To a bill that would provide state aid for students who take vocational classes outside school hours.

District 27A Rep. Peggy Bennett introduced legislation last week that would give state aid to students who take vocational classes outside school hours.

The goal of the bill is to increase training to help students gain skills to fill in-demand work in vocational trades and skilled labor.

We think this is a great way to help prepare these students to enter the workforce and help fill some of the community’s open jobs.

To improvements in Freeborn County’s annual health ranking.

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute released their annual county health rankings this week, listing Freeborn County as 34th out of the 87 counties in Minnesota for overall health outcomes.

This is an improvement by 10 places from 2017, when the county was listed as 44th.

This year, Carver County was listed as the healthiest county in the state.

Of all of the counties in south-central Minnesota, Olmsted  had the best ranking at No. 14. Waseca was 15th and Steele was 31st. Blue Earth was 54th, Mower 56th and Faribault 57th.

When the county health rankings were first introduced in 2010, Freeborn County was listed as 61st. Though there is still room for improvement, we are impressed that Freeborn County’s numbers continue to increase year after year.

According to the report, there were several small improvements that led to the improved ranking:

• Length of life ranking improved to 18th in the state.

• Percentage of children in poverty decreased.

• Quality of life increased by two places.

• Preventative hospital stays improved.

Congratulations to Freeborn County residents and health advocates in the community for these improvements. We hope the rankings continue to improve in the coming years.

To University of Minnesota basketball player and NRHEG graduate Carlie Wagner.

To say that the community is proud of NRHEG graduate Carlie Wagner is an understatement. A standout basketball player in high school, Wagner has played for the University of Minnesota’s team for the last four years, continuing to impress — both on and off the court.

As of Friday morning, she was third on the program’s all-time scoring list with 2,180 points. A First Team All-Big Ten honoree and member of the Big Ten All-Tournament Team, she leads the Gophers in three-pointers made and attmpted and was averaging 18.8 points, and 4.7 rebounds per game. She has been named an Academic All-American twice.

Wagner and the Gophers won in their first game of the women’s NCAA tournament against the Phoenix with a second half comeback, 89-77, on Friday.

Wagner scored 15 points in the vicory over Green Bay, while also dishing out four assits and pulling in one rebound.

The No. 10 seed Gophers now move on to face the No. 2 seed Oregon on Sunday afternoon.