News

Mantorville celebrates reopening of Hwy 57

Mantorville residents and businesses celebrated the completion of the Highway 57 reconstruction project last Thursday with a ribbon cutting ceremony a day before the Marigold Days celebration. The highway, which runs through downtown Mantorville officially reopened for traffic on Aug. 18. Work on...

Proposed change would fine Kasson mayor, councilmembers for missing meetings

A proposed ordinance change could be costly for those who don’t attend meetings if enacted by the Kasson City Council. Last month, the City Council was presented with a potential change to its ordinance regulating the salaries for councilmembers and the mayor. “It’s that time of the year where...

Alzheimer’s honors Mullenbach family

Choking back tears, Jason Mullenbach recalled the day he realized his father’s dementia wasn’t going to get any better. Don Mullenbach taught his son things throughout his entire life. He could fix anything and knew everything. But one day, a couple of years after being diagnosed, Jason was working...

Renovation Reuse facility keeps items out of landfill

Dodge County Renovation Reuse has now been up and running for a year. The project received the 2022 Greater Minnesota Recycling and Composting Grant through the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and the building was constructed in June 2023. The grant was received as a way to cut down on the...

RETIRED TEACHERS GET TOGETHER

A group of Kasson-Mantorville retired teachers met at Hidden Pines for lunch on September 5 as they have been meeting during the first week of the K-M school year for the past several years. L — R: Marie Torkelson, Nathan Davidson, Lynette Huppler, Michael O’Neill, Nancy Wiitanen, JoAnn O’Neill,...

I Was Thinking... Stranger Friends

While going to an emergency room is not something any one of us want to do, it is nice to know that they are there when we need them. But the dynamics of an emergency room is not like other parts of society. First come, first serve is an operating principle for many businesses, however that is not...

Celebrating Kinship Care Month: A vital support for children and families

As September marks Kinship Care Month, we take this opportunity to recognize and celebrate the essential role of kinship caregivers—grandparents, aunts, uncles, older siblings, and close family friends—who step in to provide safe, loving, and stable homes for children when their parents cannot....

Kasson’s Oktoberfest to draw hundreds on Sept. 28

The third annual Oktoberfest in Kasson is Sept. 28, with hundreds expected to attend. Kicking things off is the Wurst Dog Derby at 1 p.m. at the Zumbro Valley Golf Course. At 1:30 p.m., on Main Street, there’s a host of events, including new features, such as craft vendors, llama obstacle course,...

St. John’s Community Picnic Sunday

St. John’s Lutheran Church in Kasson is having a picnic this Sunday and the whole community is invited. The picnic will be held on the church grounds from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., Sunday, Sept. 15, said Lindsay Colwell, director of youth and family at the church. The church has had a fall activity...

DCI begins weekly election series

As a way to inform readers and the community about candidates running for local office, the Dodge County Independent will begin a weekly series asking candidates a standard question, and will run the responses in the paper. Due to the number of school board candidates running this year, we will...