Colleen Flynn is very thankful this year. She went through drugs and alcohol treatment and is now seven years clean and sober. She now has a better relationship with her family, is engaged and is now helping others.
“I now have a whole new way of learning to live,” said Flynn, 41, who grew up in Belle Plaine and now lives in Montgomery. On a Wednesday afternoon, Nov. 16, she detailed her life in the office of Tim Price, of Faith, Recovery & Music at New Day Church in New Prague. Flynn has been working with Price’s ministry helping people who deal with addiction.

Two vehicles collided Thursday morning shortly before 8 a.m. on icy roads between New Prague and Montgomery.
The accident occurred just south of Minnesota 13 and 300th Street South. According to the Minnesota State Patrol report, a 2009 Ford Explorer driven by Robert Shippman of New Prague and a 2002 Oldmobile Bravada driven by Katie Young of Buffalo ended up in the west ditch. Young was taken by ambulance to Mayo Clinic Health Systems in New Prague with non-life threatening injuries. Shippman sustained no injuries. Both parties were wearing their seat belts.

Major Rev. Eugene Theisen (US Air Force, retired), center, talks to students at St. Wenceslaus School during Veterans Day Friday, Nov. 11. Behind him are members of the New Prague Veterans Honor Guard. Rev. Theisen spoke about his experiences as a chaplain in the Air Force and answered questions from the students and their parents that attended the Veterans Day service.
The New Prague Veterans Honor Guard attended ceremonies at area schools and local nursing homes on both Thursday, Nov. 10, and Nov. 11.

After weeks of campaigning, door-knocking, meeting voters, handing out literature, presenting information and answering questions, voters finally had their say Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 8.
Polls closed several hours after The New Prague Times went to press. Results in local contested races between candidates are listed below. Details of precinct-level results will be available in the Nov. 17 print edition of The Times.
Results from contested races include:
New Prague Area School Board

Fire broke out at a Northeast 9th Avenue, Lonsdale, residence on Thursday night, Nov. 3. No one was injured in the blaze. 
According to Lonsdale Fire Chief Dave Pfluke, the fire was reported by a neighbor at 6:34 p.m., and firefighters were at the scene in under 10 minutes.
“The attached garage was fully engulfed when we arrived, and thankfully the family was already out of the home,” Pfluke stated. “We did rescue a couple of their pets—the ones the family weren’t able to grab on their way out. So, everyone—even their pets—did make it out okay.”

New Prague High School held a Pep Fest for the girls cross country team Thursday, Nov. 3, in the high school gym. The team finished second at its Tuesday, Oct. 25, section meet, earning a berth in the Saturday, Nov. 5, state meet at St. Olaf College in Northfield. For more on the Oct. 25 second meet see this week’s print issue of The New Prague Times. For results of the Nov. 5 state meet check The Times’ online sites and the Thursday, Nov. 10, print issue of The Times. (Patrick Fisher Photo)

The protracted drought in the area has prompted the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture to name Scott and Le Sueur counties and several neighboring counties as disaster areas.

A motorcyclist on East Main Street was injured in a crash at the roundabout at Columbus Avenue Tuesday afternoon, Nov. 1. The motorcyclist, a 72-year-old man from St. Louis Park, was heading east when he crashed at the roundabout. He was wearing a helmet. The man was assisted by New Prague firefighters and police and transported to Mayo Clinic Health Systems New Prague. Early Wednesday morning, Nov. 2, a New Prague Public Works crew painted a yellow stripe around roundabouts along Main Street.

Tyler Kistner, the Republican candidate for the Second Congressional District seat held by incumbent Rep. Angie Craig, a Democrat, was in New Prague at the 1319 Woodfire Tavern Tuesday evening, Nov. 1, after The New Prague Times went to press. Kistner stressed to supporters the importance of getting out the vote and also supporting Republican candidates.

When a school bus driver opens the door to the bus, allowing children to disembark, the bus driver expects an oncoming vehicle to obey the stop sign extended from the bus. Because the bus driver’s attention is focused on the children. The information needed to punish the offending driver is most oftentimes gone in an instant. But a grant from the Minnesota Department of Public Safety will help hold the offending drivers accountable.

Crews were working to install a new roadside digital sign for New Prague High School the morning of Thursday, Oct. 20. Some of the funds for the sign came from a $200,000 donation made to New Prague Area Schools. For more on the donation see this week’s issue of The New Prague Times. (Mark Slavik Photo)

According to the Minnesota State Patrol there were two fatalities in a three vehicle crash that happened around 6:05 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 17, along Highway 19/13, east of New Prague. According to a crash report from the State Patrol drivers Heather Nichole Nelson, 43, and Jordan Cole Bailey, 38, both of New Prague, suffered fatal injuries. The report stated that the third driver, Corey Joseph Pumper, 49, of New Prague was transported to Mayo Clinic with non-life threatening injuries.