St. Joseph
$4 million in aid goes to Wetterling Center
The state of Minnesota has made a $4 million grant to the city of St. Joseph toward the design and construction of a community center to be known as the Jacob Wetterling Recreation Center.
The money, contained in the $1.9 billion bonding bill passed last month by the Legislature, would cover about one-fourth of the project's estimated $16 million cost. City officials have been working on the project for years.
Jacob Wetterling was 11 when he was abducted near his Stearns County home in 1989. In 2016, Danny Heinrich confessed to kidnapping and killing Jacob. In a plea agreement, he was sentenced to 20 years in prison on child pornography charges but was not charged in Jacob's abduction and death.
john Reinan
Ely
New mayor-elect turns down the job
Eric Urbas, who won Ely's mayoral election after dropping out of the race, told city officials Wednesday that he would not accept the position.
The 32-year-old defeated three-term incumbent Mayor Chuck Novak by 125 votes. Urbas halted his campaign in August, citing health problems, but his name remained on the November ballot.
Ely will hold a special mayoral election, the timing of which will be discussed at the City Council's Dec. 1 meeting.
Katie Galioto
