curtis said KRHC has taken an aggressive approach to implementing technology that enhances the experience of care for patients.
Read the entire story in the March 7 Advance.

In the 45 years Tom Eischen has sold seed and chemicals, he has seen the wet weather and the droughts. And, he will tell you that it isn't the weather that determines how much seed and chemicals Eischen Sales sells.
It is the economy.
Read the entire story in the March 7 Advance.

If you ask Dr. Andrew Sorensen's parents, they might tell you he was a bit of a firebug in his youth.
"It is, of course, a happy turn of events that I get to make fire professionally," he said.
Sorensen, formerly of Algona, won the Tübingen Fõrder prize in early prehistory and quaternary ecology from the University of Tübingen in Germany on Feb. 7.
Find out more in the March 7 Advance.

Commerial spaces along highway 169 in Algona have become available with the recent closures of Napoli's Italian Restaurant and the No. 1 Buffet.
These properties are not the only ones up for grabs. Multiple sites are listed online and with Algona's real estate businesses.
This raises bigger questions: What will Algona do with its open commercial spaces? And, how is retail changing in Algona?
Read the entire story in the March 7 Kossuth County Advance.

Yesterday, Wednesday, March 6, the church gathered together to embark upon an important journey: Lent.
No, I'm not talking about lint, the stuff you find at the bottom of your pockets, but Lent, the season of the church year which anticipates the celebration of Jesus' resurrection on Easter Sunday.

A grop of women are on a mission to get more people through the doors of the Swea City Senior Center.
"The center has always been part of the community," Lupe Kollasch said. "It's difficult when the age of membership is 70 and 80. Unfortunately, in order for this to keep going we're going to have to do it."
Read the entire story in the March 7 Advance.