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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Harry Dietz, age 96, of New Prague, died peacefully on Sunday, February 3, 2019 at Mala Strana Rehabilitation Center. Harry was born on January 30, 1923 in Lanesburgh Township, Le Sueur County, Minnesota to Frank J. and Rose (Panek) Dietz. He graduated from New Prague High School. In his early years he worked at the mill in Montgomery and as a mechanic for Jimmy Rutt’s garage. He married Leota Busta on October 15, 1945. He spent his life as a farmer, who valued conservation of both the soil in his farming practices and wildlife.

Tri-City United High School crowned its SnoBall King and Queen at its dance on Saturday. Crowned King was Thomas Budin. Crowned Queen was Destiny Dunagan. Due to the extreme temperatures and school closings this week, the high school's SnoWeek activities were moved to next week. (Wade Young photo)

Celeste T. Preble, 87, of Lonsdale, passed away on Friday, February 1, 2019 at the Villages of Lonsdale. Visitation will be Friday, February 8 from 10am to 11am at Holy Redeemer Catholic Church in Montgomery with Mass of Christian Burial following at 11am with Father Victor Valencia officiating. Interment will be held in Calvary Cemetery in Montgomery. In lieu of flowers, memorials preferred to Moments Hospice.

The Tri-City United Titans hosted two dual meets last week at TCU High School and dominated in all of them.
Coach Brian Mikel said the wins were against some good schools and that it put the Titans’ record at 16-3.