Four WEM girls basketball players were honored by Gopher Conference coaches following the end of the 2021-22 season.
Sophomore Alayna Atherton was named to the All-Gopher Conference Second Team. Sophomore Claire Bohlen was named to the All-Gopher Conference Third Team. Junior Addy Taylor was named to the All-Gopher Conference honorable Mention Team. Senior Rylee Pelant received the Sportsmanship Award.

The City of Morristown is aligning itself to potentially receive grant money from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to update its Babe Nordmeier Baseball Field.

Terrie Lee King, age 74, of Waterville, died on Monday, March 21, 2022 at All Saints Senior Living in Shakopee.

Le Sueur County has a handful of roadway projects scheduled for 2022 which may limit travel to county roads.
In the northern-most portion of the county there will be a resurfacing project on the east side of New Prague.
The project is set to resurface one mile of County State Aide Highway 3 (141st Ave.) between CSAH 20 and State Highway 19. There will be Stabilized Full Depth Reclamation, bituminous paving, and aggregate shouldering.
The project is currently being advertised and the contractor is unknown. The start-up time will be late spring to early summer.

Raymond D. Becker, age 83, of Minnesota Lake, MN died Thursday March 17, 2022 at MCHS in Mankato, MN. A public visitation will be held Thursday March 24, 2022 from 4 - 7 p.m. at Nasinec Funeral Home in Wells, MN (789 Business Park Drive Wells, MN). Funeral Services will be held Friday, March 25, 2022 at 2 p.m. at Peace United Church of Christ in Minnesota Lake, MN. Please join the family for a visitation and fellowship (meal) starting at 12:30 p.m. at church. Burial will be in Peace Cemetery in Minnesota Lake, MN with Rev. Brian Fragodt officiating.

Every once in a while there is something posted on Facebook which I can’t go without reprinting in my column space.
There was a group of us sitting around talking about the “old days” and when I say that I mean the 1970s and 1980s. Those years don’t seem that long ago, until you actually do the math and realize how far back it really was.
Being in my mid-50s the 70s and 80s were school and college days.

Three WEM students have received All-Gopher Conference honors for their efforts during the 2022 speech season.
Madeline Balfe, Alex Heuss, and Maddie Heuss were each honored last week with conference speech awards.
Balfe won two awards, earning All-Conference honors in the Creative Expression category. She also was named the Craftmanship Winner.
A. Heuss earned her All-Conference award in the Great Speeches category.
M. Heuss won the All-Conference award in the Discussion category.

After a very successful high school career, WEM graduate Brielle Bartelt has continued her outstanding play at the next level.
Bartelt, a freshman at Iowa Lakes Community College, was named to the Division II All-Region Third Team, which includes 14 teams.
Sophomores Jaeda Whitner (1st Team), Rachel Puok (2nd Team), and Waseca graduate Rachel Breck (2nd Team) were also honored from the Laker team.
Bartelt played in all 31 games, averaging 10.5 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 2.4 assists. She hit 55 three-pointers added 44 steals, and 12 blocked shots.

To celebrate the 10th anniversary of Kilkenny, Minnesota’s formal twinning with Kilkenny, Ireland, representatives from the local Kilkenny are traveling to Ireland and will take part in the St. Patrick’s Day Celebrations.
According to Kilkenny, Minnesota council member Julie Balfe, who will be part of the Ireland-bound contingent representing the city, the trip will commemorate the twinning and will help highlight historical and ancestral roots.

Duaine Ellsworth Flanders, 81, of Benson, MN passed away at his home Sunday, March 6, 2022.
Duaine is survived by his wife Peg, children Steph, Sue Ellen, and Bruce, brother Richard Flanders of Devils Lake, ND, and sister Jan (Mack) Evans of Elysian, MN.

A benefit will be held this Saturday at the American Legion in Morristown to help raise funds for the family of Stephanie Wesley, the 52-year-old Faribault woman who was struck by a Rice County Sheriff’s deputy patrol car on Highway 60 in Morristown around 2 a.m. on January 29 and died at the scene.
Wesley’s long-time friend Ashley Bright of Morristown is helping organize the benefit.

LaVonne Helen Bertha Matz, age 76, of rural Waterville, died on Saturday, March 12, 2022 at Whispering Creek in Janesville.

I rarely see a few of my neighbors, but for some reason, when I do encounter those certain few, I look like a crazy woman.
Take last Sunday, for example.
One of those rare neighbors walked down his driveway just as I was carrying a big, dead bloody opossum down the road on the top of a board with my children following me, funeral- procession style.
I wanted to hide. I looked ridiculous, but instead, I smiled in my neighbor’s direction and informed him that we were going to bury the creature.

Evelyn Alma Delaske, age 101, of Waterville, died on March 8, 2022, at Carriage House Senior Living in Le Center.

As journalists, we rely on open government and freedom of information principles to keep the public informed about its government. Sometimes, we are met with roadblocks.
Sunshine Week, which is spearheaded by the LifeEnterprise News Leaders Association, champions open and transparent government at all levels. That means from the local school board or city council meetings, to the emails a state representative sent that supports a bill, all the way up to the President at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. in Washington, D.C.

Eugene "Gene" Harold Schwake, age 83, of Waterville, died on Thursday, February 24, 2022, at Traditions of Waterville.