Local News

The Meeker County Horticulture Society will have its annual plant sale on Saturday, May 16th from 9-to-11 a.m. in the 4H Building at the Meeker County Fairgrounds in Litchfield. There will be all kinds of plants and other garden items at reasonable prices.

Connie Johnson says there will be annuals, perennials, herbs, vegetables, bushes, grasses and much more. She says they put them in pots and there are tags with information about the plants like you would find at a nursery.

Johnson says the plant sale on May 16th will also include items like planters, tools, bird feeders, books and more; and there will be a couple of Master Gardener interns there to answer questions. She says the proceeds from the plant sale help with expenses that come up with the Garden Gala and Garden Tour, for library books, to pay for speakers at their meetings and other items.

Johnson says if anyone has plants that they would like to donate to the sale, they may call her at 693-3556. She says you should bring boxes to the plant sale in which to place your purchases.

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The Litchfield Masons Vidalia onion sale continues. Jim Curry will be taking orders for a few more days before placing the final order, and then the onions should arrive in mid-May.

Curry says he always orders a few extra bags and when they arrive, he calls the people who have ordered them, and they pick them up in his garage. He says he ordered 450 ten-pound bags last year, and since the Golden Fleece Lodge #89 began selling them in 2015, they’ve sold over 30-tons of onions in Litchfield.

Curry says he usually carries a notebook and pen in his pocket this time of the year, so that when people call him to order onions, he can write down the information. He says the money raised by the sale of the Vidalia onions helps to provide three $2,000 scholarships to Litchfield High School seniors.

Curry says the onions are $14 per bag. He says you may order them by calling or texting him at 320-221-1925.

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On Friday, the CEE-VI Drug and Gang Task Force executed a narcotics search warrant at a residence in the 800 block of Park Village in Litchfield – related to methamphetamine trafficking. During the search, agents located over a quarter pound of meth and a small amount of cocaine.

The suspect was not present at the residence during the search and a probable cause pickup and hold for 1st Degree Controlled Substance charges were issued for him. A short time later, the party was arrested by the Renville County Sheriff’s Office and the Buffalo Lake Police Dept. in Renville County, and was found to be in the possession of additional controlled substances.

The suspect, a 43-year-old Litchfield man, is currently being held in the Renville County Jail on the charges and will also be facing charges in Meeker County. The CEE-VI Drug and Gang Task Force was assisted by the Litchfield Police Dept., the Meeker County Sheriff’s Office, the Renville County Sheriff’s Office and the Buffalo Lake Police Dept.

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Bird flu has made its first appearance in Minnesota this spring.  The Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza was diagnosed in a flock of 62,888 commercial turkey meat birds last week.  The flock was placed on quarantine on April 16th.   It was the first case in the state since two flocks were impacted in Meeker County back in January. 
 
Spring migration is underway, but along with returning birds comes a heightened risk of highly pathogenic avian influenza. Minnesota Turkey Growers Association Executive Director Ashley Kohls says producers have been on heightened alert. Twenty-three commercial poultry flocks in Minnesota were confirmed with highly pathogenic avian influenza in 2025.

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