MANKATO, Minn. – The Minnesota Department of Transportation is preparing motorists for forecasted heavy snowfall rates overnight through Wednesday. Weather conditions will limit visibility and make travel difficult in south central Minnesota.
The National Weather Service has issued a Winter Storm Warning for much of southern Minnesota, and advises motorists to plan for extra travel time, especially for the Wednesday morning and evening commutes.
MnDOT snowplow operators will do their part to make highways safe and motorists should remember to:

Ella R. Jahn, age 90, of New Prague, died peacefully on Friday, February 15, 2019, at Abbott-Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis. Ella was born on November 21, 1928, in Lanesburgh Township, Le Sueur County, MN to Frank J. and Rose (Panek) Dietz. She attended country district school and graduated from New Prague High School. She married Harold C. Jahn on September 7, 1945, at Friedens Evangelical Lutheran Church and was a lifelong resident of the Lanesburgh area, where she and her husband raised their four children and she whole-heartedly entered into farm life.

James “Chester” Retka, 85, of Montgomery, passed away on Friday, Feb. 15, 2019, at his home in Montgomery. Visitation will be Sunday, Feb. 17, from 3 to 7 p.m. at Schoenbauer Funeral Home in Montgomery. Mass of Christian Burial will be on Monday, Feb. 18 at 10 a.m. at Holy Redeemer Catholic Church in Montgomery, visitation one hour prior at the funeral Home. Interment will be in St. Joseph Cemetery in Lexington. Military Honors will be provided by the Montgomery area Honor Guard.

Kathleen Margaret Tiede, 73, of Montgomery, passed away on Wednesday, Feb. 13, 2019, at her home in Montgomery. Visitation will be Saturday, March 2 at 11 a.m. at Holy Redeemer Catholic Church in Montgomery, with Mass of Christian Burial following at 11 a.m. Burial will be at a later date.
Kathy was born on November 25, 1945, in St Peter to Claire and Frances (Simonette) Thomas. Kathy attended Cleveland High School.

Who do you call when you need to get to work and your car won't start on a blustery below-zero morning? The local towing company.
Gene Mach, owner of Bud's Service in Kilkenny, reported receiving more than 100 calls during the four-day frigid winter vortex that closed schools, stopped the mail, and sent Minnesota into the minus 30 degree fahrenheit range, Monday, January 28 through Thursday, January 31.
About eighty percent of the calls were for cars that wouldn't start. Mach and his crew also responded to stalls, flat tires, and requests for tows.

Suel Printing Company graphic artist Jennifer Leff won second place in the Minnesota Newspaper Association’s 2019 Ad Design Contest.
Studies show that people believe their local newspapers provide the truest information and trust them far more than information found online or on TV. Newspapers continue to have a solid impact on the communities they serve and statistics show that people of all ages consume more news now than ever before. The contest asked designers to tell that important story through a quarter-page full color print ad.

Andrew Onimus told a crowd of about 200 people that in college when he was struggling with major depression he reached out, which was the first step in his dealing with major depression and anxiety. He encouraged people to reach out through his speech on Sunday, Feb. 10, at the New Prague High School auditorium.
Onimus of Minding Your Mind, an organization that provides mental health education for students and their parents, appeared through the sponsorship of the Duck Cup Memorial. The group’s committee is made up of New Prague High School....

Snow days used to be snow days, but now snow days mean blended learning days for students within the Tri-City United School District. And the change has been met with mostly positive results and feedback.
"Thank goodness we have blended learning," said Teri Preisler of the newly implemented e-learning program that allows students to continue their education from home regardless of when she has to cancel school due to weather.

Updated:
Three people were injured as the result of a two-car collision on Highway 21 north of New Prague Tuesday afternoon. Feb. 12.

Heavy snow continued to fall Thursday evening across the southern and central parts of Minnesota. According to the National Weather Service, Lonsdale reported four inches of snow fell Thursday, with 5.5 inches falling in Elko New Market.
The snow and deteriorating road conditions forced TCU to close school, cancel activities and utilize a blended learning day for the students. Thursday marked the third time in two weeks the district utilized the online learning day format created to avoid making up snow days.

Tri-City United schools will be closed on Thursday, Feb. 7. According to Superindent Teri Preisler, the day will be a blended learning day and teachers will have assignments posted by 10 a.m. Preisler closed school due to weather.

Shopko announced Wednesday, Feb. 6, that it was closing 174 additional stores following its recent bankruptcy filing, and that includes the Shopko Hometown store in New Prague.
When all is finished, the company will have just 109 stores, compared to the current total of 360.
A list published Wednesday includes stores closing in six phases, some as early as March 2. This includes stores that were announced to close last month. Fifteen stores in Minnesota are on the list. The New Prague store is in the sixth phase, and its estimated last day of operation is May 12.

The first baby in Montgomery for 2019 is Klaira Marie O’Neill. She was born to Cora O’Neill of Montgomery and Daniel Corral of Le Center. Klaira was born on January 29, 2019, at Mayo Clinic Health System Hospital in New Prague.
Because Klaira’s family was the first family to contact the Messenger office with the news, she is the New Year’s Baby. Little Klaira and her parents will receive all of the prizes donated by area businesses, which can be found on page 2 of this week’s printed edition.

Kucera, Robert C. , age 93 of Bloomington, MN, passed away peacefully January 30, 2019. Robert was born April 7, 1925 in Montgomery, Minnesota. He attended the Immaculate Conception High School in Lonsdale and then pursued undergraduate studies at the College of St. Thomas where he received degrees in business administration and economics in 1948.  Bob continued his education at the St. Paul College of Law graduating in 1952. He served three years in the U.S. Air Force during World War II including service in Guam and the Philippines.

Tri-City United junior Brandon Balma was named a recipient of the 2019 Minnesota State High School League ExCEL Award.
ExCEL - Excellence in Community, Education and Leadership - is a recognition program designed exclusively for Minnesota high school juniors who are active in school activities, who show leadership qualities, and who work voluntarily in their community.
Balma is the third Tri-City United recipient of the award. Lizzie Christian won it last year, and Erin Budin won in 2015.

Police Chief Lou Sager has submitted his resignation as Police Chief for the City of Montgomery effective February 16, 2019, after serving in the position for just over a year.
The announcement came from City Administrator Brian Heck in an email to the Messenger.
According to Heck, Sager’s resignation and the change in department leadership will not affect the current delivery of service provided by the department.