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Ellendale Days
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From T-Ball tournaments to tractor pulls, Ellendale brimmed with excitement and variety this past weekend for the annual "Ellendale Days" celebration this past weekend June 27-30. Above, Greyson Moon, 13, from LeCenter, was able to man the bubble machine brought to the parade by the Ellendale Lions Club. Photos from throughout the weekend can be found on Pages 2 and 3 on this week’s edition. Star Eagle photos by Deb Bently
State of emergency in New Richland
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By ELI By
LUTGENS
Publisher/Editor
Flooding that Minnesota Governor Tim Walz has described as "catastrophic" has taken over much of the state, leaving "entire communities under feet of water."
Officials in Waterville said their area is experiencing the worst flooding in its history and that the Minnesota National Guard has been activated to assist with alleviation efforts. Walz declared a peacetime emergency for the state over the weekend, which allowed the National Guard to deploy.
"Across the state, intense rain has had catastrophic effects. Flooding has left entire communities under feet of water, causing severe damage to property and numerous road closures," Walz said.
The emergency proclamation mentions that Waterville, which is wedged between Tetonka Lake and Sakatah Lake in Le Sueur County, received between 14 and 18 inches of rainfall, pushing those lakes and the Cannon River to "uncontrollable levels."
"Residents have been evacuated and the flood has already caused significant damage," the proclamation, issued on Saturday, says.
"It's all hands on deck here in Waterville. The water continues to rise and officials say they don't know when it's going to stop," CBS News Minnesota's Jason Rantala reported on Sunday.
"We just have too much water," Le Sueur County Commissioner David Preisler said.
Locals have been posting countless photos and videos of the damage on social media. One resident said on Sunday evening that "hundreds of cabins and homes" have been flooded, along with most of the downtown area. At his home, he said there were about 18 inches of water in the shed and around the cabin.
"The water is 3-plus feet deep in some places," stated one witness on Facebook. "Several roads in town are impassable and they have the fire department limiting access in many places."
Officials have called this the worst flooding event ever to hit Waterville as 1,000 people volunteered to fill sandbags over the weekend to try and prevent even worse damage.
The National Weather Service predicts the weather contributing to the flooding across Minnesota may not be over yet, with the possibility of severe storms still appearing in forecasts across the week. Local river levels are also still rising and flooding continues to be a concern, forecasters said.
New Richland Area
Over the weekend, more than 4 inches of rain fell across Waseca County, with totals as high as 7 inches in Janesville.
Damage in New Richland seems to be minimal compared to past flooding issues. The Care Center is safe; the baseball fields in town were still underwater on Monday. Some trees have fallen across power lines, leaving some residents in New Richland without power for several hours Saturday.
A state of emergency was declared in New Richland on Saturday. According to city administrator Anthony Martens, the main purpose of this proclamation is to make the city eligible for reimbursement for damages sustained during the storm. Examples of damage include landscaping in the city park and damage to the fences and the concession stand at Legion Field.
Martens dubbed People Service manager Shell Johnson a “rockstar,” saying “She kept a lot of water out of a lot of basements. She does a phenomenal job.
“I don’t think she slept more than 5 hours in the past 48 hours,” Martens told the Star Eagle Monday morning.
Shell Johnson, 54, has been the People Service Manager running New Richland’s wastewater treatment facility for the past three years.
Johnson’s non-stop weekend began Friday morning, when overwhelming quantities of water forced the facility to limit the processing water received before being released into its normal outlet of Boot creek.
“It isn’t possible to handle that much water,” Johnson said. “At the height of it, 5 million gallons were going through.”
Johnson explains many checks and balances are in place for emergency protocols used over the weekend. She also said the water still runs through the preliminary building garbage catcher before passing through to the creek.
Another emergency action was the use of pumps placed on Broadway at 2:30 a.m. Saturday. Two three-inch pumps were used to transfer water from storm sewers directly into Boot Creek. Doing so helped prevent stormwater from infiltrating the city sewage system and possibly creating a sewer back-up.
“The system gets more and more full; pretty soon [stormwater] can’t go anywhere,” Johnson explained. “We caught it in time and pumped it out in time.”
Johnson said she was extremely grateful for the help of local residents and city staff.
“They would drive by and bring water and snacks,” she said. “They were all so nice and helpful.”
Johnson spent the weekend sleeping in her office on a pullout cot and in her truck. Every 45 minutes she would have to wake up to put gas in the pumps on Broadway.
