Jorgenson takes over Main Street shop By Robert Willams Editor Iowa native Stephanie Jorgenson had a dream to own a coffee shop but life hurdles kept getting in the way until she found her way to the Vergas area. Jorgenson is the new owner of Otter Coffee And Ice Cream downtown.  ¶  “I’ve been trying for… Read More

By Chad Koenen Publisher The Frazee-Vergas Forum received three awards, including second place in the prestigious category of General Excellence, at the 156th annual Minnesota Newspaper Association convention last week. Henning Publications, which operates the Citizen’s Advocate, Frazee-Vergas Forum and NY Mills Dispatch, won 21 awards as a group.  A total of 3,453 entries were received for… Read More

By Robert Willams Editor January is one of those rare months when there are not a lot of organized community activities in Vergas, but Alex Levenhagen of Panfish Pirate Tackle and Guide Service took advantage of a quiet weekend January 21-22 to organize a successful first run of the Froze Fest panfish tournament, pike spearing, decoy… Read More

By Robert Williams Editor Frazee High School band director Brian Selander is one of 131 candidates up for the Minnesota Teacher of the Year award. This year’s program will name the 59th Minnesota Teacher of the Year. The program celebrates the tradition of excellence in teaching in Minnesota. Eligible candidates include pre-kindergarten through 12th-grade, Early Childhood Family… Read More

Contributed photo The Frazee-Vergas School District honored the work of the school’s paraprofessionals last week as part of the state paraprofessional appreciaiton week. 

Payroll discrepancy involves Frazee admin By Robert Williams Editor Frazee city administrator Stephanie Poegel began her new position here in December, but a discrepancy at her former job as the city clerk-treasurer for the City of Audubon has lingered into the new year and now the Becker County Sheriff’s Office is investigating alleged missing funds. Poegel was unable to… Read More

Photo by Robert Williams Kate Vigen and Danny Graham were crowned Snoball Queen and King during the coronation ceremony at Frazee High School Monday, Jan. 30. 

Grierson-Friesen diagnosed with long COVID one year ago By Jason Anschutz Sanford Health In November of 2021, Shawna Grierson-Friesen of Frazee left her fifth grade classroom with COVID-19. “I thought I would return in a week … haven’t been back since,” said Grierson-Friesen. “I ended up going into the ER that day and my thoughts and… Read More

The Otter Tail County Sheriff’s Office collected and destroyed over 1,247.5 pounds of unwanted prescription drugs in 2022. The “Take it to the Box” prescription drug collection program started in 2012 and over 5 tons of prescription drugs have been collected and properly disposed of. There are currently eight drop off locations throughout the county. These… Read More

By Tyler Trieglaff Notes from the Chief Friday, Dec. 23 7:30 a.m. Report of a suspicious vehicle not normally parked in a neighborhood. Officer tracked down the owner who was out snowplowing and the vehicle was parked at the house where the skid steer was being stored. 8:17 a.m. Report of a dog that wandered off. Dog returned on… Read More