A haze of smoke from wildfires in Canada and northern Minnesota drifted into the southern part of the state Thursday morning, July 16, and could be seen in the distance looking west along New Prague’s Main Street.
To celebrate the Fourth of July, Gopher State Railway Museum (GSRM), north of New Prague, held train rides on its historic train engine or cars.
Crews working on the new POPS (Praha Outdoor Performance Stage) facility north of West Main Street were busy Wednesday, July 1, installing a nearly two-ton glulam (glued laminated) timber beam in the front of the faci
Orioles use big numbers in a pair of DRS victories
Mike Meyer is honorary survivor at annual ACS Relay for Life
Mike Meyer knows all about luck – bad luck, good luck.
He’s seen his share of both.
After a tough extra-innings setback, a win was just what the doctor ordered for the Union Hill Bulldogs Sunday.
Elko New Market celebrated Fire Rescue Days Thursday, June 25, through Sunday, June 28, plus its annual Saturday, June 27, parade marked its 25th anniversary.
He entered the Special Olympics 2026 USA Games looking to enjoy the experience and do the best he could.
For New Prague’s Seth Dorner, mission accomplished.
Host Rochester Mayo turned a pair of New Prague turnovers into touchdowns to blow open a tight game on the way to a 35-20 win over the Trojans in the Section 1AAAAA semifinal Saturday night, Oct. 25.
Hope for the Community in Elko New Market teamed up at the beginning of October with the non-profit Feed My Starving Children and local business Niagara Bottling, LLC to serve 340 families in the Elko New Market area. The three organizations provided 110 pounds of donated food and hygiene supplies to families in need.
“That was a great event,” said Jim Muelken, who with his wife, Jodi, started Hope for the Community Elko New Market in 2017 with the help of Al Goracke, the board president of Hope for the Community in Blaine.
In preparation for Thanksgiving, the Le Sueur County Veterans Office is providing $25 gift vouchers during the month of November to veterans. The office is partnering with O’Keefe’s Meat Market in Le Center to provide the gift vouchers, according to a press release from the Le Sue County Veterans Office.
Area veterans can stop by the Le Sueur County Veterans Office to pick up a voucher, while they last, said the press release. This is a benefit for veterans of Le Sueur County because of their service to our nation.
The Dakota-Rice-Scott League will have a slightly different look next summer when teams take the field and the St. Patrick Irish isn’t one of them.
The Irish, a Class A team, announced earlier this month they were leaving the DRS and joining the other Class A teams in the River Valley League. An announcement the team posted on social media noted the move puts the Irish in closer proximity with Class A RVL teams like Burnsville, Chanhassen, Chaska, Eagan, Prior Lake, Shakopee and Victoria.
Back in 2006, former Minnesota State Rep. Tom Emmer, then R-Delano, took the editor of a nearby community newspaper to the woodshed for suggesting in an editorial the proposed smoking ban for bars and restaurants was worthy of discussion.
Some people make golf, painting, photography, porcelain figurines or traveling to exotic places as a favorite hobby. Paul Bongers enjoys growing pumpkins in the backyard of his house in Lonsdale.
And for Bongers, bigger is unquestionably better.
He grows Dills Giant Atlantic pumpkins in his backyard. He started growing them in 2020. This year’s crop of three pumpkins ranged from 1,200 pounds when it split, a condition leading to rot, to 1,219 pounds and the largest of the three tipping the scale at 1,819 pounds.
Betty Gill, age 84, of Union Hill, passed away peacefully, surrounded by her family on October 22, 2025, on the very day she and her beloved husband once celebrated their wedding anniversary.
James (Jim) Francis Kalina, age 90, of Lonsdale, MN, passed away peacefully, surrounded by his loving family on October 21, 2025. Jim was born in Wheatland Township, MN, on January 6, 1935, to Max and Emma (Cecka) Kalina. After high school, he served his country in the U.S. Army, stationed in Korea.
An impressive comeback effort fell just short of victory as the New Prague girls’ volleyball team lost a decisive fifth game and the match to Farmington in the opening round of Section 1AAAA playoffs tonight, Wednesday, Oct. 22, at NPHS.
Outscoring Rochester John Marshall 13-8 in the final two quarters, New Prague High School’s football team topped the Rockets 39-30 Tuesday, Oct. 21, to earn a trip to the Section 1AAAA semifinals Saturday, Oct. 25, 7 p.m., at Rochester Mayo.
Paul Adolf Swidorski, age 87, of Montgomery, died on the morning of Friday, September 26, 2025, at the Belle Plaine Lutheran Home.
With the regular season complete, New Prague swimmers and divers are turning their focus and training schedule to prepare themselves for the section meet, a competition where they can earn entry in the state meet.
This past week, news outlets covering the capitol reported on progress, or the lack of it, on the desire some folks have to address the accessibility of guns to people who ought not have them. So far, about six weeks after a gunman took the lives of two innocent children and injured 30, no news is not good news.
Elko New Market firefighter Jodi Muelken was honored Monday, Oct. 6, with the 2025 Minnesota Crime Prevention Association Volunteer of the Year award.
The award is given to a person who has demonstrated by their actions, a furthering of crime prevention efforts in a given community or specific area. The MCPA has been presenting the award since 1973.
Jay Simon, fire chief of Elko New Market’s volunteer fire department, nominated Muelken.
