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To an increase in enrollment with Albert Lea Area Schools.

We are glad to see an increase in Albert Lea Area Schools student enrollment compared to the start of the last school year.

School administration at the school board workshop on Monday announced the district as of that day had 3,205 kindergarten through 12th graders slated to begin in the district, compared to 3,122 at the start of the 2023-24 school year. In 2022-23, there were 3,263, and in 2021-22, there were 3,303.

While the increase in enrollment is not a full recovery compared to the highest recent enrollment in 2021-22, it is moving in the right direction.

We wish everyone a great new year as students head back to school next week!

To UHD’s announcement not to open a clinic in Albert Lea.

No matter how you feel about the health care situation in Albert Lea, it is disappointing to hear the announcement from United Hospital District this week that it has chosen not to expand into the city as previously announced.

The plans had included opening a clinic for primary care services.

A new clinic would have provided additional options for people, alleviating some of the concerns over access to care in the community.

The announcement comes after MercyOne Clinic closed its clinic in 2023, and the Albert Lea Healthcare Coalition has sought a new provider in the community since Mayo Clinic Health System announced a transition of some services between its Albert Lea and Austin campuses.

We know a lot of hard work and time has been put into the effort to recruit another provider in the community, and we doubt that the coalition will give up anytime soon.

To the low voter turnout in the primary election.

Though we recognize there was not a lot on the local ballot in this week’s primary election, we were disappointed to see the low voter participation in the election.

According to the Freeborn-County Auditor Treasurer’s Office, 2,282 ballots were cast out of 18,587 registered voters for the primary, for a voter turnout of 12.28%. Simply put, that means only about 12 people out of every 100 people decided to take part in the election.

We hope people will step up and get involved and vote in the general election in November. Much is at stake.