Rochester small businesses offer deals for 'Small Business Saturday'

ROCHESTER, Minn.-At the Mayo Civic Center, the 44th annual "Rochester Area Builders Home Show" came to a close. Kids could get some assistance with constructing these wooden toolkits. Also, Shari Mukherjee, a celebrity chef who was a participant on the show "MasterChef" guided people through a cupcake decorating workshop that gave children the opportunity to pipe frosting and add sprinkles. John Eischen, the executive director of the Rochester Area Builders, said he's happy with how successful the event has been.

A nice, mild stretch of weather is in the forecast for the next several days across parts of the Upper Midwest. High temperatures are expected to be in the 20s and 30s, which will be about 5-15 degrees above average, depending upon the day. For Rochester, MN, the average high...

ROCHESTER, Minn. – The Otto Bremer Trust is giving $40,000 to the Collider Foundation. “The entire Collider Board and I are so appreciative of the support of the Otto Bremer Trust. Through this support, Collider will be able to do more to help grow and support Rochester's emerging business creators in their dreams of starting their own business,” says Traci Downs, Board Chair of Collider Foundation.

AUSTIN, Minn. – Hormel Foods Corporation has been named one of the World’s Most Admired Companies by Fortune magazine. Corporations featured on the magazine’s list are rated by executives, directors, and analysts in their respective industries based on nine criteria, including investment value, quality of management and products, social responsibility, people management, and ability to attract talent.

ROCHESTER, Minn. - Rochester Public Schools introduced its new bus tracking app for smartphones recently. It's called FirstView, and the app makes it simple to track bus routes in real time while maintaining the security, privacy and welfare of students. Over 1,000 registrations have already been placed since the app...

GOODVIEW, Minn. – One employee was injured by a business fire in Winona County Saturday. The Goodview Volunteer Fire and Rescue Department says it was called to Mississippi Welders Supply in the 5100 block of West 6th Street around 11:31 am Saturday. Firefighters who arrived at the scene say they found heavy flames on a loading dock at the backside of the building and there were propane cylinders on the dock.

ROCHESTER, Minn.-There was a celebration of love at a toy library today. At the Nana Gogo Toybrary, people could make some love-themed arts and crafts, a ballerina performed for the attendees and danced with them, and Mapleford Studio led participants through some music-in-motion activities. The idea behind the event was to expose kids to various forms of art. Pavs Kumar, the owner and founder of the Nana Gogo Toybrary, said Valentine's Day isn't just about couples.

ROCHESTER, Minn.-Chilly temps have made it more difficult for firefighters to fight blazes. Rochester Fire Department Captain Ben Davis said their air packs, which they use when going into an area filled with smoke, can freeze and not work properly. In those instances, firefighters have to thaw them out or swap them out. They also need to be on the lookout for patches of ice, which can make putting out the fire quite difficult.

ROCHESTER, Minn.-The NAACP Rochester Branch held a vigil to honor Tyre Nichols at the Rochester Civic Theatre tonight. Walé Elegbede, the president of the branch, read a eulogy for Tyre Nichols. After that, Barbara Jordan, the secretary of the branch, said the names of people who lost their lives due to police violence. After each name, Elegbede led the audience in saying "we are done dying" before ringing a chime as audience members shined the lights on their phones. Audience members would later have the chance to share why they came to the vigil. Jordan said events like this make an important statement to the rest of the community.

BANCROFT TOWNSHIP, Minn. – A pickup truck and a semi collided on Interstate 35 in southern Minnesota Saturday morning. The State Patrol says it happened just after 7:30 am near mile marker 13 in Freeborn County. A 2017 Chevrolet Silverado driven by Todd Alan Vanessen, 53 of Edgerton, and a 2020 Freightliner driven by Denece Lynn Frisbie, 58, were both northbound on I-35 and alongside each other when they crashed together.

AUSTIN, Minn. - Getting caught sleeping in a car leads to a prison sentence for a St. Paul man. Elijah Denton II, 29, was arrested in August 2021 and charged with two counts of second-degree assault, two counts of fourth-degree assault, fifth-degree drug possession, fleeing a peace officer in a motor vehicle, and driving after revocation.