To Albert Lea Area Schools Teacher of the Year finalists.

Congratulations to the seven teachers named as finalists this week for Albert Lea Teacher of the Year:

• Wendy Bidne, secondary special education teacher at the Area Learning Center

• Kevin Gentz, math teacher at Albert Lea High School

• Wendy Greenfield, seventh-grade history teacher at Southwest Middle School

• Robin Hundley, sixth-grade math teacher at Southwest Middle School

• Jill Petersen, instructional coach at Sibley Elementary School

• Paula Olson, MAAP STARS and English teacher at the Area Learning Center

• Staci Waltman, media specialist at Hawthorne and Halverson elementary schools

The winner will be announced at a ceremony at 4 p.m. April 1 in the Albert Lea High School Commons area.

We thank these teachers, and all others in the district, for their dedication to the students in the community.

 

To people who participated and helped with the presidential primary.

Hats off to the people who came out during Tuesday’s presidential nomination primary to cast their ballots for their favorite candidate.

Results show that about 21.5% of registered voters participated in the election from Freeborn County, which is right in line with the overall statewide average of 22%. State officials have said about three times as many people participated in the primary than who usually participated in precinct caucuses. We wonder if these numbers might have been higher if people did not have to declare a party.

We hope if Minnesota continues with the presidential nomination primary in future years, it will reconsider the format of the voting.

Thank you to the people who served as election judges at each location and who helped ensure that voting went smoothly. It could not be possible without you.

 

To Marketplace Foods employees.

It will be sad for many in the community to see the closure of Marketplace Foods this weekend in Albert Lea.

We thank the employees, many of whom have worked there for several years, for their dedicated service over the years to the community.

In February, grocery store owner Jim Baldus said the store was closing to make way for renovations for a new development. He hoped to reopen the store at the same location at a later time when renovations were complete.

We will keep our fingers crossed that everything goes as hoped for Baldus and his crew as this is a needed amenity for the people on the west side of town.