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To the area students who signed this week to play collegiate sports.

Congratulations to Albert Lea’s Taya Jeffrey and Cameron Davis, along with Lake Mills athlete Kadin Abele, who signed this week to play sports at the collegiate level. 

Jeffrey will play basketball at University of Jamestown, and Davis will wrestle at University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. Abele will play football at Waldorf University. 

All of these student athletes have been great examples of leaders both on an off the court, and we wish them success in their collegiate-level endeavors. 

To the people who participated in this week’s caucuses.

Whether you participated in-person at the Freeborn County Republican Party or took part in the “contactless” caucus of the Freeborn County DFL Party, we were pleased to see the number of people who were involved with this stage of the election process on Tuesday.

The caucuses give people the opportunity to meet with other people in their party who live near them and discuss issues that matter to them. If people want to be delegates later on in the process, they also need to get involved at the caucus level. 

We encourage people to continue to play an active part in this election and to support those candidates and issues they are passionate about. 

Thanks to those who will participate in this election as candidates and for the opportunity you will have to serve our community. We hope you will listen to your constituents on all sides and learn what things are critical for them to accomplish. 

 To the three businesses named as Albert Lea-Freeborn County Chamber of Commerce Businesses of the Year.

Congratulations to Freeborn-Mower Cooperative Services, the Albert Lea Family Y and Taco John’s, who were named as large, medium and small Business of the Year, respectively. 

All of these businesses stand out for their dedication to the community, and we thank them for their efforts to better area residents and the causes that are important to them. 

Congratulations also to Sandy Jensen, who was named Ambassador of the Year, and Ellen Kehr, who was named Volunteer of the Year. 

Your involvement in the community makes Albert Lea a better place for many. 

To the approval of on-street parking near B&B Cafe.

Thanks to the Freeborn County Board of Commissioners who this week voted to allow on-street parking near popular Albert Lea restaurant, B&B Cafe. 

The cafe has been a mainstay of Albert Lea for many years and recently lost access to a parking lot where many customers had parked. The lot has been purchased by Scooter’s Coffee with plans by the company to build a coffee shop there.

The B&B owners have also worked with neighboring businesses, including the Salvation Army, Eaton Sport & Spine, and Cafourek Insurance to see if they might allow customers access to their lots for additional parking. 

We hope this solution will help alleviate parking concerns for the business, and we encourage people to continue to support this iconic Albert Lea restaurant.