The Tribune’s plans to cover the Albert Lea mayoral forum on Thursday were sent off track when news of the Minnesota Department of Health’s report on alleged abuses at Good Samaritan Society Albert Lea came out.

Tribune Managing Editor Tim Engstrom said he was sure readers would grasp the importance of the Good Sam situation and understand why the newspaper couldn’t staff the mayoral forum.

“It was an all-hands-on-deck situation,” he said.

Engstrom had intended to moderate the mayoral forum but had to cancel those plans, too.

Look to the Tribune for political coverage, particularly next week during the Republican National Convention in St. Paul.