Benning Printing & Publishing

The Wadena Police Department is warning citizens to watch out for scams and dishonest contractors as communities recover from this week’s severe weather. Take care in hiring a contractor. After disasters hit an area, construction contractors known as “storm chasers” frequently show up and knock-on doors offering to make repairs. Avoid these kinds of high-pressured sales tactics. Scammers often target homeowners after tornadoes, damaging winds and hailstorms by offerin

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Karvonen Funeral Home, now in its third generation and marking 100 years of continuous family ownership, blends deeply personalized, hands-on funeral and cremation care with a homelike, pet-friendly atmosphere where their resident dogs quietly comfort families and staff alike. Pictured: Greg, Art, Ensti, Ethel, and Suzi. Left; Art showed off Karvonen Funeral Home’s wide range of caskets and urns, from locally crafted, solid-wood caskets with customizable interiors and decorat

MnDOT hosted an open house on Tuesday, April 7, to inform the public about the upcoming construction scheduled for 2026 in Wadena. Crews plan to resume work on the east end of Highway 10 starting the week of Monday, April 13, weather permitting. As in the previous year, significant changes are expected throughout Wadena. Generally, each work zone will have one lane open in each direction, except during detours. Residents and travelers should be prepared for narrow lanes, la

The Minnesota Department of Transportation will host a project open house on Tuesday, April 7, from 4-6 p.m., to learn about 2026 construction on Highways 10, 29 and 71. The drop-in-style event will be held at the Maslowski Wellness and Research Center, 17 Fifth St. SW, Wadena. A formal presentation will not be given; guests stop by at their convenience. The MnDOT project team, along with the prime contractor, Mathiowetz Construction, will be available to answer questions a

To the Editor: The longer I have been on the county board, the more I believe there is, at the very least, a need to update our 1970 zoning laws, which have changed very little since then. It’s about a lot more than just increasing our tax capacity. Here are some other reasons why this is important: 1. Increased tax capacity increases our ability to keep our tax rates down, to deal with ever increasing mandates coming out of St. Paul. We currently have the eighth highest ta

The Otter Tail County Sheriff’s Office received a report of a structure fire at approximately 7:40 p.m. at a residence in Compton Township, west of Wadena. Fire crews from Wadena, Bluffton, Deer Creek, and Henning responded and worked to extinguish the fire. Emergency responders located a man unresponsive inside the home. Life-saving measures were attempted at the scene before he was transported to Astera Hospital, where he later died from his injuries... Subscribe to get th

As the 2025 Christmas season concluded, GP Anderson—creator of the Christmas In Wadena animated light show—delivered this year’s donations to Project Share, the local food shelf in Wadena. Anderson met with Project Share Director Mary Ann Hagen, where together they unloaded and weighed 343 pounds of donated food. He also presented a check for $1,419.95, representing monetary donations collected during the 2025 season. Over the past 18 years, Christmas In Wadena has raised m

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On Saturday, November 22, a curious line of lights was spotted in the sky near Wadena. These lights were Starlink satellite trains, which are long lines of satellites that can be seen shortly after SpaceX launches a new batch into orbit. When the satellites are still close together and reflecting sunlight, they move across the sky in a bright, evenly spaced formation known as a “train.” Over time, as the satellites reach their final orbits, they spread out and become much di