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To all those who were a part of the Tribune’s annual Progress edition.

Inside today’s newspaper is the Tribune’s annual Progress edition. It’s the product of several months of work here at our newspaper, and we hope you enjoy looking through it.

We thank all of those individuals and businesses who opened up your lives to us for interviews or photos for this edition or who chose to advertise on the pages of this section.

We hope Progress can be a snapshot of a lot of the positive happenings in the community over the last year. It is also the place where the Tribune’s annual Citizen of the Year is announced.

It’s clear there are a lot of good things happening in the community, and we hope it can be a reminder of the wonderful place we all call home.

To a report of nearly double traffic fatalities so far this year compared to last year.

It is troubling to hear statistics from the state’s Office of Traffic Safety this week, which reported that as of Tuesday 45 people had died in fatal crashes so far this year. At the same time last year, that number was 23.

Director Mike Hanson said in a Minnesota Public Radio News article that is the highest year-to-date number in several years.

Hanson said the numbers are partially due to the milder weather the state has received this winter and that without drivers having to slow down as much for icy and snow roads, it has brought about riskier driving and behavior typically seen more in the summer.

On average, there are more fatalities in the summer months, though there are more crashes altogether during the winter months — albeit they are less serious.

Hanson said in the article there are four main factors that increase the risk for fatalities: speed, impaired driving, distracted driving and driving without a seat belt.

We encourage motorists to pay particular attention to these factors and to not get too lackadaisical behind the wheel at any time. It can mean the difference between life and death.

To the Albert Lea Area wrestling team.

Congratulations to the Albert Lea Area wrestling team, which on Saturday sealed its ticket to the state tournament as a team after winning the Section 1AAA title in the section finals against Northfield.

The team year in and year out shows determination, hard work and diligence, and we’re proud to see that work pay off.

The team competes at the individual section tournament today, when it will find out the wrestlers who will compete as individuals at the tournament. Best wishes to all of the competitors, and we’re sure Albert Lea will have a strong showing at state again this year.

To Lance Helming of Lake Mills Community School.

Congratulations to Lance Helming of Lake Mills Community School, who this week scored his 1,000th point during the team’s game against Bishop Garrigan.

The achievement is no small feat.

The Bulldogs will play in a substate game today against Remsen St. Mary’s to determine if they go to the state tournament. We wish them luck and look forward to hearing how it turns out.