Brown County Heartland Express will be closed on Monday May 27th in honor of Memorial Day. If you need a ride for Tuesday May 28th , please call the transit office before 3pm Friday May 24th at 507-359-2717 or 800-707-2717.
Construction on the Highway 4 St. James to Sleepy Eye project is expected to begin on Monday, April 22, as crews start replacing the bridge over the Cottonwood River south of Sleepy Eye, according to the Minnesota Department of Transportation.
Construction on the St. James to Sleepy Eye project will be completed in phases.
During the initial phase of construction starting April 22, Highway 4 from Sleepy Eye to Brown County Road 24 will be closed and traffic detoured to Highway 14 and Brown County Roads 8 and 24 for the duration of the project.
For safety, public carry-in water access near the Cottonwood River on Highway 4 south of Sleepy Eye will be closed during bridge construction. For more information visit the Department of Natural Resources at: https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/water_access/index.html.
Construction on the Butterfield Creek Bridge is tentatively expected to begin sometime in late June or early July, and traffic will be detoured to Watonwan County Roads 3 and 32, and Highway 30 until August or September.
Resurfacing on Highway 4 from St. James to Sleepy Eye is expected to begin in late July and traffic will be detoured to Highway 14, Brown County Road 8, Watonwan County Road 5, and Highway 30 until mid to late September.
The Highway 4 project between St. James to Sleepy Eye includes roadway, bridge, and drainage improvements. In addition to resurfacing approximately 25 miles of roadway, three bridges will be replaced.
Additionally, the improvements made to the road will allow Highway 4 from St. James and Sleepy Eye to become a 10-ton route.
The project is expected to be complete in early October, weather permitting.
The Sleepy Eye School board made a difficult decision at their recent board meeting…the school’s new mascot will be the Storm. Sleepy Eye Schools was forced to remove the Indians mascot by the beginning of the 2025 school year due to a legislative order.
The Storm name won out over three other finalist including Phoenix, Bearcats and Bison. School colors will remain the same.
Nuvera Communications, Inc. is helping communities prepare for a new area code in southern Minnesota.The new 924-area code will be rolled out in the southernMinnesota region currently using the 507-area code. The area includes Albert Lea, Austin, Fairmont, Mankato, Northfield, Rochester, Winona, Worthington, and other smallersurrounding communities. The Minnesota PublicUtilities Commission approvedthe new 924-area code to ensure enough access to numbers to serve people and businesses in the area. The 507-area code has been in place since 1954 and is projected to run out of numbers by 2025.All Southern Minnesota customers in the 507/924 area code region will need to begin using all 10-digits when they place a local call.The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission has created the following 924-area coderollout timeframe:
• On Jan. 30, all residents and businesses begin the transition to 10-digit calling (3-digit area code + 7-digit telephone number) by adding the area code to all local calls. All calls will go through during a six-month transition period.
• Beginning July 30, residents and businesses must include the area code + number on all calls. If the area code is not included, a recording will instruct the caller to try again andinclude the area code.
• Effective Aug. 30, new numbers may be assigned the 924 area code. Expect 10-digit local calling to include both 507 and 924 numbers.Tips to Transition to 10-Digit Dialing
• Check mobile phone contacts to ensure all local numbers saved as 7-digits are updated to dial 10-digits. Even local calls from one 507 number to another 507 number, must include the area code.
• Inventory devices and services where numbers are stored and make a plan to update them. This may include security systems, health care alert devices, pet ID tags and more.
• Local businesses should plan to communicate to customers a full 10-digit number with area code for customer awareness and to avoid disruption.• No area code is required to dial 3-digit service numbers including 911, 811, 988 and others where available.
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January 9
at Sleepy Eye Event Center
Goal – 116
Collected – 107
Deferrals – 7
Walk-ins – 2
No Shows – 8
Many Americans proudly fly the U.S. flag at their homes and places of work, but what do you do with it when it’s old and ratty and you’re ready for a new one?
