If he could, if his body would allow it, Jacob Kirchner would love to play baseball with his friends. Sadly, the 14-year-old boy from Belle Plaine cheers for his favorite teams – the Tigers and his big brother, Zachary, who plays outfield for the high school and town baseball teams.

The son of Jessica and John Kirchner, Jacob and his family – siblings Michel, Haley and Zachary – will be the guests of honor at the 10th annual Home Run Derby to raise funds for his family. It is scheduled for June 27, 6 p.m., at Don Giesen Field in Union Hill.

    Le Sueur County took a step to pump the brakes on data centers being built in the county. At the Board of Commissioners meeting on May 26, the county unanimously passed a one-year moratorium on data center construction.
    The moratorium covers unincorporated areas of Le Sueur County. Cities within the county can still make their own decisions.
    “If a city wants to have a data center, we don’t have any control over that at all,” Commissioner David Preisler said. “If they want to, they’re not affected by this ordinance. They’ve got their own planning and zoning.”

St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church of Union Hill, west of New Prague, held a free-will lunch and fellowship after its Feast of Corpus Christi, Sunday, June 7. Rev. Eugene Theisen agreed to get into a dunk tank to help raise funds. The dunk tank was $5 for children and $10 for adults. It was a popular event with children with many lining up to try and dunk Theisen.

Theisen agreed to...

To see more on this story pick up the June 11, 2026 print edition of The New Prague Times. 

Music at Memorial, the free summer music concert series in New Prague starts its fifth year of performances Wednesday, June 17, 6-8 p.m. Produced by the New Prague Arts Foundation, there are eight concerts this year, all on Wednesday nights.

“We are excited to produce the concert series again this summer,” said Den Gardner, chair of the foundation. “This is our last year at Memorial Park and we thank the city for the space. Next year the series will be at the new Praha Outdoor Performance Stage (POPS) facility on the west end of town.”

Elko New Market joined other Minnesota communities addressing data centers as the Elko New Market City Council approved a moratorium on data centers.

The council approved the moratorium at its Thursday, May 14, meeting.

In a memorandum from City Senior Planner Renee Christianson said city staff recommended the adoption of the moratorium to allow the city time to study what the impact of a data center might be to the area and for a comprehensive study to be done.

While there has been little progress to creating a new U.S. Post Office for New Prague, behind-the-scenes work toward a new home for a facility has continued.

The Postal Service has secured a lease for a new facility at 1102 First St. NE in New Prague, said Desai Abdul-Razzaaq of the U.S. Post Office’s Corporate Communications Office. The location is the site of the former Pizza Ranch restaurant just east of the intersection of NE 10th Ave. and E Main St. “Construction activities will begin soon,” he said.

The New Prague City Council unanimously approved two resolutions for the property at 1201 First St. NE. The first was to purchase the property for $1.7 million, which recently had been the location for New Day Church and the second resolution established procedures relating to compliance with reimbursement bond regulations.

City Administrator Josh Tetzlaff said the second resolution was if the council makes a decision that bonding for the purchase of the church is needed. At this time, the city has no intentions to bond for the purchase of the property, Tetzlaff said.

Understanding the cost of freedom was a theme in the speech of New Prague’s Memorial Day speaker, Chief Master Sergeant Jamy Tikalsky, Monday, May 25, during ceremonies at the New Prague Veterans Memorial.

Tikalsky dedicated 31 years to serving the U.S. She served in the U.S. Air Force and the Minnesota Air National Guard. During her career, she supported multiple military operations, including Operation Desert Shield, Operation Desert Storm and Operation Enduring Freedom.

Any New Prague High School graduate who was asked Saturday afternoon agreed postponing the ceremony to Saturday afternoon, May 23, 2 p.m. was the right decision. On a sunny afternoon, 343 seniors joined the ranks of graduates ready to begin the next chapter of their lives.

Rain before and up to the commencement ceremony’s scheduled 7 p.m. start time Friday evening prompted the rescheduling of the ceremony to Saturday.

Hundreds of people attended the retirement open house for Pastor Steve Trewartha, Saturday, May 16, at the Knights of Columbus Hall in New Prague. Trewartha, more known as “Pastor Steve,” has served as a pastor in New Prague for more than 20 years and is the founding pastor of FaithPoint Lutheran Church of rural New Prague.

When he thought about a contribution to the committee raising funds to build the Praha Outdoor Performance Stage (POPS) in New Prague, Eddie Shimota might have been able to cut a check and be done with the matter. But Shimota, owner of Shimota Project Management, noticed the committee had plenty of generous, dedicated and talented people, but none of them with much experience building anything.

In Memorial Day ceremonies that will be repeated across the United States, New Prague will honor and remember those who served and who gave all, Monday, May 25, with services at area cemeteries and at memorials.

The day will include ceremonies at the New Prague Veterans Memorial in Memorial Park along East Main Street. In case of inclement weather, the program at the veterans memorial will be held in the Park Ballroom, 300 Lexington Ave. S.

She could have taken any of a number of easier routes to graduating high school. Friday night, Hayden Tourtillott will receive her high school diploma as a reward to herself for not giving up and thinking of her future.

Hayden Tourtillott, 20, should have graduated with New Prague High School’s Class of 2024. For a variety of reasons, some of which she acknowledges were within her own control, Tourtillott didn’t get the work done, working for an hourly wage to pay rent and meet commitments rather than complete the school work needed to earn passing grades and graduate.

The Elko New Market City Council approved two new liquor licenses at its Thursday, May 14, meeting. By a 4-0 vote the council approved an on-sale intoxicating liquor license and a Sunday sale liquor license for Jaceyn Brockhouse, Patrick Flynn and Wade Brelje who submitted paperwork for the licenses for Mega Properties LLC, which operates Elko Speedway at 26350 France Ave. Elko Speedway is a 92-acre facility featuring a 3/8-mile NASCAR-sanctioned asphalt oval track.

A public hearing was required for the liquor licenses, which was held with no comments.

The day begins with the New Prague Veterans Honor Guard visiting area cemeteries where the names of veterans buried at those cemeteries will be read.

The visits begin at St. Patrick Cemetery at 9 a.m. then St. Benedict Cemetery 9:25 a.m., Lanesburgh Cemetery 9:45 a.m., Union Hill Cemetery 10:10 a.m., Czech National Cemetery 10:30 a.m. and St. Wenceslaus Cemetery 10:50 a.m.

St. Thomas Church near Le Sueur will be holding a Memorial Day Mass at 9 a.m. with a blessing of the graves after the Mass.

The Elko New Market Safety Camp had 62 children, from kindergarten through eighth grade attend. During the Saturday, May 2, camp at Eagle View Elementary School in Elko New Market, children could explore vehicles from the Elko New Market Fire Department, the Northfield ambulance service, Scott County Sheriff’s Office and at six stations could learn about various safety rules from Minnesota Valley Electric Cooperative (MVEC), boating rules from the Scott County Sheriff’s Office and safety rules for bikes, skateboards and scooters from the Elko New Market Police Department.