Tom Cherveny
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Tom Cherveny is a regional and outdoor reporter with the West Central Tribune in Willmar, MN.
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- Member for
- 4 years 10 months
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MONTEVIDEO - The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources is gathering public comments to prepare a deer management plan with the pledge it will include the first ever, statewide harvest goal. And when area residents had their opportunity to provide input on the plan in Montevideo on Monday, not one word was raised about setting a higher target for the harvest.
ST. PAUL — Budget constraints have forced Minnesota's state parks to shorten camping seasons, postpone maintenance work, reduce winter services, and even trim the amount of time staff have for contact with visitors. And yet the people keep coming in record numbers, with over 10 million visits counted last year, the most ever in the system's 125-year history.
WILLMAR — Ben Taatjes ran the numbers and advised his 62-year-old client that he had the resources to retire right then and there. He did, and now Taatjes considers it the worst advice he ever gave. Three months later the client was back in his office looking as if he had aged three years. "I messed up with that client. I could see it in his face when he came in,'' said Taatjes, owner and founder of Taatjes Financial Group of Willmar. The client was unprepared mentally for the dramatic changes that retirement brings, according to Taatjes.
OLIVIA — Minnesota's new buffer law is getting a lot of attention in Renville County where farmers will soon face decisions on how to comply with it. The Renville County Soil and Water Conservation District sent out 507 letters earlier this year to the owners of lands that border public waterways, where 50-foot buffers must be seeded by Nov. 1.
RENVILLE — Hawk Creek is pouring way too much sediment, nitrogen and phosphorus into the Minnesota River, and as a result continues to fall short of the goals set for it as a prairie stream in an agricultural landscape. Reaching those goals is largely a matter of putting on the brakes. "We need to be reducing the water quantity and the velocity,'' said Heidi Rauenhorst, director of the Hawk Creek Watershed Project. She reported on the status of the watershed during the organization's annual meeting Wednesday in Renville.
OLIVIA — Renville County's long-range, strategic plan calls for it to explore the possibility of merging the auditor/treasurer, assessor and recorder offices, as well as joining the social services and public health departments. The county will abide by its plan and explore those options, the Renville County Board of Commissioners agreed at its meeting Tuesday. The board instructed the heads of the respective departments to put together reports on the proposals, with intentions of reviewing them in late 2017 and early 2018.
OLIVIA — An ongoing effort to emphasize education along with the enforcement of health codes appears to be paying dividends in Renville and Kandiyohi counties. The two counties have now seen a two-year decline in the number of violations issued to licensed food, swimming pool, and lodging establishments, according to information presented Tuesday to the Renville County Board of Commissioners. The counties jointly operate an environmental health services that licenses and inspects restaurants, hotels and motels, mobile home parks and campgrounds.
OLIVIA — Renville County is adding a statement that it intends to improve and protect prairie on the site proposed for the Minnesota Valley Off-Highway Vehicle Recreation Area as part of the environmental assessment worksheet now being undertaken for it. The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources is requesting that the statement be included in the worksheet, Scott Refsland, acting director of the county's environmental and community development office, told the Renville County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday.
WILLMAR - The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources will host an informational meeting Tuesday in Willmar to discuss Gov. Mark Dayton's proposed increases to hunting and fishing license fees. The meeting will be from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at the Kandiyohi County Health and Human Services Building, 2200 23rd St. N.E., Willmar, MN. DNR officials will discuss the need for fee changes and how license money is used. Area hunters, trappers, anglers and wildlife enthusiasts are encouraged to attend.
REDWOOD FALLS — Patricia Lubeck will go to her grave believing William Rose was an innocent man. How Rose got to his grave played a role in making Minnesota one of the first states to abolish capital punishment.