Leonard J. Pexa, age 80, of New Prague died peacefully, with family by his side on Saturday, May 25, 2019 at Reflections, Three Links Care Center, Northfield, MN.
Leonard was born October 5, 1938 in Helena Township, Scott County, MN to Wencel “Jim” Pexa and Bessie (Kadrlik) Pexa. He was raised in the St. Patrick area and attended District 47 Elementary School, St. Wenceslaus School, and graduated in 1956 from New Prague High School.

The New Prague Trojan's Section 1AAAA baseball opener against Lakeville South, scheduled for Friday, May 24, has been postponed due to today's rain.
The game has been scheduled for 3 p.m. Saturday, May 25, at Memorial Stadium in New Prague.

It was the last day of school for the seniors at New Prague High School, and keeping with tradition, a group of seniors drove tractors to school on the final day. This included Tyler Lund, who drove a late 1950s John Deere that he said was purchased new by his great-grandfather.

The first of two solar energy projects in Elko New Market was dedicated the evening of Thursday, April 25. The city has been working with Ideal Energies LLC of Minneapolis on the projects. The first to be completed was the installation of 86 solar panels on the roof of the city’s Public Works building. Taking part in the ceremony were Elko New Market Council member Kate Timmerman, Mayor Joe Julius, Assistant City Administrator Mark Nagel and Braden Solum of Ideal Energies LLC.

On Monday, we will observe Memorial Day, a national holiday that honors those who died while serving in the US Armed Forces.

Students at Eagle View Elementary School in Elko New Market welcomed resident African drumming artist Christian Adeti. Christian was born and raised in Accra, Ghana of West Africa. He has been performing drumming, singing, and dancing internationally for the past 16 years.

This week we are putting the finishing touches on our annual New Prague High School graduation section. Each year we work hard to include each member of the senior class, but invariably, some students choose not to participate. The Times has been producing this special section for 29 years, and I have been a part of 27 of these sections (not including the one that had my graduation picture). The first one I worked on was in 1991, when there were about 135 graduates. It has gone up every year since then, and this year we started with a list of 318 names.

After a two-day delay due to rain, the New Prague Trojan softball team won two games Thursday, May 23, to remain unbeaten in the Section 1AAAA softball tournament.
in the first game, Mia Kraimer had a three-run home run and Kennedy Buckman had two home runs as New Prague defeated Owatonna 13-1 in five innings.

On Tuesday, May 14, the New Prague Trojan tennis team played just their second home playoff match in the past 10 years. Seeded fourth in Section 2AA south, they faced off against No. 5 seed Hutchinson.
“While New Prague beat Hutchinson earlier in the year, almost every match was close, and we knew it was going to be close here too,” said Coach Ben Hilding.

Sunday’s rain washed out the entire six-game schedule in the Dakota-Rice-Scott Baseball league. Games that were postponed included Elko at Lonsdale, New Prague at Veseli, Montgomery at St. Benedict, Union Hill at New Market, Shakopee at Webster and Faribault at St. Patrick. The only makeup date announced so far was New Prague at Veseli, which will be played on July 14.
Five league games were played last week, with Elko, Prior Lake, New Prague, New Market, Faribault and St. Patrick getting wins. New Market remains atop the league standing with a 6-0 record.

US Navy Captain Lesley Fierst will be the speaker at New Prague’s annual Memorial Day observance, to be held Monday, May 27, at Memorial Park.
The observance includes cemetery visits, a parade from City Hall to Memorial Park, and a program at Memorial Park.
The New Prague Veterans Honor Guard will gather at the Park Ballroom at 8:15 a.m. and depart at 8:45 for area cemeteries.
The schedule includes: 9 a.m. - St. Patrick 9:35 a.m. - St. Benedict 9:55 a.m. - Lanesburgh 10:15 a.m. - Union Hill 10:30 a.m. - Czech National 10:45 a.m. - St. Wenceslaus

New Prague jumped to a 10-2 lead and went on to defeat host Buffalo 16-7 to earn a spot in the MSHSL CI Adapted Softball Tournament.
The tournament will be held Friday and Saturday, May 31 and June 1, at Chanhassen High School. This is the sixth time the Trojans have advanced to the state tournament. They went four years, from 2008 through 2011, and again last year.
The team includes athletes from New Prague, Tri-City United, Belle Plaine and Jordan schools.
Read more in the print edition.

The New Prague Trojan baseball team will begin the Section 1AAAA playoffs at 5 p.m. Friday, May 24, when they host Lakeville South at Memorial Stadium.
New Prague received the No. 3 seed and South is the No. 6 seed in the eight-team double-elimination tournament.
The Trojans completed their regular season Tuesday with a 6-3 loss to Orono.
Rochester Century, Farmington, New Prague and Lakeville North received the top four seeds and will host first round games.
first round pairings, Friday, May 24
8-Rochester Mayo at 1-Rochester Century

Talitha Rose Mueller, age 16 of South St. Paul, MN ended her years-long struggle with A-T (ataxia telangiectasia) on Friday, May 17, 2019 at Gillette Children’s Hospital.

A special city council meeting to discuss the 2020 budget in Lonsdale Monday became more than that when the mayor read the recommendation by its attorney on a cease and desist letter during public comments, that lead to council member Steve Cherney walking out in response.

Update Wednesday, May 22
The schedule has been reset for a second time for the Section 1AAAA softball playoffs.
After games were postponed Tuesday and Wednesday for the first round, officials announced Wednesday afternoon that first AND second round games will be played Thursday, May 23, at Todd Park in Austin, with games at 4 and 6 p.m. Third round games will be played Friday, also in Austin. The tournament will resume Tuesday, May 28, as originally scheduled.
Pairings for Thursday, May 23, 4 p.m.
8-Rochester Century at 1-Lakeville North