Minnesota 7th District Congresswoman Michelle Fischbach says the federal government shutdown is now into its 4th week. She says House Republicans passed a clean bill at the end of September to keep the government funded through November 21st, but the Senate has failed to pass a bill after voting 11 times.
Fischbach says they need to find 4 Democrats in the Senate who will vote for the bill. She says the main sticking point for the Democrats seems to be health care.
Fischbach says members of Congress are still getting paid during the shutdown as that is mandated by the Constitution, and the furloughed government workers will receive back pay once the government reopens. She says the Senators and Representatives could ask not to be paid, but they would also receive back pay after the shutdown.
Fischbach says President Trump has transferred $13-billion dollars to the U.S.D.A. to help farmers as the ag economy has been affected by the trade wars, but that money is not available at this time due to the shutdown. She says the U.S. has been dependent on China for buying our soybeans, but other markets should be looked at for using crops like soybeans such as the domestic fuel market. If anyone has concerns and would like to contact Congresswoman Fischbach, her closest office is in Willmar.
The school year is going fast according to Lake Ripley Elementary School Principal Chris Olson. He says it’s been a fun start to the school year and the students have been working hard.
Olson says they do standardized testing three times a year which helps them identify students who may need some extra help, especially in math and reading. He says they have something new called WIN time which stands for “What I Need” so the students can spend that half-hour block of time catching up in certain subject areas, working together with a classmate or maybe just doing some reading on their own.
Olson says the SUN room – which stands for Students with Unique Needs – was completed this past summer at Lake Ripley Elementary School in part of the old cafeteria space. He says students with higher needs utilize the room to get individual help in their learning.
Olson says they are grateful to the public for all of the donations they received in their shoe campaign as Tradehome Shoe Company will match those donations to help children at Lake Ripley Elementary School receive shoes, and their parents will be able to select shoes at the fall conferences – just before Thanksgiving. He says the students have had some fun field trips this fall including the first graders who went to the Nelson Farm, the second graders who visited an orchard and the fourth graders who learned about the maintenance of the Litchfield Golf Course; and the 3rd and 4th graders will get to see a preview of the Litchfield High School Drama Dept. production of “Tarzan.”
The Peanut Butter & Milk Festival Committee met on Tuesday night, with final preparations being made for a group of delegates to travel to Hartford, Alabama the first week of November.
Five Litchfield High School FFA students and two chaperones will be on this year’s trip.
The students include Cade Cervin, Alexis Engelke, Bianca Forsberg, Wyatt Ratike, and Emmett VanDerBill and their hosts are Conner Childs, Ella & Jase Turner, Kaitlyn Harris, Porter Miller and Brayden & Addison West, respectively. Their chaperones are Lane & Abagayle Lysdal who will be staying with Darin & Lisa Moseley in Hartford.
The group will travel nonstop to Fort Walton Beach, Florida on November 1st and will be picked up by the sister-city committee from Hartford. They will spend the week learning about the peanut and cotton industries; will tour other businesses in Southeast Alabama; and attend the National Peanut Festival. They will return to Minnesota on November 8th and will talk about their experiences at the next Peanut Butter & Milk Festival Committee meeting on Tuesday, November 18th at 7 p.m. in the Litchfield High School Ag Room. Everyone is welcome.
Also Tuesday evening, the Committee selected the dates for this winter’s Peanut Butter & Milk Festival. It will run from January 31st to February 7th of 2026. A group from Hartford, Alabama will visit Meeker County that week to learn about the dairy industry and experience outdoor winter activities. Also on Tuesday, the PB&M Committee listened to a presentation by the FFA Ag Issues Team as they did a skit about eminent domain and power line construction.
