On a 6-1 roll call vote, the Waterville-Elysian-Morristown School Board officially decided to close WEM Middle School in Morristown. The decision was made at the board’s regular meeting on Oct. 27.

“I think we’re losing an opportunity to increase enrollment,” Board Member Jeff Stangler said. Stangler was the lone vote against closing the school. “We did all this talking, but we’ve never done anything.”

The building will be closed as of June 5, 2026.

Waterville Police Chief Bob Petrasak asked the Waterville City Council for approval to obtain and train a certified therapy dog during their Tuesday, October 7 regular meeting.

The dog would be used in police fire, CISM support group (Critical Incident, Stress, Management), North Memorial ambulance services, Waterville-Elysian-Morristown School District, and for the residents of Waterville.

Council member Tim Smith commended Petrasek on his request and was absolutely in favor of it.

St. Clair freshman Payton Blount blasted 20 kills in leading her St. Clair volleyball team to a seep of WEM in the Section 2AA Quarterfinal Thursday, Oct. 23 in Waterville.

The Cyclones defeated WEM 25-14, 27-25, and 25-18 to end the Buccaneers’ season with a 20-9 overall record.

Blount provided much of the offense for the fifth seeded Cyclones, who advance to play No. 1 seed Southwest Christian Tuesday, Oct. 28 at New Prague in the Section 2AA Semifinals.

WEM finished with 31 total kills but they also had 28 hitting errors in 147 total attacks.

Halloween events in the Lake Region Area will be held this weekend and on Halloween.

The Waterville Chamber of Commerce is sponsoring the Trunk or Treat on Main Street in Waterville Saturday, Oct. 25 from 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.

At 4 p.m. the Just For Kix Dancers will be performing.

The annual Elysian Spook Trail is also scheduled for Saturday, October 25 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. along the Sakatah State Trail in downtown Elysian.

In preparation for Thanksgiving, the Le Sueur County Veterans Office is providing $25 gift vouchers during the month of November to veterans. The office is partnering with O’Keefe’s Meat Market in Le Center to provide the gift vouchers, according to a press release from the Le Sue County Veterans Office.

Area veterans can stop by the Le Sueur County Veterans Office to pick up a voucher, while they last, said the press release. This is a benefit for veterans of Le Sueur County because of their service to our nation.

For the past 30+ years, 1991 WEM graduate Cedric Hohnstadt has been a professional illustrator.

Little do people know, they probably have seen some of his work on a regular basis.

Over the year Hohnstadt has done a lot of work for the company Hasbro. Included in this work he has illustrated packaging for Mr. Potato Head, Pound Puppies, and Baby Alive. He has also illustrated playset stickers for My Little Pony and sketched multiple toy concepts for internal meetings about such brands as Play Doh, Sesame Street, Angry Birds, and Star Wars.

A public hearing has been scheduled to finalize the closing of the WEM Middle School School building in Morristown.

This hearing, which will be held Tuesday, October 14 in the WEM Auditorium in Waterville at 6:30 p.m., needs to be held according to State Statute Section 123B.51, subdivision 5.

Alenka Jans and Kaden James were crowned WEM Homecoming Queen and King Friday afternoon during the WEM pepfest held in the WEM High School Gymnasium in Waterville on Friday, Oct. 3, 2025. 

Halfway through the eight game regular high school football season, the WEM Buccaneers are among only eight teams still undefeated in Class AA.

The Buccaneers rolled to a 51-14 win over Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton Friday, Sept. 19 behind more than 500 yards rushing.

The Associated Press rated the Buccaneers the 10th best Class A team last week on Wednesday, Sept. 17. WEM should move up at least two places following week four games. The two teams just above the Bucs in the rankings, redwood Valley and Osakis, both lost Friday night.

Although conditions were dry for Kilkenny’s Halfway to St. Paddy’s Day celebration Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 13-14, it was a hot one out there. Temperatures both days were in the mid-80’s and dew points in the upper 60’s to low 70’s made it a little uncomfortable for physical activity, such as their self-proclaimed “World Famous Toilet Bowl Race” on Saturday afternoon.

The much anticipated 2025 WEM Homecoming Week begins Monday, September 29 and will run through October 4.

Four queen and four king candidates have been chosen and they will be crowned Friday, Oct. 3 during the afternoon coronation in Waterville.

Queen candidates include Addison Condon, daughter of Scott and Pam Condon, Morgan Flohaug, daughter of Trevor Flohaug, Alenka Jans, daughter of Andy and Anne Jans, and Clare Landrum, daughter of Ryan and Katie Landrum.

Seven individuals applied, six individuals were interviewed, and one individual was named to the Elysian City Council during the regular September 8 meeting.

A vacancy on the council was declared August 11, 2025. following the death of Mayor Thomas McBroom, Sr. Council member Dennis Schnoor was appointed mayor, which left a council spot open.

Steve Hoppe was chosen among the six interviewed to fill in the fourth city council position.

In his post on Facebook, Sean McCaslin simply started by saying,” Feeling grateful” with an emoji following a fire which destroyed property at Lakeview Resort at approximately 9:54 p.m.Tuesday, Sept. 9.

McCaslin said he was in one of his two bedrooms at his residence at the campground when he heard an explosion. An individual at the campground saw the initial fire and called 911 and within minutes the Waterville Fire Department was at the scene.

Morristown City Council’s monthly meeting on Sept. 2 was only 22 minutes long, but the groundwork was set for future meetings.

As required by law in the month of September, the preliminary levy was set for next year’s budget. The total for Morristown is $717,434.

The amount represents a 6% increase from the previous year. The amount of the increase is not official until the final budget is voted on in December.

Before that, a Truth in Taxation hearing will be held. The council set the public hearing for Dec. 1 at 7 p.m. at 402 Division St. S. in Morristown.

Sheriff Brett V.P. Mason of Le Sueur County announced last week the commencement of the Law Enforcement Scholarship Program for 2025.

Sheriff Mason announced that the MSA Board of Directors has established a scholarship fund for the awarding of up to 18 - $2,000 scholarships for this year. These scholarships are due to the coordinated efforts of the 87 elected Sheriffs of the State of Minnesota.