Don’t just throw it in the trash like any other old item — that’s considered disrespectful.
The Sleepy Eye Servicemen’s Club now has a Unitied State Flag Retirement Dropbox. The new box is designed for people to place their tattered flags in for proper military disposal.
Rules on how to properly fly the flag were established in June 1923, when the National Flag Conference met in Washington. Its members created the Flag Code, which states that “the flag represents a living country and is itself considered a living thing.”
The American Legion passed a resolution about flag retirement ceremonies in 1937. According to the resolution, “The approved method of disposing of unserviceable flags has long been that they be destroyed by burning.”
The U.S. flag is considered such a sacred symbol that burning it in an undignified manner constitutes desecration. The flag must be burned in a specific manner at a ceremony.
Sleepy Eye will work with New Ulm to assure all flags deposited in their box will be disposed of with the proper etiquette.
Brown Co. Sheriff Press Release
The purpose of the media release is to prevent people from being scammed by the fictitious ALT Family Farm website, while understanding that there is a legitimate ALT Family Farm operating in Evan, Minnesota. The scammers are fraudulently using the ALT Family Farm name and images of a farm in the Netherlands on their fictitious ALT Family Farm website.
Online SCAM – FRAUD – ALT Family Farm, Evan, Minnesota
The Brown County Sheriff’s Office received reports of a fake ALT Family Farm www.altfamilyfarm.com website which is advertising heavy construction machinery for sale out of Evan, Minnesota. The entire website is fictitious and none of the pictures on the website exist in Brown County, Minnesota. The suspects behind the fraudulent website tell potential customers to make payments through wireless transfer. Customers who try and make an appointment to look at the machinery are eventually unable to make contact with the suspects any longer.
While the ALT Family Farms www.altfamilyfarm.com website may look legit, it is a SCAM. There are even videos on YouTube promoting the fictitious ALT Family Farm website. The Brown County Sheriff’s Office has received reports from across the United States inquiring about the validity of ALT Family Farm. The Brown County Sheriff’s Office, Minnesota is naming this fraudulent web site specifically hoping that individuals attempting to check on the validity of ALT Family Farm will realize that it is a scam.
Make sure that you do your due diligence in verifying the credibility of a business and do not send money using wireless money transfers.
The Brown County Sheriff’s Office, Minnesota is working with the Minnesota Department of Commerce to close the fictitious ALT Family Farm website www.altfamilyfarm.com down.
If you have any information regarding this site, please contact the Brown County Sheriff’s Office, Minnesota Investigator Andrew Konechne at 507-233-6716.
Sheriff Jason Seidl of Brown County announced today the commencement of the Law Enforcement Scholarship Program for 2023. Sheriff Seidl proudly announced that the MSA Board of Directors has established a scholarship fund for the awarding $2,000.00 scholarships for this year. These scholarships are due to the coordinated efforts of the 87 Sheriffs of the State of Minnesota.
The Members of MSA gives special recognition to the financial needs of students attending the peace officer skills course, or one of the two or four year law enforcement degree colleges. “The Board of Directors feel peace officers in our democratic society have complex duties to perform” said Sheriff Seidl. MSA recognizes the importance of pre-entry training for people considering law enforcement as their career choice. MSA recognizes some students need outside help in meeting the costs of such training, even though they excel academically.
The Scholarship Committee, in making its selection of awards, intends on achieving representation from all geographical areas of the state. Scholarship awards will be announced by December 29th of the same year. Application forms and a statement of procedures are available at the Brown County Sheriff’s Office. Scholarships are only available to students currently enrolled in one of the following three categories:
- Mandated POST Skills Program
- In their second year of a two-year law enforcement program.
- In their third or fourth year of a four-year college criminal justice program.
In order to qualify, students must have completed at least one year of the two-year program or two years of a four-year program. Students meeting these criteria are invited to obtain a scholarship application form from their local sheriff’s office or online at www.mnsheriffs.org .
