Santa greets the crowds during Santa’s Cruise Through New Prague on Friday, Dec. 4. Riding an engine from the New Prague Fire Department, Santa makes the turn onto Columbus Avenue near the start of the parade sponsored by the New Prague Chamber of Commerce that included emergency and city vehicles. The Santa Cruise made its way through neighborhoods with sirens sounding and lights ablaze on the vehicles. Families waved and children shouted with excitement as they saw Santa. For more see an upcoming print issue of The New Prague Times. (Patrick Fisher Photo)

Due to the ongoing surge of patients hospitalized with COVID-19, Mayo Clinic Health System has temporarily suspended operations at the Belle Plaine clinic and will be temporarily suspending operations at the Mankato-Northridge, Le Sueur, Janesville and Waterville clinics as of Monday, Dec. 7.
The suspensions are necessary to reallocate staffing resources to other critical care needs in response to the COVID-19 surge. The closures are expected to last six weeks. COVID-19 testing is still taking place at the Belle Plaine Clinic.

Ronald Zelenka, age 75 passed away December 1st, 2020 at the VA Hospital in Des Moines, IA.

O’Meara, Gerald Vincent, age 85 of Rosemount passed away December 2, 2020. Preceded in death by his parents Vincent And Mary Adeline (Cashin) O’Meara; siblings, Mary (Dennis) Hagerty, Virginia (Gene) Stoering and James T. O'Meara; sister-in-law Jeanie O’Meara. Survived by his brothers, Leonard (Lavonne) and Patrick O’Meara; sister-in-law, Monica O'Meara. Also, many nieces and nephews and friends.

Those who shopped locally on Saturday, November 28 found numerous Small Business Saturday deals and complimentary goodies at various stores in downtown New Prague. Multiple business owners, who were unsure whether people would venture out to shop during the on-going pandemic, reported an uptick in customers and were excited to see their stores once again filled with customers.

On December 3, 2020, at 12:20 p.m., Scott County Sheriff’s Office 911 Dispatch received a report of a body that had been located floating in the Minnesota River near Huber Park at 150 Fillmore Street North in Shakopee.
Sheriff deputies, with the assistance of personnel from the Shakopee Fire Department and Shakopee Police Department were able to recover the body.

The Elko New Market city council approved a motion at its Thursday, Nov. 19, meeting, authorizing its staff to negotiate the acquisition of property in the Woodcrest development.
City Administrator Tom Terry explained that the area under discussion is Woodcrest Lane, which is the only access to a subdivision of the Woodcrest development.

With about three weeks before Christmas this year is likely going to be a very different holiday season. It will fit in well with the rest of 2020. The majority of the year has been different mainly due to the world dealing with a pandemic.

Though there have been no major or fatal accidents at the intersection that connects Highway 19, 3rd Street West and CSAH 4, the council would like to see it change in light of a project on CSAH 4 that Rice County will be completing in 2022. “That’s the worst intersection,” Lonsdale council member Steve Cherney said.

Robert F. Bastyr, age 78, of Jordan, died Sunday, November 29, 2020 due to complications of Covid 19 at VA Hospital in Minneapolis.  Robert was born on September 7, 1942 in New Prague to Robert R. and Estellene M. (Rutt) Bastyr.  He attended St. Wenceslaus Catholic School, graduated from New Prague High School, and attended Mankato Vocational School in mechanics.  Always proud of his military service, Robert served in the US Army in Vietnam with the 1st Battalion, 5th Infantry Regiment, known as the Bobcats.  He married Margaret A. “Margie” Bastyr on August 5, 1989 at St.

Gladhill, Rebecca (Riggs) of Shakopee MN. lost her 26 year battle with cancer to be with the Lord on Nov. 26, 2020 at the age of 69. She was raised in Evansville, Indiana where she enjoyed working on the family’s Jersey dairy farm with her siblings and many cousins.  She was a 4-H member for 10 years and loved showing her cattle at local, regional, state and national shows.  She graduated from F.J.

Update
Traffic on Main St. was redirected as emergency crews dealt with an accident involing a vehicle, heading east on Main St. and a female pedestrian on Monday, Nov. 30th at approximately 11:15am.
 The female pedestrian was transported to the hospital by North Memorial Ambulance. The investigation into the accident has been turned over to the Minnesota State Patrol as Main Street is also State Highways 13/19.

Jeron Pint, age 76 of Jordan, entered eternal life on Saturday, November 28, 2020. A private Mass of Christian Burial will be held at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church, Jordan, on Thursday, December 3, 2020 at 11AM. Father Neil Bakker will preside and Jeron’s wife, Marilyn, will act as his urnbearer.
Friends can live stream the service by visiting the church’s website and clicking on the live streaming tab. In lieu of flowers, memorials are preferred and will be distributed by Jeron’s family in his memory.

New Prague KC Hall - 411 4th Ave. SW, New Prague
Mon. November 30. 2020
12:30 - 5:30 pm
New Market Town Hall - 8950 230th St. E, Lakeville
9am - 2 pm
Wed. December 2, 2020
Jordan Fire Station - 501 N. Varner St, Jordan
Thurs. December 3
1 - 5 pm
To sign up for an appointment for either locations go to:
https://www.primarybio.com/r/scottcounty

A man from Belle Plaine died in a boating accident on Saturday in Le Sueur County.
According to Le Sueur County Sheriff Brett Mason, deputies responded to a call at 9:45 a.m. on November 28, 2020, at the Clear Lake public access in Lexington Township for a report of a capsized duck hunting boat.
Upon arrival deputies located Nicholas Jeffrey Brooks, 29, of Belle Plaine sitting on top of the overturned duck boat.
Jeffrey Ernest Brooks, 55, of Belle Plaine, was found floating in the water several yards from the overturned boat.

Harlan B. Stevens, age 73, of Elko passed away Thursday, November 26, 2020, at Pleasant Manner Care Center in Faribault with his family at his side.