“Scott, the maintenance man from the school, brought me coffee at 3 a.m,” Johnson said.
“Others, even Bob (the director of the care center) and Anthony (the city administrator), city staff Braeden Thompson and maintenance man Erik Hendrickson all took turns watching the pumps so I could go check on the plant and do my paperwork.
“I don’t want the flooding,” she said. “We’re lucky we’re not in the predicaments these other cities are facing.”
Rapidan Dam
In Blue Earth County, as of Monday evening, the Rapidan Dam in the Blue Earth River southwest of Mankato was in an ‘imminent failure condition.”
The Blue Earth County Sheriff's Office said the river has cut a new path around one side of the dam and debris has been accumulating in the water. It announced the "imminent failure condition" status and notified those who may be impacted.
"We do not know if it will totally fail or if it will remain in place, however we determined it was necessary to issue this notification to advise downstream residents and the correct regulatory agencies and other local agencies," the sheriff's office said.
By Monday afternoon, the sheriff's office reported a "partial failure" of the dam on the west abutment.
"The dam is still intact and there are no current plans for a mass evacuation," the sheriff said on Facebook. "A portion of the river flow has diverted around the west side of the dam and water continues to flow."
An Xcel Energy substation at the dam, which supplies power to about 600 customers, was washed away early Monday. The utility company said its crews were working to replace the destroyed substation and restore power.
"The river level was already high from the large amounts of recent rainfall and moving fast when it diverted around the dam near the substation and flowed onto the bank," the company said in a statement. A home on the bank is at risk as shoreline continues to wash away.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz related at a news conference Monday morning that the state has received roughly 18 inches of rain over the last few weeks, saturating the ground and leaving the water nowhere else to go. There is potentially more rain coming, he added.
Star Eagle publisher named Young Journalist of the Year
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Star Eagle Publisher Eli Lutgens was named Minnesota’s Young Journalist of the Year by the Society of Professional Journalists during the Minnesota Chapter’s 2024 Page One Awards ceremony held June 18, 2024 at the Lowlands in St. Paul. More than 500 entries were received from media outlets of every medium, including the Star Tribune, Mankato Free Press, Minnesota Public Radio, and many others.
“Lutgens was selected for the essential work he is doing in local, community journalism,” judges commented. “As his recommender noted, there would be no local newsrooms in the communities without his intervention. If running multiple publications wasn’t impressive enough, his dedication to reporting news running from local high school sports to local politics is clearly making a difference in the communities he serves. Simply put, we need more people like Lutgens to step up and do this vital work to sustain and advance democracy. There are fewer ‘news deserts' in Minnesota thanks to Lutgens’ efforts.”
Lutgens started his career in journalism at the age of 15 when he was hired as an editorial assistant to his father Jim at the Star Eagle in New Richland. However, as Eli often says, his life in journalism began the day his dad started working at the Waseca Weekly when Jim was only 20 years old and later, when Jim brought him along to work at the Albert Lea Tribune, something he did often. Simply said, Eli grew up in the back of a newsroom.
In April of 2021, Eli purchased the Star Eagle from his father. Later that year he acquired the Southern Minnesota Golden Link. On July 1, 2022 he began publishing the Waseca County Pioneer.
Eli frequently observes that none of his publications would be sustainable without the ongoing support of the NRHEG and Waseca County Communities, in addition to the help of a dedicated staff of talented writers.
The award given out last Tuesday was Eli’s second “Page One” Award, the first coming in 2021 in the Investigative Journalism Category, another first place finish for his piece on the mishandling of federal funds distributed to local governments under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.
Delacruz and Shaw take on challenges of foster parenting
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By DEB BENTLY
Staff Writer
Last fall, New Richland residents Kelly Delacruz and her partner Robert Shaw recognized a gap they were willing to help fill.
“There’s a desperate shortage of foster homes,” Delacruz comments. “And we knew about someone who needed some help.”
After checking with the four children of their blended family living with them, the two went through the process to become licensed foster care providers. Given the home inspection, background checks and required paperwork, the process takes about three months; the pair first received their license last October.
Delacruz comments she is grateful she worked with the Lutheran Social Services office out of Mankato, saying the agency offered guidance and support each step of the way.
Candy Picka, the agency’s statewide program manager for therapeutic foster care, confirms there is a need for additional foster families. In 2023, she reveals, 6,150 Minnesota children experienced “out of home” care.
