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To Albert Lea graduates.

Congratulations to the Albert Lea class of 2021.

Though it has been another difficult year for students amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, you have shown great resilience and determination to make it through the year. You have much to be proud of.

No matter what your plans are for the future — whether you plan to attend a two- or four-year school, jump straight into the workforce or pursue some other endeavor — we hope you will remember your hometown and know that you have many cheering you on. Never forget that you can achieve whatever you put your mind to, and we look forward to hearing about your success in the future.

To the collaboration for senior banners.

We applaud staff at Albert Lea High School, along with the Albert Lea Police Officers Association and Arcadian Bank, who came together this year to support banners for each graduating senior at Albert Lea High School.

The banners were displayed on the fence at Jim Gustafson Field, and were given to the students to keep after the graduation ceremony Friday night.

With a banner project last year in downtown Albert Lea for graduating seniors and now these banners displayed at the stadium, we love the recognition these give to the graduates and hope a similar tradition can continue for many years to come.

To the Albert Lea Farmers Market.

Hats off to the organizers and vendors of the Albert Lea Farmers Market, who reopened for the season on Wednesday.

The market offers residents not only access to fresh fruits and vegetables, but also other items such as baked goods, farm fresh eggs, meats, plants and crafts. It is open from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. on Wednesdays and from 9 a.m. to noon on Saturdays each week in the North Broadway parking lot.

We encourage people to get out and support the market and recognize what a benefit it is to have it in our community.

To the relatively quick cleanup at the site of a derailed Union Pacific train last weekend.

Kudos to all of the crews who helped clean up at the site of the Union Pacific train derailment last Saturday. In only a little over half a week, the train was up and running again.

If you happened to be down at the site of the cleanup or at the staging area they had nearby, it was clear those people knew what they were doing and worked efficiently to get the job done.

We hope the efforts will continue as diligently on environmental restoration of the lake and surrounding wetland after 40,000 gallons of hydrochloric acid spilled during the derailment.. Water monitoring has shown that pH levels are already improving, though more work still needs to be done in some areas.

We appreciate both the state and federal involvement on this environmental factor and hope to see some of the outstanding issues taken care of in the coming weeks.