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To Freeborn County’s first recorded COVID-19 death.

We were sad to hear news Thursday of Freeborn County’s first recorded COVID-19 death since the beginning of the pandemic.

The person, who was in their 80s, was originally living in Freeborn County when first hospitalized but had been discharged at some point to a different county. The person died in May in that county and had been listed under that county’s total deaths until the state corrected that Thursday because the person had initially been in Freeborn County when contracting the virus.

Our thoughts are with the family of this individual, and we hope this will serve as a reminder to residents of the seriousness of this virus.

 

To the announcement that L.A. Darling, formerly known as Streater, will close by the end of September.

Another piece of sad news came Wednesday with the announcement that longtime Albert Lea business L.A. Darling, known to many in Albert Lea as Streater, will cease productions by the end of September.

Streater, a store fixture manufacturing plant, at its height had upwards of 900 employees in Albert Lea and was the city’s largest manufacturing plant. Over the years, however, those numbers have trickled down to where there are now 75 employees.

With the decline over the years, we are sad to see this business go. It provides a clear example of how COVID-19 is having a trickle-down impact on area businesses.

Unfortunately, we know this will not be the only business that will face the same fate during and after the pandemic.

 

To Standard & Poor’s affirmation of the city of Albert Lea’s AA- rating.

We were pleased to hear that despite the uncertain economic times facing every city at this time with the COVID-19 pandemic, Standard & Poor’s affirmed the city of Albert Lea’s bond rating at AA-, a stable rating.

The company cited the city’s strong management team, budgetary performance, budgetary flexibility and liquidity and said it felt the city was in a good economic position to weather the economic uncertainty.

With that rating, the city was able to secure an interest rate of less than 1% for its general obligation bond funds, that will be used to finance the city’s improvement projects this summer.

The low interest rate will in turn trickle down to property owners affected by these projects, who will see lower assessment interest rates as a result.

 

To the induction of former Albert Lea Post 56 baseball coach Ed Stalker into the Minnesota American Legion Baseball Hall of Fame.

Congratulations to the family of the late Ed Stalker, who was inducted Friday into the Minnesota American Legion Baseball Hall of Fame.

Stalker, a veteran of the U.S. Army, coached in Iowa and in Minnesota before beginning with Albert Lea Post 56 in 1971 through 1978. He coached the team again in 1984. Stalker’s teams were District 1 champions in 1977 and 1978, and they finished third and fifth in state tournaments. There is no record of an Albert Lea Legion team reaching state since then.

In addition to the induction into the Legion Baseball Hall of Fame, Stalker has been inducted into the Albert Lea High School Athletic Hall of Fame for his work at the high school level as well.