Community

May 22 benefit remembers Braxton Raymond

Braxton Raymond died too young at 22 but family and friends and are keeping his memory alive with a memorial benefit in Kasson on May 22. Braxton played basketball, first in St. Peter and then in Kasson-Mantorville. “He just loved basketball,” said his mother Cyndi. He got his start in basketball...

E-tabs bring controversy to area bars, restaurants

Controversy is brewing at bars, restaurants and for area charities in southeastern Minnesota and beyond, as electronic pull tabs come under scrutiny from tribes. Minnesota tribes have all of the rights to gambling, with pull tabs and charitable gambling, but when the Vikings stadium was being built...

Kim White, owner of the Smiling Moose in Kasson, shows some of the items she has for sale. The retail portion of the store opened last week with the coffee shop coming soon.

New gift shop opens in Kasson

Smiling Moose Coffee & Gifts opened the retail side of its business Friday, May 7, at 408 West Main Street. The coffee shop, with a two-window drive-through outside and a walk-up window inside in case the drive-through line is too long, will be opening soon. “We need this in town,” said Margie...

Stop demonizing our law enforcement

South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem tells Seattle officers, “To those Seattle officers leaving the force: instead of demonizing you, we will stand WITH you.” Offering them jobs with the state. Missouri Governor Mike Parson lights up their state capitol dome blue in honor of law enforcement. Iowa...

After taking the baton from Taylor Seeger, left, Taylor Matter runs her portion of the girls 4x8 relay.

Byron girls track is back with a win

The Byron Girls Track Team is back after their two week shut down and the girls did not miss a beat. The girls won the triangular meet scoring 153.5 points. Stewartville finished second with 83.5 and Triton finished third with 19. The girls had a great meet across all the events. Katie Lambrecht...

Kyler Kujath dives back safely to first base in a pick-off attempt in last Thursday’s game against Zumbrota-M

KoMets win over Triton, lose to Winona, Zumbrota-Mazeppa, Lourdes

Last week saw mixed results for the Kasson-Mantorville KoMets as they started off by defeating the Triton Cobras on Tuesday but then lost to Zumbrota-Mazeppa on Thursday and Winona on Saturday. Monday they headed to Rochester where they dropped the first game of this week to the Rochester Lourdes...

Lana and Larry Berghuis are enjoying their home in Kasson.

After living throughout Minnesota, Kasson is home to Berghuis’

Larry and Lana Berghuis have lived in Mantorville since 1998. Larry was the second youngest of 10 children growing up in Clara City, about 20 miles southest of Willmar, while Lana had two sisters and grew up in Circle Pines. After high school Larry attended St. Cloud State and met Lana on a blind...

Prom Queen Madison Johnston, left, and Caitlyn Hendrickson, Darian Dahle and Maryx Young made it clear that it was time for the Prom at Hayfield High School.

It’s prom season at area high schools

Tis the season, for prom! Last year area high schools cancelled their proms, but this year they’re back, with some having already been held and some coming up. Hayfield High School held its prom on Saturday, April 24, with prom Queen Madison Johnston and prom King Collin Kay. It’s actually been two...

Michael Neubeck hired as Byron superintendent

Dr. Michael Neubeck, principal at Mahtomedi Middle School will take over as the Byron School District superintendent on July 1. Byron School Board members officially approved his contract Monday night pending completion of a background check. Board members interviewed three finalists last Friday...

Kasson-Mantorville pitcher Dalton Maxwell stroked a double to deep center field against the Lake City Tigers last Thursday.

KoMets split doubleheader against Stewartville

Kasson-Mantorville’s KoMets traveled to Stewartville on Saturday, April 24, for a doubleheader against the Tigers. Things did not start well for the KoMets yielding 8 unearned runs in the bottom of the 1st inning. Tigers tacked on 1 more in the bottom of the 2nd to take an early 9-0 lead. KoMets...