Scott County Veteran Service Officer and Honorably Discharged Army Veteran Derek Farwell, a Montgomery native, is set to speak at the Tri-City United High School Veterans Day Program. The public is invited to attend this program in the high school’s performing arts center at 12:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 11, entering at the north door (stadium side).

John “Jack” Frank Vlasak, age 85, of Montogomery, MN, passed away peacefully on November 5, 2025, at Mala Strana Assisted Living – Rehabilitation Center in New Prague, with his loving family by his side.

Along Montgomery’s Historic District, the streets were lined with monsters, dinosaurs, ninjas and so, so many princesses.

The annual Monster Mash on Main may have been on the eve of Halloween, but it brought no less of a crowd. Local businesses handed out candy and goodies, and kids, parents and the young at heart walked along 1st Street. There was also a trunk-or-treat area stationed at Frandsen Bank, for businesses who didn’t have a physical location along the street. The bank grounds also had games and activities for trick-or-treaters.

Ten members of the Tri-City United School’s FFA Chapter and one graduate spent Tuesday, Oct. 28, through Saturday, Nov. 1, on a trip to Indianapolis, Ind., to the 98th Annual National FFA Convention & Expo.

TCU FFA President Isaak Worm said that the members also partook in three separate educational site visits on the trip. “The first day we spent at ‘Caves of Mounds’ in (Blue Mound) Wisconsin on the way down,” said Worm. Caves of Mounds is a cave system known for its colorful formations as one of the oldest cave formations in the midwest, located west of Madison, Wis.

The $39.99 million bond for Tri-City United Schools was rejected by voters in the Nov. 4 election despite $7.982,004 being covered by the state Ag2School Tax Credit.

Tax impact on a $400,000 residential property would have been between $10.12-$10.66  a month.

The three precincts voted in total 926 (45.98%) in favor and 1,088 (54.02%) opposed.

Lonsdale voted to pass with 311 in favor and 269 opposed.

Geraldine “Gerry” Mary Pany, age 90, of New Prague, died in the early morning hours of Friday, October 31, 2025, at Praha Village Senior Living in New Prague.

Sharon Ann (Hillesheim) Malecha, age 84, of Lonsdale, passed away peacefully on Friday, October 31, 2025, at United Hospital in St. Paul, surrounded by her children.

Sharon was born on May 10, 1941, in Sleepy Eye, Minnesota, to Nicholas B. and Veronica T. (Marz) Hillesheim. She graduated from St. Mary’s Catholic School in 1959. After high school, she attended secretarial school in Minneapolis and worked at Maico and Bell Telephone Security Systems.

Tri-City United Schools held a series of four open houses this and last week, one at each school, ahead of the Nov. 4 election for the $39.99 million dollar bond. Each location had plenty of resources on hand to answer questions and tours were given showcasing some of the areas that the bond would cover.

A small group of residents along Elm Avenue Southeast and 7th Street Southeast expressed concerns at the Monday, Oct. 20, city council meeting over a potential 43-unit apartment building off the end of the circle on 7th Street Southeast by Community Asset Development Group.

The record-breaking season for the Tri-City United (TCU) boys soccer team ended Tuesday, Oct. 21 with an 8-1 loss to Academy of Holy Angels (17-0-1 record) in the Class A State Tournament.

Before you know it, the Christmas holiday season will be here. The 2025 Torchlight Parade & Fireworks button contest winner is here to remind us of that.

Soleil Neshek, 9, a student in Brenda Petersen’s 4th grade class at Tri-City United PreK-6 School in Lonsdale, was announced the winner this Monday. She is the fourth student to win the button contest from Petersen’s class of the 13 total contests that have been held.

The button contest was open to all 4th grade students within the TCU School District, including home-schooled individuals.

Tri-City United Schools FFA chapter will be out again trick-or-treating to collect non-perishable goods for local food shelves again this Halloween, Friday, Oct. 31. Teams from the chapter will be visiting all three towns in the school district -- Le Center, Lonsdale, and Montgomery. 

Residents are encouraged to gather items from their pantries in preparation for them Halloween late afternoon and early evening. 

Once items are collected, they will be centralized at the high school and divided up accordingly to be distributed in our communities.

Tri-City United High School students once again introduced Hispanic heritage to younger students at TCU Le Center PreK-8 School on Friday, Oct. 24, in honor of Hispanic Heritage Month.

The theme this year revolved around vaqueros (cowboys) with interactive opportunities. TCU Cultural Coordinator Mary Lou Velásquez said, “Kids learned how to line dance to a popular song played at many fiestas, ‘Payaso de Rodeo.’ They also had a chance to learn how to lasso a bull, draw butterflies, learn about popular candies and dance folklore.”

Donald S.

Our dearest Millie Margaret (Krocak) Jones passed away on October 22, 2025, surrounded by family. After being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer just 2 months prior, her end-of-life was far too short, yet every moment was wrapped in courage, peace and love. She gave us her final “farm goodbye".

The Dakota-Rice-Scott League will have a slightly different look next summer when teams take the field and the St. Patrick Irish isn’t one of them.

The Irish, a Class A team, announced earlier this month they were leaving the DRS and joining the other Class A teams in the River Valley League. An announcement the team posted on social media noted the move puts the Irish in closer proximity with Class A RVL teams like Burnsville, Chanhassen, Chaska, Eagan, Prior Lake, Shakopee and Victoria.