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To the fire this week at Dave Syverson Auto Center.

Any time a fire damages one of the community’s businesses, it’s a sad sight to see, and this week was no different.

A fire was reported at Dave Syverson Auto Center, 2310 E. Main St., right before 8 p.m. Wednesday in the business’s truck body shop. 

Though the fire was contained to that area, there is significant damage. 

We thank the firefighters and other emergency personnel who responded to the fire and helped keep the blaze contained. 

As the business picks up the pieces, we remind the company of the support that exists for the business in the community. 

Remember the whole community is behind you. 

To the work underway on the Jacobson building.

Work started this week to repair the damaged terra cotta blocks on the city-owned Jacobson Apartments building in downtown Albert Lea. 

The process will be a unique one, as a specialized terra cotta company out of California will make new copies of the blocks that need to be replaced, and then a masonry company will install them. 

Though the process may take several months to complete, we are excited to see the finished product. 

The Jacobson building, and its neighboring building known as the Freeborn National Bank Building, are some of the standout buildings downtown for their architecture. 

We applaud the city for applying for and receiving a $276,000 grant that will cover about half of the project cost. 

When the building is complete, we hope it can be marketed to developers for future use.

To moving forward in recognizing deceased students in the 2022 graduation.

We don’t know the whole story about what led to the social media posts this week by Albert Lea High School students regarding concerns about their upcoming graduation, but we are glad to hear students and administration are now working together to recognize their three classmates who have died in recent years in the upcoming commencement ceremony.

These classmates are more than a number — they were sons or daughters, they were friends, they had various interests and, most importantly, they mattered when they were alive and they still matter now.

Experiencing the death of a classmate can be traumatic for youth, and we think that allowing some form of recognition of these three individuals could do much to help students — and their families — on their healing journey. 

It will be something that they will remember throughout their lifetimes.