In addition to those in the photograph with names, this list of classmates and their information was provided.

    The Blandin Foundation out of Grand Rapids, Minn., has awarded $4,560,600 in grants for its second quarter of 2026, of which nearly $500,000 was invested in entities that service our area.

    Area 4-H clubs sent many participants to compete at this year’s Minnesota State Fair. Le Sueur County 4-H had 39 livestock participants in this year’s fair by itself. 
    Overall, there were 4-H participants from all 87 counties with over 2,778 animals and 1,900 general exhibits on display. Le Sueur County4-H programs itself had 29 general exhibit participants with 31 projects at The Great Minnesota Get Together.

Orrin Bernard Retka, age 90, of Montgomery, formerly of St. Thomas, passed away on Monday, September 14, 2026, at The Lutheran Home in Belle Plaine.

    This is the report for the Montgomery Fire Department (MFD) from the month of August 2026. A total of five calls were responded to in the month and a total of 61 calls through the end of August. Training in August was on water rescue and confined space rescues with Safety and Security Consultations Specialists (SADCS).
    Below are the list of the calls MFD responded to in August 2026.

    Boasting words are in the buttons for new artists for Kolacky Days Button Design Contest winners, as seen with new and first-time entrant designers the last few years.
    Button design entries for next year’s Kolacky Days festival are being accepted now through Oct. 23. Persons of any age and ability level are welcomed to submit their design.
    This year’s designs must include the words “Kolacky Days,” “93rd Annual,” July 23—25, 2027,” and “Montgomery, MN” (or Minn. or Minnesota), and optionally can include “Kolacky Capital of the World.” 

Karolina "Lina" Janovsky, age 93, of Montgomery, passed away on Tuesday, September 15, 2026, at Cura Care Center in Le Sueur.

    Six members of the Montgomery Fire Department (MFD) participated in the 14th Annual 9/11 Memorial Stair Climb at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wis., on Sept. 12. This is the the department’s third year participating in the event. 
    Sept. 11, 2025 was the 25th anniversary of the event of the highjacked airplanes terrorist attack on the United States. 

    Matthew Paul Traxler, age 36 of Belle Plaine, was arrested and charged on multiple felonies after a traffic stop in Montgomery on Aug. 24, according to the statement of probable cause.
    A Montgomery Police officer noticed Traxler’s vehicle with no front license plate driving southbound on Highway 13 in Montgomery at about 4:45 p.m. and initiated a traffic stop. According to the statement, Traxler verbally identified himself and said he didn’t have a driver’s license, wasn’t able to provide proof of insurance, and that he wasn’t the owner of the vehicle. 

    A 911 call on Friday, Sept. 2, at MGM Apartments in Lonsdale, 321 Southeast 1st Avenue,  is a suspected suicide. 
    Lonsdale Police Chief Jason Schmitz said that a call came in at 12:09 p.m. for a welfare check by the person’s employer after they had not showed up to work the last three days.

    Montgomery Police Department were dispatched to Seneca Foods Corporation at 11:26 p.m. for a motor vehicle crash of a supposed intoxicated driver that may have struck the business’ building, according to a statement of probable cause.
    According to the statement, the officer saw a white pickup truck with an enclosed trailer driving on the railroad tracks behind the main Seneca building on the West side. It was noted that the vehicle was lunging forward and reverse trying to free it from the tracks.

    This year’s Halfway to St. Paddy’s Day celebration in Kilkenny brought in nice weather with abundant sunshine with pleasant temperatures. One of the largest marching bands in the area, perhaps the state, also made an appearance during Saturday’s 35-unit parade at the request of Andrew McGuinness, mayor of the Kilkenny Municipal District in Ireland, the Lakeville South High School Marching Cougars.

Shirley Ann (Lamont) Krenik, age 89, of Elysian, passed away peacefully at her home on September 4, 2026, surrounded by loved ones.

Monday, Aug. 31

•     Traffic stop (TS) and issued a warning for failure to maintain lane.
•     Assisted (Asst.) with a medical at Traditions.
•     TS and arrested an individual for cannabis open package, obstruct legal process, driving after revocation and no insurance.
•     Asst. with a medical on Deer Trail.

Tuesday, Sept. 1

    Meghan Bastyr has had multiple jobs over her time here on Earth, including being a mom, a heavy equipment operator, farmer, and more. She went to college to be a nurse, but that isn’t what she went straight into out of college.
    After graduating nursing school in 2008, she worked with her father Rick Renslow, who was also a late-1980’s World Wrestling Federation pro wrestler, in a landscaping business building boulder walls on lake shorelines. That ended when her father passed away in 2008.

    At first, it appeared as if Le Sueur County would need to set a considerable increase in levy rates going into next year. However, after months of work sessions, the county board of commissioners is now in good position to approve one of its lowest annual increases.
    The county had anticipated a large increase in property taxes because of changes to how the human services department is funded. The Federal government shifted the financial burden of funding the department to the state, as the state shifted much of the burden to the county level.