Both Picka and Delacruz mention encountering the misconception that children in foster care are there because of their own behavior.
“Pretty much all the children,” said Picka, “are in the system because of circumstances beyond their control.” She mentions parents who must be absent from the home to seek medical care or treatment for addiction; children have sometimes been the victims of abuse or neglect and are removed from the home for their own safety.
“Nearly all the children in foster care are there because of something the parents or family members need to work on,” observes Picka.
Another common misconception is about what it takes to be qualified to provide foster care. Picka says the Lutheran Social Services (LSS) office out of Mankato works with 24 foster homes. She mentions one which has been part of the system for 25 years. “We have married couples, singles, young adults. We have families with and without a stay-at-home parent.
“If your family has the room, time, patience and love to take care of them, foster children could live in your home,” she says.
County government agencies are the ones which determine which children must be placed out of their homes based on child protection rules and practices. Once a placement is decided upon, county employees begin looking for a place which can care for the children. Some counties, Picka explains, have placement agencies of their own. Others contact services like LSS to find homes; Picka estimates area counties may have working relationships with three to five agencies like hers.
It is a general practice to try and keep siblings together and to keep children as close to home as possible, but circumstances may not always allow doing so.
Delacruz comments that she and Shaw have learned a great deal over the past few months. This has included practical, everyday details such as the proper way to install and use carseats to procedural life lessons like being ready for anything and keeping track of details.
When their home is being considered for a placement, Delacruz explains, a call will come from LSS checking to see whether there is a possibility the numbers and ages of children can be accommodated at her house. “We can always say no,” she points out. “But we also want to help kids whenever we can.
“After all, it’s a safe bet they’re experiencing some sort of crisis.”
Foster children may be scheduled to stay a day or two, a few weeks, or even to be “permanently” placed in a home. The length of the stay is also something Delacruz and her family take into account when deciding whether or not to accept a placement.
Once her family consents and the children arrive, Delacruz says, they may have suitcases packed with everything they need, or they may have only the clothes on their backs.
“You work out a system for times like that,” says Delacruz lightheartedly, mentioning New Richland’s Lady Bug thrift shop has been supportive and helpful. She is also quick to point out the county and philanthropic organizations also provide needed items.
When it comes to keeping track of details, Delacruz mentions children may need to be transported to medical appointments, family visits, court appearances and other events. When she or Shaw are available, they can take care of it and be reimbursed for their expenses; otherwise county representatives ensure it is taken care of.
“There are a lot of supports in place to make it all do-able,” she observes. “The longer you do it, the better you get to know those supports.
“But no matter how well you know them, it’s really beneficial to be working with an agency like Lutheran Social Services.” Delacruz is highly complimentary regarding how accessible and helpful Picka and others have been. She says an important element of being a foster parent is providing stability, structure, and attention to the children’s individual needs, which can be widely varied depending on the circumstances of their home lives.
When behaviors are difficult, she says she reminds herself not to take it personally.
“I have barely any idea what that child may have been through,” she points out. “Just like with any children, they need time, patience, love and understanding.” She says the rewards of the work are seeing the children become comfortable in their new setting. She also enjoys seeing the children’s pleasure when they have a chance to try something that hasn’t been part of their lives in the past. “Even a simple walk with the family or an afternoon playing in the park can be really profound,” she observes.
Both Delacruz and Picka make clear that, when children are removed from their homes, the goal is to reunite the family. While children are in placement, parents may be taking part in activities meant to help them manage their everyday lives in a way that assures the children’s needs will be met.
Delacruz mentions that some people have an impression being a foster parent is a way to make money. “Yes, the costs for caring for the children are met,” she says. “You’re not losing money, but you’re not making money, either.
“The reason to do it is because you know you’re doing something to help children who have likely had some very rough stretches in their lives, and you’re trying to be part of a path to improvement.
“The kids may be confused and uncertain about what’s going on. They may have trouble recognizing their role in the new circumstances.
“But as far as I’m concerned, they’re part of my family for the time they’re with us. I hope someday they’ll have the perspective to look back and know they had a place in our lives and our hearts.”
Candy Picka shared a note she received from another person who has been a foster parent: “I feel fortunate to play a small part in each foster child’s story by giving them a temporary loving home and family. It is amazing to watch my own children build relationships with every child who they see as a sibling. My family has become more patient, stronger, and empathetic by providing foster care to children in our community.”