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US continues to generate jobs, yet inflation is eroding the spending power of millions of Americans

WASHINGTON — U.S. employers created a surprising 165,000 new jobs last month, and the unemployment rate dipped to 4.1%. Hiring was far stronger than the 65,000 new jobs that economists had expected. The jobs report comes three days after voters delivered a stunning defeat to President Donald Trump and his Republican Party in midterm elections. Frustrated with the state of the economy — and especially the high cost of living – Americans handed full control of Congress to the Democrats. But the latest jobs report looked solid. Labor Department revisions added a combined 84,000 ...

Stephen Miller replaces Susie Wiles as Trump's White House chief of staff after GOP's midterm defeat

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Friday that Stephen Miller was replacing Susie Wiles as White House chief of staff, installing as his closest adviser a loyal, combative bulldog for his "America First" agenda as the president prepares to stare down a newly empowered Democratic Congress next year. Miller, long a member of Trump's tight inner circle, is a key architect of the administration's hard-line immigration policies. He is one of Trump's longest-serving aides, joining his long-shot 2016 presidential campaign as a speechwriter. He most recently has served as White House ...

Lyon Co. hears options for closing construction landfill

MARSHALL — Lyon County’s landfill site for construction and demolition waste will need to close in the future – but there are still plenty of questions that need to be answered first, Lyon County commissioners said. This week, commissioners heard a presentation on different options for filling up or closing the construction and demolition landfill near Russell. Lyon County Environmental Administrator Roger Schroeder said there were different courses of action the county could take, including trying to fill up the C&D landfill as quickly as possible, or continuing to divert some of ...

Section 4A football champions

The Minneota Vikings players hold up the section 4A Football trophy after defeating the Dawson-Boyd Blackjacks 21-12 Friday afternoon at the Schwan Regional Event Center on the Southwest Minnesota State University campus. For coverage of the game, turn to page B1.

Cottonwood P.O. project comes to halt

COTTONWOOD — After about four years without one, the city of Cottonwood was set to have a post office again. But now, construction of a new post office building could face delays over a lack of payments from the U.S. Postal Service, City Administrator Teather Bliss said this week. Bliss said ...

Finstad requests recount

GOP Candidate Brad Finstad formally requested a recount following Tuesday night’s election where he came up short by 323 votes to DFL Candidate Jake Johnson. “Thank you to the 326,000 of my fellow southern Minnesotans who turn out to vote on Tuesday,” Finstad said. “We will work to ...