Mayo Clinic and Mayo Clinic Health System is deferring all elective care that can be deferred for eight or more weeks, according to a press release Tuesday, March 17.

Tri-City United will provide free meals to youth at various locations around our communities while schools are closed due to COVID-19, according to a news release Tuesday.
Parents/guardians should use this survey link to indicate the need for school meals while schools are closed: https://forms.gle/QeePAowU6fYjbJe2A
- If already completed, parents do not need to resubmit.
- The survey must be completed by 10 a.m. in order to receive meals the following day.

Mayo Clinic Health System in New Prague now offers a drive-through screening process for patients who meet criteria for COVID-19 testing. Transmissions of COVID-19 are increasing statewide and across the nation and other institutions have successfully used the drive-through approach.
According to a press release, as a first step, patients must call their Mayo Clinic Health System primary care clinic. A provider or nurse will determine if patients meet criteria and will schedule a drive-through test.

In response to the Governor’s action to close Minnesota schools due to COVID-19 by Wednesday, TCU Schools will begin their closure starting Monday, March 16.
According to TCU Superintendent Teri Preisler, Monday and Tuesday, March 16 and 17 will be Blended Learning Days like is done for weather-related school closings.

Gov. Tim Walz announced Sunday that all of Minnesota’s K-12 schools will close for eight school days starting Wednesday to try to slow the spread of COVID-19.
Walz and state Education Commissioner Mary Cathryn Ricker made the announcement Sunday morning in St. Paul.

The Minnesota State High School League put out an announcement Friday regarding cancellations due to the COVID-19 pandemic:
Effective Immediately:
The Minnesota State High School League is immediately cancelling the Girls Basketball State Tournament.
Additionally, all Boys Section and State Basketball Tournaments have been cancelled.
Section Speech Tournament events for the week of March 15-21 have been postponed indefinitely.
The Adapted Floor Hockey games scheduled for Friday and Saturday, March 13 and 14 will NOT be played either.

The Polka Dance Party scheduled for Friday, March 13 at the Central Education Campus in New Prague has been canceled. We are following the Minnesota Department of Health's recommendation to not have large group activities. Please pass this information on to anyone that may have been interested in attending.

UPDATED March 13, 2020- The Adapted Floor Hockey games scheduled for Friday and Saturday, March 13 and 14 will NOT be played.

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.

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.

In a three-to-one vote, Lonsdale’s city council has opted to move forward with selecting a new garbage collector for weekly trash services.
Every five years the city advertises for bids for this service, historically selecting just one company to handle all the refuse services within the city.
Since 2005 the city has gone with Waste Management. But, starting April 1, pending final contract negotiations and council approval, West Central Sanitation, Inc. will take over the refuse and recycling collection.

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.

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.

Minnesota will join Super Tuesday this year — and 13 other states, including Texas and California, in perhaps the most consequential day of the presidential primary season.
It’s new in Minnesota. It’s our first presidential primary since 1992 and only the fourth in state history. Here are some rules.

The Montgomery Food Shelf and Salvation Army have a new home.
The two organizations moved from former convent at 105 3rd St NW to the former MVEC building on 151 Elm Ave. E, across from the Post Office.
Over the past several weeks, volunteers have moved refrigerators, freezers and built pallet shelves for storage. Pictured is one of the commercial freezers being moved Friday, Feb. 28.
The food is scheduled to be moved Saturday, Feb. 29 by several organizations, youth groups, and family volunteers.