The Tri-City High School Titans are gearing up for its annual Sno-Ball week January 27 to 31, and students are taking the reins on a new activity.
Teacher and Sno-Ball advisor Carey Lang said this year’s Sno-Ball theme is “Candyland,” and that high school staff is collecting nominees for royalty and actively planning for all aspects of the winter week.
Candidates will be announced on Monday, Jan. 27 during Titan Time from 12:33 to 1:03.

Le Sueur County and the City of Kilkenny have reached an agreement pertaining to law enforcement services.
During the Jan. 21 Le Sueur County Board of Commissioners meeting, Sheriff Brett Mason presented a contract that has the county providing law enforcement to the City of Kilkenny.
City officials in Kilkenny have already endorsed the contract. The commissioners approved the contract unanimously Tuesday.
Sheriff Mason said the county had been patrolling Kilkenny without a contract for years.

On Tuesday, Jan, 14, Bevcomm, the Blue Earth based telecommunication company, announced it has reached a definitive agreement with Lonsdale Telephone Company to acquire ownership of that Lonsdale based business. Transfer of ownership is pending regulatory approval, which is expected in the first half of this year.
According to a press release from Bevcomm, “Existing employees of Lonsdale Telephone Company will become employees of Bevcomm, and will continue to manage the day-to-day office functions.”
For more on this story see upcoming print issue.

In advance of the forecasted heavy snow and winds, the TCU School District cancelled school on Friday, Jan. 17.
Through the district's phone-alert system, Superintendent Teri Preisler said the day will be considered a "Blended Learning Day" so students should check for the online work posted by teachers in the morning.
Because Friday is the last day of the semester, Preisler said any student who still has final exams to take will take them when school resumes on Wednesday, Jan. 22.

MANKATO, Minn. – (3:45 p.m.) With significant snow and strong winds forecast for Friday and Saturday, the Minnesota Department of Transportation advises motorists to plan for difficult driving conditions or make alternate plans.
Heavy snowfall combined with moderate winds can dramatically reduce visibility during the storm and continued wind gusts after the storm may prolong MnDOT snowplow drivers’ ability to recover the roads.

Secretary of State Steve Simon is reminding Minnesotans about the beginning of absentee voting for the March 3, 2020, Presidential Nomination Primary. The primary will help determine both the Democratic and Republican party candidates for the November general election.
“The presidential nomination primary opens up the selection process and allows more Minnesotans to participate,” said Simon. “Caucuses are limited to a few hours on one evening; this primary will give more people more ways to participate, and over a longer period of time.”
How to request an absentee ballot

It's a girl!
The Montgomery Messenger is happy to announce the arrival of Montgomery's New Year's baby, Blakely Bernice Reak, daughter of Tim and Kim (Myhro) Reak of Montgomery.
Little Blakely was born at 12:30 a.m. Thursday, January 16, 2020, at Mayo Clinic Health System New Prague Hospital, weighing in at 8 pounds 7 ounces and measuring 19 inches long.
She is the Reaks' first child.
Watch for more about the Reak family in the print edition of the Montgomery Messenger.

On Monday, the Montgomery City Council got things in order for the new year approving depositories and appointments to committees, boards and commissions, and the council calendar.
The council unanimously approved the consent agenda, which contained the majority of the housekeeping items, one of which was designating the Montgomery Messenger as the city’s official newspaper. This means the Messenger will again be the publication for the city’s public or legal notices for the year.

World renown photographer Edward S. Curtis, who captured images of Native Americans in the early 20th century, spent a decade growing up in little Cordova in Le Sueur County, Minnesota.
Curtis’ work and his ties to the local area are celebrated in the Arts and Heritage Center of Montgomery’s newest exhibit: Edward S. Curtis Photography Display.
The exhibit, which opened last week and will remain open for public viewing during the center’s regular hours until February 29, features more than 60 of Curtis’ prints of Native American life between 1900 and 1930.

The Le Sueur County Board of Commissioners held their 2020 Reorganizational Meeting Tuesday, Jan. 7 in Le Center.
Fifth District Commissioner Steve Rohlfing was named the Board Chairman and Second District Commissioner Danny O’Keefe was named the Board Vice Chairman.
The Le Sueur County Montgomery Messanger News was named the 2020 first legal newspaper. The Montgomery Messenger was named the second legal newspaper.
Mileage reimbursement for Le Sueur County employees will be 57.5 cents per mile, in accordance with the federal IRS mileage rate.

A Waseca Police Officer was shot in the head and “gravely injured” while responding to a report of a suspicious person with a flashlight in the backyard residence on the 900 block of 4th Avenue SE in Waseca after 8 p.m. on Monday night, Jan. 6. The suspect was shot twice and sustained non-life threatening injuries.

High winds and icy conditions may continue into the morning
MANKATO, Minn. –  (3:30 p.m.) Motorists in south central Minnesota are advised to expect difficult driving conditions to remain into Tuesday (December 31) with forecasted additional snowfall, dropping temps and even higher wind gusts.

Friday the 13th was a lucky day for Mayme Jindra.
She celebrated her 105th birthday.
Montgomery’s oldest resident, whose mind and memory are as sharp as a tack, was born on December 13, 1914 in Montgomery. She was the second of five children to Mary and Ed Dejcmar.
According to her niece Penny Joecks, as a young girl, Jindra’s health was not the best, so she did a lot of reading to pass the time, which she did her entire life until eyesight began to fade.

Emergencies don’t take blizzard breaks.
Fortunately, local first responders are resourceful and have friends with big rigs and snowplows.
As the first big snow of the season fell in the area during the early morning hours of Wednesday, November 27, Montgomery’s ambulance crew received a call for help.
A driver had gotten stuck in the ditch near Kilkenny, climbed out of her vehicle, slipped, hit her head, and needed medical attention.

Forget red and green.
It was all about red and blue police lights--and presents, pizza, and fun--at Le Sueur County’s holiday Shop With a Cop event on Wednesday night, Dec. 11 in New Prague.
Twenty kids participated in the sixth annual event that helps foster positive relationships between youth and officers.
“My cop is so cool,” spouted Collin about his partner for the night, Le Sueur Police Officer Aaron Thieke. “I even got to ride in the police car and run the lights and sirens and stuff. Did you hear me sing Jingle Bells over the radio in the squad car?”

A 55-year-old man has died from injuries from a snowmobile crash Saturday evening.
According to the Le Sueur County Sheriff’s Office, deputies responded around 4:40 p.m. to a report of a crash on Lexington Road near 173rd Avenue in Montgomery Township.
Officials say the driver of the snowmobile, Larry Gene Haynes, was traveling northbound on the snowmobile trail at a high rate of speed. Investigators say it appears Haynes was unable to stop before the Lexington Road crossing, ultimately striking the side of a westbound pickup truck.