New Prague Area Schools will be closed, Monday, February 25, 2019. It will be a blended learning day.
No Kids Company, WRAP or Preschool.
Fitness and Aquatic Center will be open regular hours.

New Prague Area Schools will start two hours late on Monday, February 25th. Road conditions will be reassessed in the morning as plows are able to work on clearing roads.

High winds took out a transformer jumper, causing a brief power outage in part of New Prague Sunday, Feb. 24.
New Prague Utilities General Manager Bruce Reimers said the outage occurred around 12:30 p.m. and affected just a few customers in the area of First Ave. SE. Power was out between 45 minutes to an hour before crews were able to make repairs.

New Prague High School wrestler Nick Novak was the lone Trojan to qualify for the State Class AAA wrestling tournament March 1 and 2 at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.
Novak lost in the championship match at 120 pounds, 4-2 to Ben Lunn of Shakopee, then defeated Theron Wendt of Lakeville South by fall in the true second match to earn his second state berth.
Teammates Colby Dunkel, Joey Novak, Jake Trachte and Brennan Rutt all won third place matches, but none had an opportunity to wrestle for true-second.

The New Prague Trojan girls basketball team received the No. 5 seed in the Section 1AAAA tournament, which begins play Wednesday, Feb. 27.
New Prague (13-12) will travel to No. 4 seed Lakeville South (9-17) for a 7 p.m. game on Wednesday. The Cougars defeated the Trojans 58-44 on December 20.
Farmington received the No. 1 seed and will host No. 8 Rochester Century. Rochester Mayo is No. 6, and will play at No. 3 Rochester John Marshall, while No. 7 Owatonna is at No. 2 Lakeville North.

Despite orders from a Le Sueur County judge and a retired, court-ordered judge, the Le Sueur County Historical Society (LCHS), has not turned over all its records.
A motion was filed on February 8, 2019, to have Le Sueur County Judge Mark Vandelist address the many missing documents and hear reasons why they haven’t been produced.

William “Bill” A. Pass, age 84, of Jordan, MN, entered eternal peace on February 20, 2019, at New Prague Mayo Hospital.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be Tuesday, February 26, at 11 am, with a time of gathering 2-hours prior, at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church, Jordan. Father Neil Bakker will preside, with Bill’s sons acting as urn bearers. Military Honors will be provided by the Jordan Vets and New Prague Honor Guards. A family private burial will be held at Fort Snelling National Cemetery.

Some of the ways of measuring time will be exhibited at the New Prague Library,400 Main St. E, as part of the New Prague Area Historical Society’s display “It’s AboutTime.” A variety of calendars and time pieces make up the display that will be at the library through the middle of May.

Despite a loss to Waconia last week, the New Prague Trojans are still in the hunt for a tie in the Wright County Conference East division, going into the final games of the season.
Holy Family Catholic leads the conference with a 7-2 record. New Prague and Waconia are tied for second at 6-3. Waconia plays Holy Family on Thursday, Feb. 21. If Waconia wins, the Trojans can make it a three-way tie for first with a win at Delano Friday, Feb. 22.

The New Prague Trojan wrestling team finished its dual meet season Friday, Feb. 15, at the Section 2AAA meet. New Prague defeated Eastview in the quarterfinals before losing to Apple Valley in the semifinals.
New Prague finished the regular season with a 20-4 record, with all four losses coming to state-ranked teams. The Trojans were rated No. 7 in the most recent state Class AAA poll.
Trojan Coach Dan Wagner said it was a great night of wrestling. “We came into the event with a couple of untimely injuries that played a huge factor in our dual with Apple Valley,” he said.

The New Prague Trojan adapted floor hockey team claimed a pair of victories last week, against South Suburban and Dakota United.
Trojans 12, Jets 0 New Prague hosted South Suburban Tuesday, Feb. 12, and scored a 12-0 win.
"We were very happy just to get a game in with all the weather cancellations we’ve had this year," said Coach Shellie Kriha. "And we were thrilled to be able to come out so strong against South Suburban."
New Prague had six goals in the first and three each in the second and third periods.

Last week, The Times used this space to talk about the efforts of local snowplow drivers. There is one other group of public employees who deserve accolades for their efforts during this snowy winter:
School bus drivers.

Author Julia Cook was a special visitor to Eagle View Elementary School in Elko New Market on Thursday, Feb. 21. She visited all three of New Prague Area Schools’ elementary schools talking to students about the things they can learn and reading a few stories from the 90 books she has written. Students at Eagle View, Falcon Ridge and Raven Stream elementary schools read her book “Bubble Gum Brain” as part of I Love to Read Month. For more see an upcoming print issue of The New Prague Times. (Patrick Fisher Photo)

Last week’s story on the closing of the New Prague Shopko Hometown store drew a mixed reaction from many on social media.
On the New Prague Happenings Facebook page, dozens of people lamented the loss of the store, with some adding that they feel sorry for the employees. However there were some who posted their opinion that the store was not worth having in town, and said they hoped something better would replace it.

It’s a 25-year tradition that feeds several hundred people in one night and helps feed many more throughout the year.
The St. Wenceslaus Church Soup Kitchen group held its annual Soup supper Monday, Feb. 18, in the church basement. This year’s event served 316 guests, who enjoyed either chili, vegetable beef or chicken noodle soup.

Traffic was still moving and people were out the morning of Wednesday, Feb. 20, although it was slow going as a storm blanketed New Prague’s Main Street with snow. Snow began falling around 2 a.m. Wednesday with a total of 5 to 9 inches of snow were being forecasted for the day. The New Prague area was under a winter storm warning until 6 p.m. this evening. Winds are to be coming from the east at 5 to 10 mph and then come from the south to southeast in the afternoon. The National Weather Service was advising drivers to plan for extra traveling time.