After conducting interviews last Wednesday, Aug. 12, Montgomery City Council chose Jesse Johnson of Cannon Falls, Minn., as their new city administrator at Monday’s council meeting.
    Retired Lieutenant Colonel Johnson is a 20-year veteran of the United States Army and Bronze Star Medal recipient. The 49-year-old lives in Cannon Falls with his wife of 24 years, Teresa, and has four kids — two boys and two girls, with three of them being in college.

    Nearly three of four educators in Education Minnesota said in a new poll they were directly or indirectly affected by Operation Metro Surge, suggesting a massive disruption in learning for tens of thousands of Minnesota students in the middle of the 2025-26 school year. 

    The City of Montgomery recently updated its website and, in the process of doing so, people subscribed to its notifications system were not transferred. This left people who normally were signed up to receive alerts via text and/or email for things like snow emergencies and other important city notices, in the dark.

    Beginning Sept. 1, Mayo Clinic Health System patients in New Prague who have urgent health concerns that are not life-threatening will continue to have access to care through primary care on demand 24/7 virtual visits as well as in-person primary care appointments.

    As more local patients use primary care on demand virtual visits and increasingly fewer patients seek walk-in services through urgent care located next to the emergency department, Mayo Clinic Health System made the determination to transition urgent care.

Online only exclusive.

While we try to get everywhere and capture all the fun that is happening at Kolacky Days, it's just not possible! These are some final scenes of some of the events and offerings of the 2026 Kolacky Days festival in its 92nd year. 

    A rural New Prague woman is facing multiple charges stemming from a domestic dispute at the home of her former boyfriend in Derrynane Township.

    This is the report for the Montgomery Fire Department (MFD) from the month of July 2026. A total of five calls were responded to in the month and a total of 56 calls through the end of July. Training in July was Kolacky Days clean-up, and pump operations and hose testing.
    Below are the list of the calls MFD responded to in July 2026.

Summer Reading Program Results

Ages 3-9

• 105 registered, 64 finished, and 72,600 minutes read. 
• Grand prize winner: Tess Peterson.

Ages 10-12

    Area residents took full advantage of the event-filled day on Saturday at Lonsdale Community Days.
    Thousands took to the streets and businesses in downtown Lonsdale, starting with the annual Lonsdale Skywarn Breakfast. There were nearly 50 vendors along Main Street, where patrons could eat, drink, buy goods, ask questions, inquire about services, or learn some history.

    Kilkenny Fire Department’s annual fundraising ATV/UTV ride held on Saturday, Aug. 8, drew in larger numbers than last year. The run brought in 329 riders and 158 ATV/UTV’s. In comparison to last year, that is up from 200 riders and 94 vehicles.
    The 2026 route started as usual at Little Irish Park in Kilkenny for registration, which began at 10 a.m. Riders left Kilkenny at noon and went to Elysian, then to The Bait Bucket in Cleveland, and to Lakefront Bar & Grill on Clear Lake in Lexington, before returning back to Kilkenny at the Toy Box Saloon.