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.

    Tri-City United High School had 30 students, seven teams and two individuals, that participated in Minnesota’s 97th Annual State FFA Convention April 20-21 on the Minnesota State Fairgrounds and the University of Minnesota St. Paul campus. 
    Members participated in hearing speakers, competitions, workshops, leadership sessions, and an awards ceremony with over 6,000 other FFA members from around the state with the convention’s theme being “Believe.”

This year’s Tri-City United prom theme, “Rock Thru the Ages,” was a hit with one of the staff bringing in a motorcycle as one of the grand march photo stations in the gymnasium. Participants gathered at the Revival on Main for formal pictures first, headed to a packed gymnasium at the high school for the grand march, and then were whisked away via bus to the Science Museum of Minnesota for prom dinner and dance. The students then packed buses at 10:30 p.m. to go to Bowlero in Lakeville for post prom, and finally boarded buses back to the high school at 3 a.m.

    Montgomery City Council approved the three-year sealcoating plan for city streets at the April 20 regular meeting.
    Areas for 2027 include the 2025 Street and Utilities Improvement Plan area on the west side, as well as portions of the west of that location, and Lexington Avenue Northwest and 1st Street North near the police station up to Boulevard Avenue. Estimated cost for the 2027 portion is $134, 751.21.

    A crash of three vehicles happened at the intersection of Highway 13 and Highway 21 on the south side of Montgomery at approximately 6:58 a.m. on Friday, April 17, according to the incident report from the Minnesota State Patrol.

    Montgomery City Council said no to the location of the proposed 56-unit apartment building from Community Asset Development Group (CADG), which would have gone at the end of the cul-de-sac on 7th Street Southeast, at Monday’s regular council meeting. 

    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.

    “I am officially announcing my candidacy for Rice County Sheriff in the 2026 election. This decision follows Sheriff Jesse Thomas’s announcement that he will retire at the end of his term this December,” said Nathan Budin.    
    Rice County Sheriff Jesse Thomas announced earlier announced earlier this year that he would be retiring at the end of his term on Dec. 31.

    Tri-City United High School’s FFA students once again showed their pride in agriculture through another “Drive Your Tractor to School Day.”
    FFA students gathered early on Thursday, April 16, on the south end of Montgomery for a light breakfast and for each other to gaze over the other’s tractor — or in the case of one individual, a road grader.

    When people need help, they oftentimes call a firefighter. When firefighters need help dealing with the worst of the outcomes they face, Reverend George Jerome Grafsky was there to help.

    Earlier we were graced with the 2026 Kolacky Days button and now we finally get to meet this year’s Kolacky Days queen candidates.
    Parents and candidates met with the Kolacky Days Pageant Committee on Saturday, April 18, for the candidate registration and informational meeting. The committee gave a run-down of what is expected throughout the process, as well as learning about what happens if they are chosen as royalty.

    Thespians depicting roles of various fairytales were thrown into the pit this past weekend in Tri-City United High School’s spring play, “Dragon’s Lair.”
    Four “Dragons,” representative of  the Sharks on the popular television show “Shark Tank,” decided the fate of various fairytale characters and their ideas and products related to make them money. Those who didn’t make the cut were thrown into a pit with the Dragon.

    Tri-City United High School’s speech team had a good showing at the Section 1A speech finals in Byron last Friday. Four of the six section finalists will be moving onto the state speech tournament on April 25 at Park Center High School in Brooklyn Park.

    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. 

    Tri-City United High School was again host to the Section 2A North Visual Arts Festival. Schools within the subsection presented about 120 pieces of art in total, up from about 90 last year, according to TCU High School Art Teacher Tony Barnack.
    The Titan students, 15 in total, displayed the maximum allowed per school of 18 pieces, which included drawings, paintings, sculptures, crafts, digital photography, and ceramics.

    The Lonsdale Ambassadors held their annual Easter Egg Hunt at Jaycee Park in Lonsdale this past Saturday. Snow showers, sometimes mixed with sleet and graupel, happened throughout the event. 
    Despite the less-than-ideal weather, about 250 people showed up. A soggy softball infield kept people avoiding that area as much as possible while egg hunting, and most wore hats, gloves and mittens in the cold weather.