To efforts being made to keep Albert Lea students safe in the case of an active-shooter situation.

We are pleased to hear work being done by administration and staff with Albert Lea Area Schools, who are in the middle of implementing ALICE, an active shooter response program, in the schools.

ALICE — which stands for alert, lockdown, inform, counter, evacuate — is a program aimed at placing decision-making power and knowledge in the hands of more people.

Superintendent Mike Funk first began learning about the initiative in summer 2016, and then last summer, other administrators took courses about it. The next step will be teaching students about it.

In this day and age, we believe the more involvement the better, and we like the idea that the same plan will be implemented at all of the schools.

We thank those who are taking the lead on this project and who are making it a priority to protect our educators and students.

To the announced closing of the Mayo Clinic Health System clinic in Adams in May.

We were sad to hear the announcement that Mayo Clinic Health System Clinic in Adams will close in May after family medicine physicians Carol and Scott Holtz accepted new positions in the Mayo Clinic primary care practice in Rochester.

Carol Holtz had been working in Austin, and Scott Holtz had been the sole provider at the clinic in Adams. Nursing and support staff will transfer to Mayo Clinic Health System in Austin.

We encourage Mayo Clinic Health System to look at ways to keep health care more accessible for patients in that region and throughout southern Minnesota.

To the Albert Lea wrestling team.

Congratulations to the Albert Lea wrestling team, who won the Section 1AAA dual championship last weekend in Rochester.

The win sends the Tigers to the Minnesota state dual tournament Thursday at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul. The Tigers will also participate in the individual Section 1AAA tournament the following two days.

We wish the Tigers the best of luck and will be cheering you on!

To the Albert Lea Fire Department’s new fire truck.

The Albert Fire Department’s new truck is a major step up from the last one and features new technology previously not available.

It features a 2,000 gallon-per-minute pump and a ladder that extends as high as 134 feet — the tallest in the state.

We hope the truck serves the firefighters and the community well, and we commend the city for looking for a used truck of value, and in the process saving the city as much as $700,000 by doing so, compared to if they had bought it new.