Norman expected in court on Wednesday

Former Albert Lea City Manager Jim Norman is expected to appear in Freeborn County District Court on Wednesday for a contested hearing with his lawyer Peggy Rockow.

Norman faces seven felony counts and one gross misdemeanor count tied to allegations that he misused the city-issued credit card for personal purchases.

Norman, 57, started full time as city manager in Albert Lea on May 3 but was placed on administrative leave Aug. 27 after initial charges were filed. He resigned as city manager in September as part of a separation agreement between him and the City Council, which resulted from the pending litigations.

School news

Winterfest begins today at Albert Lea High School. A “scarving” of Winterfest royalty will be tonight with dress up days each day this week. In other school news the Albert Lea school board meets tonight to approve board positions and committee placements.

G-E in four-team race for championship

After the Glenville-Emmons boys’ basketball team seemed to be cruising toward their first ever Southeast Conference championship, they encountered a bump in the road Friday with their season’s only loss at Hope Lutheran. Now 10-1 and in a virtual tie atop the conference with Spring Grove, the Wolverines need to right this ship this week against Schaeffer Academy and Spring Grove in order to stay in contention for a title.

Bean bags to fly

In one of the most unusual sports events in the Albert Lea calendar this year is a bean-bag tournament at Wedgewood Cove Golf Club on Super Bowl Sunday.

Call it bean-bag tossing or the cornhole game, the game has been a Midwestern party staple since it grew out of the Cincinnati area in the 1990s. It essentially is throwing bean bags at a hole cut into a board. Players score either by landing on the board or getting the bag into the hole.

The tournament is limited to 32 teams, and the action runs from noon to 6 p.m. Of course, Super Bowl XLV between the Green Bay Packers and the Pittsburgh Steelers begins at 5:30 p.m. Central time.

Dayton to unveil construction project wish list

ST. PAUL (AP) — Gov. Mark Dayton is expected to call for about $1 billion in public works projects on Monday.

The Democratic governor will unveil his recommendations for state-backed construction work at a morning news conference.

It’s traditional for the Minnesota Legislature to pass large bonding bills in even-numbered years, but Dayton has said he hopes to grab low interest rates and inject some money into the ailing construction sector this year.

He has vowed to identify about $500 million worth of his priorities and leave the rest of the money for lawmakers to put forward theirs.

Republican House Majority Leader Matt Dean isn’t ruling out a bonding bill this year. But he says the GOP focus will be on rerouting unspent money from past projects that never got off the ground.