Albert Lea firefighter Brett Boss.

It is inspirational to see the story of strength in Albert Lea firefighter Brett Boss.

Boss, who has been with the Fire Department for 11 years, was diagnosed in December with Ewing’s sarcoma. He and his wife, Danielle, a former employee of the Tribune, have two young children.

Boss is undergoing aggressive chemotherapy treatment for 29 weeks to battle the disease and so far the treatment is working.

We thank all those who supported the Boss family at a benefit on Saturday.

Let’s show cancer who’s boss.

 

The Albert Lea wrestling team.

We can’t say enough good about Albert Lea’s wrestling team, which finished in second place on Thursday night at the team portion of the state wrestling tournament in St. Paul.

The Tigers wrestling program has five state titles, and this was the second time in five years for them to compete in the Class AA championship match.

The Class AA individual state tournament was still ongoing at the time this newspaper was printed, so we look forward to seeing the results of that. Seven Albert Lea students qualified for that tournament.

We applaud coach Larry Goodnature and the Albert Lea community who have extended their support to these wrestlers. It’s exciting to be an Albert Lean during wrestling season.

 

Residents who get involved at the local level.

There were two great opportunities for residents to let their voices be heard this week.

The first was at a presentation Thursday evening at the Marion Ross Performing Arts Center about the future of city-owned facilities.

For the last year, consultant firm BKV Group out of Minneapolis has studied city structures including City Hall, City Arena and the public works garage, to name a few. The firm presented its recommendations for how to move forward based on both physical condition of the buildings and operational and staffing needs.

It also looked at moving some of these amenities to the Blazing Star Landing and

Local officials multiple times asked residents to give their support. Whether you like or don’t like the proposals, let them know. They won’t know what the community thinks unless they make it known.

The second opportunity was at a Senate Transportation and Public Safety Committee hearing Friday morning at the Freeborn County Courthouse.

The public had the opportunity to share testimony about transportation needs in southern Minnesota and how problems in the state’s transportation network affect businesses and other potential economic development opportunities.

We thank the committee for stopping in Albert Lea and for the people who took the time to make their voices heard.