Update
On May 4, at 11:44 a.m., Scott County 911 Dispatch was notified of a barn on fire along 280th Street (Highway 13/19, east of New Prague) in Cedar Lake Township.
Police and fire were dispatched to the address and found a large steel shed and single-family home on fire. Fire personnel immediately began fire suppression efforts and were ultimately able to extinguish both fires. However, damage to the home and shed was substantial.

The cause of the explosion and fire at 35533 211th Ave. Le Center (Montgomery Township) on February 26, 2022, that killed Kailey Mach, 20, has been determined.
According to Le Sueur Co. Sheriff Brett Mason, a leak in the home’s propane line outside of the residence was the cause. Mason said investigators from his office, the Minnesota State Fire Marshal’s Office and other private Fire Cause and Origin Investigators met at the property on April 21 and conducted an in-depth examination of the scene.

Le Sueur County Historical Society (LCHS) saw little change to it’s nine-person board after an election was held at the organization’s Annual Meeting on April 19.
Of the five board seats on the ballot, four were filled by incumbents. Those re-elected to the board include: Rich Bennett, Bryce Stenzel, Mike Frederick, and George Luskey.
Board member Lois Mack chose not to run for re-election, and Paul Malchow of Ottawa was elected to fill the seat.

Montgomery’s spring celebration, Czech May Day returns this year on Sunday, May 1 from 12 to 5 p.m.
The public (Czech and non-Czech) can join free event to celebrate the arrival of spring. However, spring’s weather has moved the event to the Revival on Main.
The afternoon will feature performances by the Sokol Minnesota Children and Teen Czech and Slovak Folk Dancers, as well as the adult group, the St. Paul Czech and Slovak Folk Dancers.

Nearly an inch of rain and gusts of winds exceeding 40 miles per hour did not stop vendors and attendees from making it out to the 45th annual Le Sueur County Pioneer Power Swap Meet over the weekend.
“I love it,” said Linda Friesz of New Prague. “The weather makes it more fun.”
Friesz said that she loves being a part of the swap meet both as a member of the Credit River Tractor Club selling raffle tickets and being a customer shopping at the wide variety of booths whose vendors sell everything from hand crafted items to scrap metal to antiques and more.

A police officer’s day-to-day duties are about much more than writing citations for this offense or that offense.
On one day those duties may involve being the first person on scene at a 9-1-1 call where an individual is having a heart attack and the officer’s use of the AED machine saves that person’s life.
Another day it may mean bringing a huge smile to a child’s face because he or she just received a sticker from the officer for being safe and wearing a helmet while riding a bicycle.

The Le Sueur County Board of Commissioners, in accordance with Minnesota Statutes Chapter 375, approved redistricting of the county commissioner districts during their Tuesday, April19 meeting.
The Statute establishes the procedure and requires a process for redistricting based on population figures from the 2020 federal census.
The commissioners districts must be redistricted within 80 days of when the legislature has been redistricted or at least 25 weeks before the state primary election, whichever comes first.

Despite supply shortages and other factors, issued building permits have seen a steady increase over the last five years in the city of Montgomery, even reaching a new record in 2021, according to a recent report released by the Planning and Zoning Commission.
In 2021, the city issued a total of 195 permits, up 51 from the previous year, and about 20 more than the peak number of permits issued in 2012.

Titan artists captured five of the 12 top honors awarded at the Section 2A North Art Festival, which was hosted by Tri-City United High School last week.
The Minnesota State High School League event brought together the top student artists from TCU, Belle Plaine, Le Sueur-Henderson, Nicollet, and Sibley East High Schools.
It was the first time TCU hosted the festival, which featured 65 pieces of artwork created by 50+ student artists. Eighteen of the pieces were Titan-made.

After two years of cancellations due to the covid pandemic, crowns and kroj were back at the 33rd annual Miss Czech Slovak Minnesota Pageant on Saturday in Montgomery. After a competition in categories of talent, ethnic folk dress, on-stage interview, poise, appearance, and private interviews, new royalty were crowned. Marisa Winget (left) was crowned Queen. Sarah Holicky (center), of Montgomery, received the title of First Princess, and Hailie Wentworth was named Second Princess. Read more in the print edition. (Wade Young Photo)

Three young women will compete in the 33rd annual Miss Czech Slovak Minnesota Pageant on Saturday, April 9, at the Montgomery American Legion Club.
The candidates are: Sarah Holicky of Montgomery, Hailie Wentworth of St. Peter, and Marisa Winget of Northfield.
The candidates will compete in categories of talent, ethnic folk dress, on-stage interview, poise and appearance, as well as private interviews. The candidates must be of Czech, Slovak or Moravian descent.

A company recently unveiled a program with local high school students that gave them hands-on experience with a career in the trades program.
Minnesota Millwork & Fixtures has been a leader in designing and building environments for the restaurant and hospitality industries. This includes design, prototype building, and installation of commercial cabinetry and architectural millwork. Products built and designed at the Lonsdale facility include wood, metal, and upholstered materials.

The Waterville Fire Department was called to a fire at The Funky Munkey restaurant in Waterville early Saturday morning, March 26. According to a firefighter at the scene, the call was made at approximately 3 a.m.
People in the nearby apartments were evacuated.
Elysian Fire, Madison Lake Fire, Morristown Fire, Waseca Fire, Janesville Fire, Faribault Fire, Le Center Fire, Kilkenny Fire, and New Richland Fire were called to assist and helped extinguish the fire.
There have been no reports of injury.

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.

They were so close.
Tri-City United High School’s Knowledge Bowl team came up just one point shy of moving on to the Regional Tournament last week when the Titans competed at the Sub-Regional event on March 10 at Minnesota State University, Mankato. The event ended the team’s season.
“We’ve had a pretty good season,” stated TCU Knowledge Bowl Advisor Peter Kuriger.

A spelling error led to WWII veteran Arnold “Buck” Zahratka, 96, earning one of the most famous military decorations in the world 78 years after the fact.
Zahratka’s son-in-law, Dale Stadstad said he was searching an online record of Buck’s WWII history with the 106th Infantry Division when he noticed Buck’s last name was misspelled.