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7th grade Falcons undefeated Page 17
Monday, October 31, 2011
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Technology in my life
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Volume 27 Issue 6
Spring Valley looks at grant surveys page
Chatfield moves ordinance forward
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Canton l Chatfield l Fountain l Harmony l Lanesboro l Mabel l Ostrander l Peterson l Preston l Rushford l Rushford Village l Spring Valley l Whalan l Wykoff
Rushford Chamber hosts “Meet the Candidates” forum By K irsten Zoellner kzoellner@fillmorecountyjournal.com
Pictured above is the future location for Canton Speedway.
Canton Speedway to attract Go Karts racers to region By Jade Wangen jwangen@fillmorecountyjournal.com
A group of men were thinking about building a place for their kids to practice racing Go Karts when they stumbled upon a business venture. Instead of traveling to Cresco or other places, why not have a track right in Fillmore County where people could race, or pay to come see others race? Canton already had a perfect area located right on the edge of town, in a spot that has plenty of room for the track, the pits, some bleachers, and places for spectators to set up their own seats. It’s right on the highway, and seemed a good central location. The idea for Canton Speedway was taking
shape. According to Mike Kelly, it has been a joint effort to turn this idea into a reality. He has been working together with Tony Severson, Ben Gravos, Brian Gjere, and others, all of them putting money, time, and energy into the project. Right now their kids race in Cresco every other Sunday. They plan to have Canton Speedway run on the opposite Sundays through the summer. The plan is to have races be an afternoon family event for everyone. “The kids can start racing at age five,” said Kelly. “And there are people in their mid-60s still racing.” Go Karts come in different shapes and sizes, as well as dif-
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ferent price ranges. “You can spend as much as you want,” said Gravos. According to Kelly, a basic Go Kart can be found for under $1,000, and it goes up from there, depending on how fancy you want it. And they are not slow, either. Kelly’s son Jared said they can go anywhere from 20-60 miles per hour. Go Kart racing is not just for boys. Kelly said there are many girls who race, and the oldest person they know racing Go Karts is a woman in her early 60’s. A lot of work has gone into the project already, and they still have a lot of work to do. Kelly said the Canton City See GO KART Page 17
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For the second time in two years, the Rushford Area Chamber of Commerce has hosted an informal town-hall style Meet the Candidates forum. The Sunday night event, October 23, held at the R-P High School Theater, saw nearly 60 in attendance to hear the details of six candidates ‘bids for council or mayoral seats. The Journal’s own Editor-in-Chief, Jason Sethre, served as moderator for the event for a second time. Two candidates will vie for the position of Rushford’s mayor. Chris Hallum, currently in his first term as mayor, will face off against former councilor Jim Wolter. Four others are seeking two four-year council terms, including incumbent Robert Dahl, who is running for a second term. Also seeking the position are Roger Colbenson, who
sought council seat last election, coming in third, former mayor Les Ladewig, who seeks re-election after being ousted by voters in 2009, and Valencia Gaddis, who is seeking her first-ever council seat. The top two of these four will be elected. The night’s agenda was thoroughly scripted by the chamber and included an introduction and conclusion by each candidate and four questions for the candidates, drawn from four categories, with one question per category. New this year, the candidates also fielded two open questions from the audience. All questions, both written and open, were allowed only from property tax payers of the city and had a limited response time from candidates. The four selected categories were: City’s Fiscal Budget, Economic Development, Community Quality of Life Issues, and See CANDIDATES Page 2
New survey equipment for the highway department the past, so more training shouldn’t be required, and it will be compatkreisner@fillmorecountyjournal.com ible with current software. As this The county board approved the equipment is used by 80 percent purchase of new survey equipment of Minnesota counties and the Fillfor the Highway Department at the more County Survey office, inforstate contract price, $72,022.64, at mation will be interchangeable. the board’s October 25 meeting. Trimble equipment will provide Lead Accounting Technician an extended range for hard to reach Pam Schroeder, Highway, detailed or unsafe targets, which makes it the reasons to go with Trimble work better in the county’s bluff Equipment through Frontier Preci- areas. Batteries are interchangeable sion at the state contract price. It when recharging is needed, reducis the vendor and equipment the department has worked with in See COUNTY Page 16 By K aren R eisner
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