Thursday, March 12, 2020 UPDATE
MANKATO, Minn. – (3 p.m.) Highway 93 from Highway 169 to Henderson is expected to reopen by 6 p.m. this evening, Thursday, March 12, after being closed since March 8 due to flooding on the Rush River.  Crews have been working to clear debris off the road and make repairs to shoulders and culverts.
 The shoulders of southbound Highway 93 are extremely soft due to exposure to the floodwaters. MnDOT is advising no travel on the shoulders until they dry out and repairs can be made.

The Le Sueur County Board cruised through a very light agenda Tuesday, March 3.
The regular meeting lasted approximately 40 minutes, but was followed by a special road and bridge work session.
A number of items which were dealt with during the regular meeting involved the highway department.
A couple of final payments were approved for work done this past year.
Crane Creek Asphalt received final payments of $148,200.72 for the CSAH 15 project from CSAH 22 to CSAH 26, and a payment of $69,056.47 for the CSAH project near Heidelberg.

The City of Elko New Market held an open house for an Alternative Urban Areawide Review (AUAR) on the Adelmann family property, east of the town. Community Development Specialist Renee Christianson and City Engineer Rich Revering answered questions about the review of the approximately 70 acres of property, which is located near the Interstate 35 interchange and currently in New Market Township.

A Las Vegas homicide suspect is in police custody after being located in Rice County.
Mark Doocy, 60, of Blooming Prairie, was arrested on March 4 at the Flying J Truck Stop at I-35 and Highway 19. According to Rice County Sheriff Troy Dunn, Doocy was arrested and forced to leave his vehicle after he refused to cooperate with officials.

He helped New Prague honor its own fallen hometown hero in 2012, 23-year-old Marine Lance Corporal Dale W. Means, who died November 18, 2012, while serving with the U.S. Marine Corps in Afghanistan.
Now, Larry “The Flag Guy” Eckhardt of Little York, Illinois, is at the end of his life, having placed nearly half a million flags around the U.S. to honor fallen police officers, firefighters, and service members—including Means.

Coborn’s Marketplace in New Prague held a Grand Re-Opening of its store the afternoon of Wednesday, March 4, with two ribbon cuttings. One included dignitaries from the store, employees and those who helped with the remodeling of the store, Little Dukes gas station, the addition of a Caribou Coffee and a new liquor store. The other was for the New Prague Chamber of Commerce. The Grand Re-Opening included face painting, samples from the store and local vendors until 6 p.m., free carnations, cookie decorating, kids activities, and free balloon swords or animals from Wallie the Clown.

The New Prague Fire Department took possession of a new pumper truck the afternoon of Tuesday, March 3. Members of the fire department were spending Tuesday learning how to run the new vehicle. The new truck replaces a pumper truck that had a cracked frame. The new pumper truck can hold 1,000 gallons of water, will be used to help fight rural fires and the department hopes to make use of the truck for more than 25 years. For more see an upcoming print issue of The Times. (Patrick Fisher Photo)

Primary voting is going on across Minnesota today (Tuesday, March 3). Here is a listing of the places people can vote from around the area.

Spring Load Restrictions on Rice, Le Sueur and Scott County State Aid Highways and County roadways will go in to effect at 12:01 a.m., Friday, March 6, 2020.
The Minnesota Department of Transportation has issued a notice that Spring Load Restrictions on the state highway system in the south, southeast and metro frost zones go in to effect on Friday, March 6, 2020.
Ending dates for spring load restrictions are variable and based on how weather is affecting roadway strength.
The Spring Load Restriction map is posted on the MNDOT website at mndot.gov/loadlimits.

Minnesota will join Super Tuesday this year — and 13 other states, including Texas and California, in perhaps the most consequential day of the presidential primary season.
It’s new in Minnesota. It’s our first presidential primary since 1992 and only the fourth in state history. Here are some rules.

The 44th annual Norm Sladek Memorial Euchre Tournament drew 84 people. Held at the Knights of Columbus Hall in New Prague on Saturday, Feb. 22, winners this year were Tom Kohout and Donnie Revord. The two edged out the team of Rita Dirks and Katie Skluzacek.
Winning the Trouba Award were Matt Novak and Rob Tietz, who lost 8-1. During the tourney they set the team of Ron and Jeff Simon four times in a row and still lost the game.
Among the teams from around the area who played through the day at the tourney were Harold Shimota of New Prague and his son Tom of Rosemount.

A beautiful winter day helped lead to a great turnout for MusicFest III at the Park Ballroom in New Prague on Saturday, Feb. 22. Lots of sun and temperatures in the low 40s likely helped the fundraiser for the New Prague Veterans Memorial as 550-600 attended the dance and silent auction. The combined events raised approximately $19,500 that will go to the Veterans Memorial that is scheduled to be built this summer.

Sunday, Feb. 23, was a busy day for the 21st annual Wood Duck Box Building Day as a multitude of families stopped by the Knights of Columbus Hall in New Prague to make duck houses.
“We think we’ll be out of houses before it’s over,” said Andrew Harms, the new chapter president of the Scott-Le Sueur Waterfowlers. Around 11:30 a.m. 270 of the 300 duck houses had been built and taken home by families. “It’s been a busy day, but that’s what we like,” said Harms.

Between 390 to 400 people showed up to savor the offerings at the 26th annual Soup Supper. Held in the basement of St. Wenceslaus Catholic Church on Monday, Feb. 17, the free will event served up three flavorful soups. The all you can eat supper had choices of chili, vegetable beef barley and chicken noodle.
Volunteers served up 35 gallons of chili, 35 gallons of vegetable beef barley and 40 gallons of chicken noodle to those attending or those who took their meals to go. There were also several choices of...

The Hwy 21 bridge replacement project in Jordan begins in two weeks and will continue through November to replace two bridges and to build a trail for pedestrians and bicyclists.
Beginning Mon, March 9, construction crews will close Hwy 21 between Mill St. and south of the Sand Creek bridge to:

Replace two bridges over Sand Creek and the Union Pacific railroad
Build a trail for pedestrians and bicyclists between Mill St. and the Sand Creek bridge
Reconstruct Hwy 21 between Mill St. and south of the Sand Creek bridge

National American Legion Commander James W. “Bill” Oxford, center, addresses an audience of 130 people on Wednesday, Feb. 19, during his visit to New Prague American Legion Post 45. A dinner and program was held for Commander Oxford, who was visiting several American Legion Posts in Minnesota. For more see an upcoming print issue of The New Prague Times. (Patrick Fisher Photo)