Fillmore County News

Yvonne Freese, 18, is ready to promote the dairy industry to the people who need to hear its messages the most -- people who aren't dairy farmers.

A motorcyclist is dead after crashing in Fillmore County. The Minnesota State Patrol is reporting that a motorcyclist was Southbound on Highway 52 Thursday at around 7 p.m. Investigators said the road curved and the Harley Davidson motorcycle went straight off the roadway.

Flag Day at Lenora church The Rev. Mark Woodward, right, talks to people outside the historic 1856 Lenora United Methodist Church in Fillmore County after a Flag Day service on June 14.

Houston County DFL chairman Steve Kemp will step down from his leadership post to run for the Minnesota House in 2010.

Fillmore County's rolling hills, meandering streams and beautiful valleys create picturesque trails for bike riding.

RUSHFORD -- Lorraine Geneva Benson, 87, of Rushford, died Friday, June 12, 2009, at Good Shepherd Lutheran Home in Rushford.

Even Mayo One needs a little help once in a while. One of Mayo Medical Transport's helicopters made a "precautionary" landing at the Fillmore County Airport near Preston just after midnight on Wednesday.

ROCHESTER -- Neill John Heusinkveld, age 87, passed away June 7, 2009, in Rochester.

It is Visitor Appreciation Day at one of the most popular state parks in Preston today.

ROCHESTER -- A graveside committal service for Merlin C. Hanson will be at 11 a.m. June 6 in Fillmore County Cemetery in rural Wykoff.

Rochester International Airport will receive a $1.4 million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation, Congressman Tim Walz announced Tuesday.

Crashes on Minnesota roadways over the Memorial day weekend have killed at least 11 people -- including four in a minivan that was hit by a pickup truck in Olmsted County -- making this the deadliest Memorial Day weekend in recent memory.

Opening statements are expected this week in the trial of Jack Nissalke, who is charged with killing Ada Frances Senenfelder in June 1985.

A 27-year-old Rochester man is dead after a head-on collision just east of Eyota yesterday.

Fast, a 2008 graduate of Mt. Lake Public High School, is the daughter of Chuck andSuzanne Fast of Bingham Lake.

Harmony is now officially a participating community in the National Flood Insurance Program, which opens the door to low-cost flood insurance available under NFIP, a federally backed program managed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

A Harmony man was killed in a one-vehicle crash Monday afternoon. Rodney Leroy Johnson, 74, died after his vehicle left a residential street in Harmony, hit a fence, snapped a utility pole and struck a house.

Three festivals in southeastern Minnesota this weekend will kick off the festival season with fishing, parades and star-gazing. * Preston Trout Days festivities will begin at 7 a.m. Saturday with a Lions Club pancake and French toast breakfast at Preston United Methodist Church.

A wind project in Fillmore County continues to move forward, and the turbines could be turning by the end of 2010.

Fillmore County's rolling farm country is many things to many people, but rarely is it a possible site for a large-scale music festival -- until now.