Editorial: Thumbs

To not hearing the crack of the Colonels’ bats.

In the neighborhood near Hayek Field, the crack of a bat is a nice sound of spring and summer. It will be too bad that the Albert Lea Colonels this summer won’t be among the teams using the facility. Presently, the Albert Lea Tigers compete there and teams of high school kids will be play there for the American Legion and VFW, too. The Colonels were adult players, which was always a refreshing change from the other three teams at Hayek. It was the first time the Colonels couldn’t field a team since 1990. Let’s hope a team forms for 2012.

To prep golf tournaments.

Forget how rainy the weekends have been for a moment. It still is pretty cool that Albert Lea has hosted major high school golf tournaments two weeks in a row. Last weekend, Green Lea and Wedgewood Cove hosted the 20-team Albert Lea Invitational. On Monday, Green Lea hosts the 10-team Big Nine Conference meet. We hope the students enjoy our golf courses, and we thank our local golfers and course owners for supporting youth sports.

To the Albert Lea School District.

Mechanical upgrades is likely far from being an exciting topic, but this is indeed worth noting. School officials can take pride that the district qualified for more than $10 million in the form of a low-interest loan from the U.S. Department of Education’s Qualified Zone Academy Bonds program. This will save tax dollars as school leaders begin a $15 million project. The money the district saves simply goes toward repaying the debt. Good job!