The Edina Sentinel

Public Health is a Big Deal for Rural and Other Underserved Communities

The Knox County Commission answered questions from Echo Menges/The Edina Sentinel about their role in making agreements with Tenaska about the Knox County Wind Farm Project Friday morning. Follow the link to see the full interview.

If you are on the fence about vaccine, this is the time to sign up. We have grown to 10 cases in less than 24 hours, and have that many more tests scheduled fo...r tomorrow and Friday. We have one more travel related case and 4 more community spread. Bringing our total for two days to 3 travel and 7 community spread. We have seen over the last three months that even after 1 dose of vaccine, it is still possible to contract covid-19. Vaccinated individuals need to be 2 weeks past dose 2 to ease their preventative practice. We are as disappointed as everyone else to return to this work. As of today the law still requires us to do contact tracing and follow-up quarantine and isolation. We also know that Covid-19 in the wrong person can be devastating, so continue to believe in the need to stop the spread. Knox County residents who are not fully vaccinated, who are high risk, who are traveling to the metro areas and out of state (or having visitors from those area) and who do not know the practices of those around them in groups should put in place stringent preventative practice at this time. As the weather cooperates take advantage of outside gathering, ventilation of closed spaces and activities that are outside and less crowded. We know many will recover from Covid-19, but we dont know what it leaves behind, and we don't know who will be the "1" it is so unkind to. Be Well Knox County! LMC P.S. as reported earlier, doses of Moderna covid vaccine available Monday in Edina, call today if you are interested.

To our cooperative family: Thank you for helping us weather the storm In mid-February, the midsection of our country from the Canadian border to the Gulf of Mex...ico experienced one of the worst winter storms on record. The impacts prolonged subzero temperatures, heavy snow and ice were felt by Associated, your power generator and your network of six transmission cooperatives and 51 distribution cooperatives that deliver your electricity. By keeping reliability of your electric service as the top priority, this cooperative network kept the power flowing and the lights on, even when many electric utilities all around us were forced to implement rolling blackouts. What was the key? Associated has maintained a balanced mix of generation sources. Energy is produced by coal, natural gas, hydropower and wind. The coal plants were the foundation for keeping the lights on. Natural gas and hydropower played important roles. Wind produced power at times but played a small role in producing energy during the peaks of the storm. At one point during the worst of the storm, we asked you to conserve electricity. Associated had activated its energy emergency plan, rarely used and only when member demand for energy approaches the limits of our supply. We were not surprised when our cooperative members responded quickly and decisively, lowering demand so that the electricity kept flowing for all. Thank you for demonstrating the best of the cooperative spirit. You made a difference. This historically severe weather also means Associated experienced cost increases to provide electricity to keep the lights on for members. Energy prices for natural gas, in high demand for home heating as well as generating electricity, and the cost of power purchased from other utilities increased to record highs. While preserving reliability was our top priority, close behind was managing costs by using the least expensive electric generation sources available to us. While the storm did have financial impacts on many parts of your cooperative network, the homes and businesses we serve did not experience rolling blackouts. Your February electric rates did not go up. The weather did cause you to use more electricity, so you will likely see a higher electric bill from your distribution cooperative for February. Finally, despite what you may see about some utilities, your cooperatives remain operationally and financially sound, capable of providing the same reliable and affordable electricity today as they did prior to the storm. Thank you for your trust in us. The Board of Directors, Associated Electric Cooperative Inc.

Big Mistake in This Week's Newspaper, James Browning's name is wrong on the obituaries page. This was my mistake and we will reprint Jim's obituary again next week with the proper heading. I apologize to the family. -Echo

Make sure to turn in to KMEM coffee break tomorrow at 8:30am to hear President Lani Watts talk about our FFA chapter!

Friday Evening Fun in Edina, Missouri

https://covidvaccine.mo.gov/events/ From the Knox County Health Department: We have just been notified that the state is sending vaccine to a national guard event, to be hosted by lewis clark and knox county health departments at the Caldwell Building on hwy 16 west of Canton on Tuesday February 23, 2021. The link above takes you to the sign up sheet, just answer each link and if you qualify you will be able to choose a time for vaccine---signing up does not lock you in but ...makes that appointment available for you. Your paperwork will be complete, you will show up to event, sign in, get your dose and wait 15 minutes. As the state is diverting most vaccine to these types of events, If you are a waiting knox county resident and in any high risk category (diabetes, coronary artery disease, heart disease, obesity, asthma, neurological conditions, etc.) or over 65, this is a good opportunity. Our shipments have slowed and first doses are not expected in the next couple of weeks. Also if you are tech savy and know of a knox resident that is not, if you could assist them with signing up, please do so. LMC See more

Fire destroys house in Hurdland

Knox County Adopt-A-Child ANGEL TREE ONLINE - We have a list of Angel Tree items at The Edina Sentinel office. Rather then come into our office, if you would like to participate, please comment the number that corresponds with the item you would like to contribute in the comment section of this post. Gifts should be delivered to our office by December 14.

Knox County Health Department Warns Citizens: Don't Let Drop in Numbers Give You a False Sense of Security, County is Under Reporting and Under Testing ad Neighboring Counties Surge

Knox County Health Department to High Risk Citizens: Remain Diligent on Avoidance of COVID-19

Finishing touches going on our new sidewalk! Special thanks to our publishers, our neighbors and the Knox County Community Development Corporation for donating $2000 (40% of the overall cost) and Barry Schrage with T&B Excavating for a taking this on!

Here's a peek at our new sidewalk! They are cutting lines today and the blankets will go back on until tomorrow morning.