Heather M. Cotter, age 38, of New Prague, died unexpectedly at her home on Monday, March 9, 2020.  Heather was born on April 7, 1981, in New Prague to Gregory S. and Sharleen G. (Beuch) Scheffler.  She graduated from New Prague High School and went on to complete courses in cosmetology.  She married the love of her life, Robert N. “Butch” Cotter, Jr. on April 27, 2007 at St.

Thursday, March 12, 2020 UPDATE
MANKATO, Minn. – (3 p.m.) Highway 93 from Highway 169 to Henderson is expected to reopen by 6 p.m. this evening, Thursday, March 12, after being closed since March 8 due to flooding on the Rush River.  Crews have been working to clear debris off the road and make repairs to shoulders and culverts.
 The shoulders of southbound Highway 93 are extremely soft due to exposure to the floodwaters. MnDOT is advising no travel on the shoulders until they dry out and repairs can be made.

The Le Sueur County Board cruised through a very light agenda Tuesday, March 3.
The regular meeting lasted approximately 40 minutes, but was followed by a special road and bridge work session.
A number of items which were dealt with during the regular meeting involved the highway department.
A couple of final payments were approved for work done this past year.
Crane Creek Asphalt received final payments of $148,200.72 for the CSAH 15 project from CSAH 22 to CSAH 26, and a payment of $69,056.47 for the CSAH project near Heidelberg.

The City of Elko New Market held an open house for an Alternative Urban Areawide Review (AUAR) on the Adelmann family property, east of the town. Community Development Specialist Renee Christianson and City Engineer Rich Revering answered questions about the review of the approximately 70 acres of property, which is located near the Interstate 35 interchange and currently in New Market Township.

Nearly 1000 people converged at the New Prague Aquatic Center this past weekend for the Minnesota Regional Championships Swim Meet hosted by Neptune Aquatics.
This was the first regional level Neptune Aquatics has hosted, according to Neptune coach Chuck Webb.
“This really helps to showcase the facility to the rest of the State and shows that we are capable of running meets at this caliber level,” said Webb.
In all, there were 12 clubs represented, including Neptune Aquatics, and 550 youth swimmers competing in a variety of events.

Time is the one thing that many of us wish we had more of, although in about a week’s, well, time we have two events that deal with the changing of time. Last Saturday was Leap Day, February 29, that one extra day in February that only happens every four years. As someone once put it if we didn’t add that one day every four years our calendars would eventually not making any sense. After a century our calendars would be off by 24 days.

The New Prague boys’ basketball team finished off its regular season with a pair of losses last week to two of the best teams in the state.
The Trojans were defeated Monday, Feb. 24 by Chaska, 61-43. Chaska has a 23-3 overall record.
The Wright County Conference East Division season ended Friday, Feb. 28 with a 70-65 loss to Delano. The Tigers had a 22-4 overall record.
Senior Parker Johnson highlighted the final regular season game by scoring his 1,000th career point.

Rochester Mayo, the 14th ranked team in Class AAAA, ended one of the best seasons for the New Prague girls’ basketball team.
The Spartans edged the Trojans, 33-30, Saturday, Feb. 29 in the Section 1AAAA Semifinals.
“This was a hard game to swallow. We didn’t shoot it well, but wow, did we defend our tails off with a lot of toughness,” New Prague head coach Luke Swedberg said. “We had our chances until the final horn went off. That is kind of what has always defined who this group is...toughness.”

A Las Vegas homicide suspect is in police custody after being located in Rice County.
Mark Doocy, 60, of Blooming Prairie, was arrested on March 4 at the Flying J Truck Stop at I-35 and Highway 19. According to Rice County Sheriff Troy Dunn, Doocy was arrested and forced to leave his vehicle after he refused to cooperate with officials.

He helped New Prague honor its own fallen hometown hero in 2012, 23-year-old Marine Lance Corporal Dale W. Means, who died November 18, 2012, while serving with the U.S. Marine Corps in Afghanistan.
Now, Larry “The Flag Guy” Eckhardt of Little York, Illinois, is at the end of his life, having placed nearly half a million flags around the U.S. to honor fallen police officers, firefighters, and service members—including Means.

Coborn’s Marketplace in New Prague held a Grand Re-Opening of its store the afternoon of Wednesday, March 4, with two ribbon cuttings. One included dignitaries from the store, employees and those who helped with the remodeling of the store, Little Dukes gas station, the addition of a Caribou Coffee and a new liquor store. The other was for the New Prague Chamber of Commerce. The Grand Re-Opening included face painting, samples from the store and local vendors until 6 p.m., free carnations, cookie decorating, kids activities, and free balloon swords or animals from Wallie the Clown.

The New Prague Fire Department took possession of a new pumper truck the afternoon of Tuesday, March 3. Members of the fire department were spending Tuesday learning how to run the new vehicle. The new truck replaces a pumper truck that had a cracked frame. The new pumper truck can hold 1,000 gallons of water, will be used to help fight rural fires and the department hopes to make use of the truck for more than 25 years. For more see an upcoming print issue of The Times. (Patrick Fisher Photo)

Primary voting is going on across Minnesota today (Tuesday, March 3). Here is a listing of the places people can vote from around the area.

Judy A. Prom, age 74, of Chaska, formerly of Jordan, died Sunday March 1st, 2020 at St. Francis Regional Medical Center in Shakopee.
Born in Cincinnati, Ohio on November 10, 1945. Judy was the daughter of Lawrence and Mary (Austin) Gardner.
Judy was a lover of life. The caring person that she was, it came as no surprise that she would study nursing for a time. She was well known as “Ma” or “Grandma” to everyone she met. When she wasn’t spending time in the garden nurturing her plants, she was nurturing her mind reading her many books...Judy was a Beautiful Soul.

Spring Load Restrictions on Rice, Le Sueur and Scott County State Aid Highways and County roadways will go in to effect at 12:01 a.m., Friday, March 6, 2020.
The Minnesota Department of Transportation has issued a notice that Spring Load Restrictions on the state highway system in the south, southeast and metro frost zones go in to effect on Friday, March 6, 2020.
Ending dates for spring load restrictions are variable and based on how weather is affecting roadway strength.
The Spring Load Restriction map is posted on the MNDOT website at mndot.gov/loadlimits.

Scott Richard Vig, Caske Taḣca Wihni Hokṡida “First born son who hunts for deer, Boy”, age 38 of Prior Lake, member of the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community,   passed away accidentally Thursday, February 27, 2020 due to a terrible mechanical failure in Eden Prairie.
Scott was born on October 13, 1981 in St. Louis Park, the son of Charlie and Donna (Kraemer) Vig. He married Kristin Breault on October 6, 2007 at Shepherd of the Lake Lutheran Church in Prior Lake.