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To the return of Thursdays on Fountain.

Thursday marked the first night of another year of the popular Thursdays on Fountain summer concert series.

The event features various bands for people to enjoy free of charge at Fountain Lake Park on the shore of Fountain Lake.

On Thursday the Albert Lea Community Band performed, and there will be different bands featured the rest of the summer.

We encourage people to get out and enjoy this community event out in the fresh air. Bring a lawn chair or plan to sit on the seating area at the park.

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To members of the VFW and American Legion Honor Guards.

Hats off to the members of the VFW and American Legion Honor Guards, who go above and beyond to recognize veterans who have died in the community.
The groups were busy on Memorial Day conducting ceremonies at various cemeteries, but this isn’t just a one-time-a-year happening.

These individuals can be found doing this all year. Whether it’s sunny, rainy, snowy or anything in between, they answer the call to pay their respects to their fellow veterans when the time comes all year long.

We thank them for their dedication to this effort and for their service to this country. They are a wonderful example of selfless service to others.

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To the approval of a short-term moratorium on new tobacco, liquor, cannabis and sexually-oriented businesses while the city works out the zoning requirements.

We think the city is doing the right thing by putting a short-term moratorium on new tobacco, liquor, cannabis and sexually-oriented businesses as it works to make the zoning requirements for these categories consistent when cannabis businesses can open at the beginning of the year.

We believe this was a wise action on the city’s part and will help business owners who are planning to get into the cannabis market to know what the guidelines will be when they seek to open their doors. The moratorium is in response to Minnesota legalizing recreational use of marijuana in 2023 and allowing new types of cannabis businesses to open in 2025 or earlier.

The council is concerned about the placement of cannabis businesses and regulating them with parity in regards to tobacco product shops, off-sale liquor sales and sexually-oriented businesses. The council is also concerned that these businesses will be concentrated in areas of Albert Lea where the community has invested in maintaining a historic nature, or where and how minors would be exposed to products they are prohibited from buying. The city wants to create uniformity in locations, designs and other questions and determine it there are other limitations they wish to put forward on the licenses.