The Czech Heritage Club is hosting a “Dumpling Make and Take” at 7 p.m. Tuesday March 12, at the New Prague Library.
Anyone ages 9 and up is welcome to attend. Hana Matousek, a native of the Czech Republic, will show how to make a fast and simple kind of dumpling that the participants will make and take home. Hana has been active in different food events, especially with the Czech and Slovak Sokol Minnesota, and has taught many cooking and bargain classes.

One is a slob. The other is a compulsive neat freak.
Circumstances force them to share an apartment.
Let the laughter begin.
Curtain Call Theatre brings “The Odd Couple, Female Version” to the area for two weeks, beginning Friday.
The Neil Simon play has been a crowd-pleaser since it debuted on Broadway in 1965. Twenty years later, Simon wrote a female version which debuted on Broadway. In Curtain Call’s version, Olive (slob) is played by Heather Jenness, and Florence (neat freak) is played by Linda Gare.

Tri-City United Schools will be closed on Monday, Feb. 25 due to area road conditions made impassable from ice and blowing snow. According to Superintendent Teri Preisler, the day will be a Blended Learning Day for students. There will be no AM Preschool, however, Kidzone will be open from 7:00 am until 5:00 pm. Breakfast and lunch will be served.

Despite orders from a Le Sueur County judge and a retired, court-ordered judge, the Le Sueur County Historical Society (LCHS), has not turned over all its records.
A motion was filed on February 8, 2019, to have Le Sueur County Judge Mark Vandelist address the many missing documents and hear reasons why they haven’t been produced.

MANKATO, Minn. – The Minnesota Department of Transportation is preparing motorists for forecasted heavy snowfall rates overnight through Wednesday. Weather conditions will limit visibility and make travel difficult in south central Minnesota.
The National Weather Service has issued a Winter Storm Warning for much of southern Minnesota, and advises motorists to plan for extra travel time, especially for the Wednesday morning and evening commutes.
MnDOT snowplow operators will do their part to make highways safe and motorists should remember to:

Who do you call when you need to get to work and your car won't start on a blustery below-zero morning? The local towing company.
Gene Mach, owner of Bud's Service in Kilkenny, reported receiving more than 100 calls during the four-day frigid winter vortex that closed schools, stopped the mail, and sent Minnesota into the minus 30 degree fahrenheit range, Monday, January 28 through Thursday, January 31.
About eighty percent of the calls were for cars that wouldn't start. Mach and his crew also responded to stalls, flat tires, and requests for tows.

Suel Printing Company graphic artist Jennifer Leff won second place in the Minnesota Newspaper Association’s 2019 Ad Design Contest.
Studies show that people believe their local newspapers provide the truest information and trust them far more than information found online or on TV. Newspapers continue to have a solid impact on the communities they serve and statistics show that people of all ages consume more news now than ever before. The contest asked designers to tell that important story through a quarter-page full color print ad.

Andrew Onimus told a crowd of about 200 people that in college when he was struggling with major depression he reached out, which was the first step in his dealing with major depression and anxiety. He encouraged people to reach out through his speech on Sunday, Feb. 10, at the New Prague High School auditorium.
Onimus of Minding Your Mind, an organization that provides mental health education for students and their parents, appeared through the sponsorship of the Duck Cup Memorial. The group’s committee is made up of New Prague High School....

Updated:
Three people were injured as the result of a two-car collision on Highway 21 north of New Prague Tuesday afternoon. Feb. 12.

Snow days used to be snow days, but now snow days mean blended learning days for students within the Tri-City United School District. And the change has been met with mostly positive results and feedback.
"Thank goodness we have blended learning," said Teri Preisler of the newly implemented e-learning program that allows students to continue their education from home regardless of when she has to cancel school due to weather.

Heavy snow continued to fall Thursday evening across the southern and central parts of Minnesota. According to the National Weather Service, Lonsdale reported four inches of snow fell Thursday, with 5.5 inches falling in Elko New Market.
The snow and deteriorating road conditions forced TCU to close school, cancel activities and utilize a blended learning day for the students. Thursday marked the third time in two weeks the district utilized the online learning day format created to avoid making up snow days.

Tri-City United schools will be closed on Thursday, Feb. 7. According to Superindent Teri Preisler, the day will be a blended learning day and teachers will have assignments posted by 10 a.m. Preisler closed school due to weather.

Shopko announced Wednesday, Feb. 6, that it was closing 174 additional stores following its recent bankruptcy filing, and that includes the Shopko Hometown store in New Prague.
When all is finished, the company will have just 109 stores, compared to the current total of 360.
A list published Wednesday includes stores closing in six phases, some as early as March 2. This includes stores that were announced to close last month. Fifteen stores in Minnesota are on the list. The New Prague store is in the sixth phase, and its estimated last day of operation is May 12.

The first baby in Montgomery for 2019 is Klaira Marie O’Neill. She was born to Cora O’Neill of Montgomery and Daniel Corral of Le Center. Klaira was born on January 29, 2019, at Mayo Clinic Health System Hospital in New Prague.
Because Klaira’s family was the first family to contact the Messenger office with the news, she is the New Year’s Baby. Little Klaira and her parents will receive all of the prizes donated by area businesses, which can be found on page 2 of this week’s printed edition.

Police Chief Lou Sager has submitted his resignation as Police Chief for the City of Montgomery effective February 16, 2019, after serving in the position for just over a year.
The announcement came from City Administrator Brian Heck in an email to the Messenger.
According to Heck, Sager’s resignation and the change in department leadership will not affect the current delivery of service provided by the department.

Tri-City United junior Brandon Balma was named a recipient of the 2019 Minnesota State High School League ExCEL Award.
ExCEL - Excellence in Community, Education and Leadership - is a recognition program designed exclusively for Minnesota high school juniors who are active in school activities, who show leadership qualities, and who work voluntarily in their community.
Balma is the third Tri-City United recipient of the award. Lizzie Christian won it last year, and Erin Budin won in 2015.