Dozens of WEM Future Farmers of America (FFA) members received awards during their annual end-of-the-year awards banquet held Wednesday, May 6 in Waterville.

State FFA Awards, officers retiring and newly elected, Greenhand Degrees, Chapter Degrees, and senior recognition were among the awards presented.

Senior Clare Landrum received her State Degree and was the recipient of the James Tracy Scholarship. She is also the outgoing WEM FFA President.

Two WEM groups advanced to State competition.

Linda Kay Fitts (née Jacobs), 75, of Excelsior, passed away on April 29, 2026.

Loren “Curly” Joseph Schwartz, age 67, of Elysian, died at his home on the evening of Thursday, May 7, 2026, following a difficult but brave battle with cancer.

Harlan Kurt "Haggy" Hagberg , age 66, passed away on May 9, 2026, at his home in Waterville. Harlan was a kind, caring, humorous, hard-working man who brought joy to those around him. He worked his entire life as a blacktopper, paver operator, and was proud to do so. He started at Alexander when he was 18 and also worked for Bituminous Roadways and ended with Nielsen’s Blacktopping. He will be deeply missed by all who knew him and loved him. His memory will live on in their hearts forever.

    Le Sueur County Veterans Service Officer (CVSO) Mark Roemhildt delivered his final department report to the Le Sueur County Board of Commissioners at their regular meeting on April 21.
    “I am just across six years in this position,” Roemhildt said. “My last day will be Friday, May 1. My last day in the office, however, will be this coming Friday (April 24), and then Joe will have the keys to the castle.”
    Succeeding Roemhildt is Joe Fisher, who was hired to the position on April 6. He had been training for the three weeks before the meeting.

Nancy Jo Stoering passed away on April 27, 2026, after a long and courageous battle with cancer. Her journey began in 2014 with a diagnosis of pancreatic cancer, followed by breast cancer in 2016, and later metastatic breast cancer in 2025, each faced with remarkable strength and resilience.

It was a game for the record books Monday, April 20 in Nicollet for the WEM baseball team.

The Bucs scored 21 runs in the bottom of the first inning on their way to a 36- 2, five inning win over the Raiders in a nonconference game.

Every player on the roster got a chance to play. They finished with 22 hits, they walked 20 times, finished with 27 runs batted in, had seven extra base hits, including three triples.

Seventeen players scored runs. 14 players had hits. 14 players had an RBI. 13 players received a walk.

The WEM Education Association surveyed its members last week on the issue of hoods and/or hats being worn in school.

This topic was brought up during the March WEM Board of Education meeting and the education association invited its members to participate in the short survey which had only two questions. A total of 48 members responded to the survey and a summary of their responses and reason for or against were tallied.

The first question was should students be able to wear hoods during the school day? 95 percent of those who answered said no.

    Minnesota legislators passed a new school bus safety law by a 133-0 vote in the house and 67-0 in the senate in March to close some safety loopholes. It was the first bill of this legislative session to pass. 
    Stopping for school busses allowed for some gray area in the wording that drivers shall stop when busses are “… displaying extended stop signal arm and flashing red lights.” This left the door open for people faced with a fine to argue that the arm was not extended or not fully yet when they passed.

Do you know of someone who took advantage of the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) program in the 1930s? Maybe your father or grandfather or great uncle? Did you know there was a camp situated in our county?

Background On March 31, 1933 President Franklin D. Roosevelt received Senate Bill S. 598 on his desk to be signed. The bill was passed by both the House of Representatives and the Senate and quickly moved forward to the President. Roosevelt then signed an executive order on April 5.

Bernadine “Bernie” Carla Morris, age 64, of Mankato, died on Sunday, April 19, 2026, at MCHS in Mankato.

    Minnesota Valley Electric Cooperative (MVEC), which serves much of our readership area, held its annual meeting at Jordan High School on Tuesday, April 7, where over 200 members gathered.
    A total of 20 $1,500 scholarships to high school seniors were given out or a total of $30,000. To be eligible for the scholarship, students must have a parent or legal guardian who are MVEC members, be enrolled to attend an accredited post-secondary institution as a full-time student, and have at minimum GPA of 2.0. 

Three members of the WEM Speech team have advanced to the Class A State Speech Meet, which will be held Saturday, April 25 at Park Center High School.

Seniors Kayla Bronk and Abby Crosby and sophomore Lacey Reysack advanced by placing in the top three of their individual events at the Section 2A Meet held Friday, April 10 at JWP High School.

The annual MSHSL 2A North Sections competition for the Visual Arts took place over the course of two days last week. Each school is limited to a maximum of 18 entries over 12 different art categories. No school is allowed to have more than six entries in a single category. And, no student may enter more than one piece in a single category; but students may compete in more than one category.

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources will begin lowering water levels on Willis Lake in Waseca County, prompted by a decline in wildlife use and habitat quality.

Willis Lake is a 116-acre shallow lake located in Waseca County. Because of its importance to resident and migratory wildlife, Willis Lake was designated as a wildlife lake in 2001. It is one of only 61 such lakes in the state. This designation allows DNR staff to manage water levels through temporary drawdowns to address factors that affect water and habitat quality.

The JWP/WEM girls track and field team is starting to show people why they are among the best teams in Class A.

JWP was the 2025 Class A State Champion. Now with the majority of their athletes back and the addition of some very good WEM athletes, the Bulldogs will again be a force to reckon with this season.

They competed in a pair of invitationals last week and claimed the championship in both of those.