To watchful residents.

Albert Leans with an eye for what might appear out of the ordinary got on the telephone Wednesday night and called the Albert Lea Police Department. As a result, they helped Albert Lea police officers nab two of three suspects from an assault on Frank Avenue. The three men are accused of being part of an incident where two men were hit with a crowbar. Tips to police make a difference. We, the community, pay taxes to afford a police force for the sake of peace and security. But our responsibility doesn’t when we pay our taxes. It takes more than cops patrolling a beat. It also takes residents who care about their neighborhoods. What happened Wednesday was good work by some good neighbors.

 

To graffiti.

Ever notice how most of the spray-painted messages on buildings, bridges, trains and other places usually fail to communicate much of anything? The first reason is often the graffiti is so bad that it is illegible. The second reason is graffiti often has symbols that make no sense. The third reason is people see graffiti, but they do not read graffiti. In other words, creating graffiti is rather pointless. To us — and we know this is hard to quantify — it seems the community has done a fairly good job of getting rid of graffiti once it appears. For sure, Albert Lea has less graffiti than six or seven years ago. Help our city keep winning the battle. If you see any of it in town, please call Albert Lea Police Department Lt. Jeff Strom, who can bring juveniles with the Freeborn County Court Services to paint over the eyesore. The number is 377-5254.

 

To gas prices.

OK, why would we give a thumbs up to gas prices? It’s because we are quick to give a thumbs down when prices go up, but the fact is they have been creeping down since mid-July, and that’s a good thing. In Albert Lea, our prices have been in the range of $3.50 to $3.60 per gallon. Are you traveling? According to GasBuddy.com, places with gas in the range of $3.40 to $3.50 are Bemidji, Le Center, Le Sueur, Glencoe, Hutchinson, Cambridge and Detroit Lakes in Minnesota and in Iowa they are Fort Dodge, Storm Lake, Sac City, Newton, Sioux City, Council Bluffs and Davenport. In Missouri, travelers could discover gas for $3.35, $3.30 and even $3.20. Prices generally are cheaper in the South and more expensive on the West Coast and in New England. Freeborn County prices are at a happy medium. We’ll take that.