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To the Local Author Festival held this week at Edgewater Bay Pavilion.

Thanks to the Albert Lea Public Library for organizing the second annual Local Author Festival and to the community for supporting it this week at Edgewater Bay Pavilion.

The festival gives authors the opportunity to talk about their work and for attendees to hear more about what it takes to become an author. Authors also get to sell their books to attendees.

Albert Lea has many talented authors, and we think this is a great opportunity for them to be recognized.

Hats off to those who attended for showing their support for these local residents to achieve their goals. We also hope it may have inspired others who have considered writing in the past. a

To making it through the excessive heat.

We are pleased that the worst of the dangerous heat from this week is behind us, and we are moving into some more pleasant temperatures for the week ahead.

According to the National Weather Service, Albert Lea reached a heat index of 114 on Tuesday and 109 on Thursday, and it broke a record for actual temperature of 97 on Thursday.

The heat led to warnings for people who work or exercise outside and even led to the cancellation of outdoor events and some businesses.

Thankfully, temperatures are expected to be in the mid- to upper 70s over the weekend and through the middle of the week before going back up into the 80s on Thursday.

Now is your opportunity to enjoy the outdoors in some much safer temperatures.

To increased community feedback between the Glenville-Emmons School Board and administration and the Glenville and Emmons communities.

The Glenville-Emmons School Board on Monday outlined its next steps for moving forward after a failed referendum earlier this month.

One of the top priorities was for increased community feedback, including reaching out through a community survey to ask why people voted the way they did, what they liked or disliked, people’s tax tolerance and the potential timing of another referendum. The district also hopes to conduct community listening sessions in both Glenville and Emmons about what has already taken place and what yet still is to come. The board will also likely add study sessions to its calendar for additional discussion, which are all open to the public.

We believe this community feedback and involvement moving forward will be critical in coming up with a solution for the Glenville-Emmons district.

We encourage the community likewise, no matter whether you were in favor or opposed to the referendum, to get involved with this effort. Aim to be a part of a solution.

Through this increased dialogue, we hope the school community will become more united.