'Our children's murderers are sitting right there on their phones'
A quiet epidemic is sweeping the countryside — opioid overdoses, better known from the families of victims as fentanyl poisoning. In Minnesota alone, the numbers have more than tripled over ten years.
According to the Minnesota Department of Health, there were 317 opioid-involved overdose deaths, but that number skyrockets to 1,031 in 2022 and 1,001 in 2023.

Mallards remain hot, going 2-0 on the week with a three game win streak and winning four of the last five, before heading into an extended break over the 4th of July holiday. The Mallards are now 8-8 in DRS League action and 10-9 overall.
Montgomery Mallards 4, Waterville Indians 3
The Mallards traveled to Waterville Friday night for a non-league game against the Indians, scoring in the top of the 9th to leave town 4-3 winners.

Gary James Rutt, age 80, of St. Thomas, passed away suddenly at All Saints Senior Living in Shakopee, on Tuesday, July 1, 2025.  Gary was born on June 17, 1945, in New Prague, to Frank and Mary (Velishek) Rutt. He attended Holy Redeemer Catholic School and Montgomery High School.  He met the love of his life, Shirley E. Keough, at her “sweet 16th” birthday party and they married on October 2, 1965, at St.

Shirley Ann Budin, age 81, of Montgomery, died peacefully at her home on June 30, 2025, after spending two weeks under hospice care.
She was born at home on the farm in Union Hill, MN, to Norbert and Viola Weiers on May 31, 1944. She was the oldest of 12 children. She graduated from New Prague High School in 1962. She went to beauty school in Minneapolis and got a job at Southdale Mall at Doll House Beauty. 

A Celebration of Life for Terry Kielty will be held at the Montgomery American Legion Post 79 on Saturday, July 12, from 1-5 p.m. Friends and relatives are encouraged to come and remember him with some food, refreshments, and community.

With 32 days left before the start of Kolacky Days, the parade marshals were announced for the 91st annual event.
The Kolacky Days Meet and Greet was held at Memorial Park on Monday evening. The pavilion hosting the event was packed with Montgomery Area Community Club (MACC) members and directors, volunteers, and Kolacky Queen candidates.
The Kolacky royalty for 2025 was introduced. Kolacky Queen Neysa Anderson and Second Princess and Miss Congeniality Tayla Kline spoke about their experiences attending events as royalty over the past year.

Lonsdale Chamber of Commerce’s 3rd Annual Badges & Bobbers event on Friday, June 20, was a ‘reel’ catch with local emergency responders. It was a great day for fishing, and wasn’t thwarted by rain like last year’s event.
A total of 25 kids were paired up with law enforcement officers, firefighters and staff at Rezac Nature Preserve’s fishing pier for a lesson in catching fish while making positive connections with emergency personnel.

Marilyn M. May, age 91, of New Prague, died tragically as the result of a car accident, on Friday, May 30, 2025, at Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis.
 Marilyn Mae Prokes was the only child born to Martin W. and Adeline (Shankey) Prokes on November 23, 1933.  Her childhood was spent living above the grocery store her parents operated and playing with the neighborhood children on Main Street.  She attended St. Wenceslaus and New Prague High School.  After graduation in 1951, Marilyn and friends headed to Minneapolis to live and work.

Roberta (Bert) Jane (Leatherman) McGuiggan, age 98, passed away June 18, 2025, at Christian Community Home in Osceola, WI. Roberta was born July 22, 1926, to parents Charles and Anna (Becker) Leatherman.
 She was married to John (Jack) E. McGuiggan Jr. on December 26, 1944, and to this marriage had 10 children – 7 girls and 3 boys.

Gerald Gene Adamek, age 79, of Montgomery, died on Friday, June 27, 2025, at his home in Montgomery surrounded by his loving family.

Titans Branko Schoenbauer, Addison Mann, and Jacob Cihak, qualified individually, and the TCU trapshooting team have qualified for the Minnesota State High School League’s (MSHSL) State Clay Target Tournament on Friday, June 20, at the Minneapolis Gun Club in Credit River Township.

Kilkenny’s Anna Stangler (Fischer), age 39, was involved in a single vehicle utility task vehicle (UTV) accident Thursday, June 12, according to a press release from the Le Sueur County Sheriff’s Office.
The release said that a 911 call was received at approximately 2:35 p.m. on June 12 from a family member in Kilkenny Township and that Stangler had been involved in an UTV accident in the county ditch behind their home.

After an overcast day, the sun broke free from the clouds just as the Tri-City FFA Alumni and Friends Truck and Tractor Pull began Friday evening.
A crowd of several hundred was there for the seventh annual event at the Le Sueur County Fairgrounds. The truck and tractor pull featured 91 participants in 19 different categories, ranging from tractors to street-legal Pickup trucks.
Some participants came from as far away as Wisconsin to take part in the pull.

Three members of the 2025 Tri-City United Schools Volunteer Community Task Force presented to the school board their recommendations for the district at their last meeting on Tuesday, May 27.
The task force met on five occasions in April through May, doing a site visit at each school to see issues first hand. The superintendent, each school’s principal, and other staff lead a tour of the schools, followed by a separation of the staff and task force to come up with their own opinions about each site.

Montgomery’s Ed Keogh was elected the Department of Minnesota Veterans of Foreign Wars State commander at its 126th annual convention held in St. Cloud, Minn., June 5-8. He had the honor of being installed by the VFW National Commander-In-Chief Al Lipphardt.
Keogh is a past District 2 VFW commander and past commander of the Montgomery VFW Post 5340, which he held for 14 years. He is the first member of VFW Post 5340 to hold the position of department commander since the post was started nearly 80 years ago.

Phyllis Vosejpka (nee Kriha), age 95, of St. Paul, MN, died peacefully on June 9, 2025.  Phyllis was born April 19, 1930, in Minneapolis, and grew up in Montgomery, Minnesota.  She married Stanley Vosejpka in 1955, and they settled in St. Paul, where they raised their family and where Phyllis lived for the remainder of her life. 
Phyllis was an accomplished baker and seamstress, an avid card player and fisherwoman, and a devoted sports fan.  She was immensely proud of her Czech heritage and enjoyed both speaking and singing in Czech with the Sokol Minnesota Singers.