Friends, relatives, and co-workers are rallying around a Kasson-Mantorville Middle School teacher after she was seriously injured in a vehicle accident last week in rural Dodge County.

Dodge Center Ambulance Director John Fox and West Concord Ambulance Director Adam La Plount sat in a conference room in St. Paul, as ambulance leaders from across the state, discussed the growing challenges plaguing EMS services as part of its statewide roundtable series.
Rising costs, a lack of volunteers, a need for increased pay, and decades long battles with Medicare to pay the true cost of the bill, were all discussed.

While it is said, dogs are man’s best friend, cats sure get a lot of press. Our language is filled with references to cats. Anyone who is trying to learn our jargon might have a difficult time understanding so many cat related idioms.

While reading Dodge County, Incorporated: Big Ag and the Undoing of Rural America by Blooming Prairie native Sonja Trom Eayrs, I reflected on my hometown of Hayfield, where I grew up in the 50s and 60s. Sonja Trom Eayrs’ book provides an insider’s perspective on how corporate farming practices have led to the decline of many family farms and affected towns like Hayfield and Blooming Prairie.

After nearly four weeks of delays, the Minnesota House is finally back in action following an agreement that allows Republicans to maintain the speakership and control of House committees for the first five weeks of session. This agreement is a major victory that ensures we can move forward on the work Minnesotans sent us here to do.

The conflict raging in Israel has garnered world attention since Hamas sponsored a killing spree against Jewish villages on the Israeli side of the Gaza border on October 7, 2023. It has been well over a year now that the military of Israel has been fighting in the Gaza strip and destroying the infrastructure that Hamas built. These operations have brought sorrow and suffering to both Jewish and Arab families alike.

An Owatonna woman was injured last Saturday morning in a two-vehicle crash on Highway 14 near Kasson.
According to the Minnesota State Patrol, a 2021 Honda Accord driven by Linda Soteda Day of Owatonna, and a 2004 GMC Sierra, driven by Gregory Michael Seath of St. Peter, were both eastbound on Highway 14 at Milepost 198 when they collided.

Several local organizations were among those receiving $17,800 in grants this quarter from People’s Energy Cooperative Operation Round Up® Trust. Local organizations receiving grants included:
Byron Robotics STEAM Association — $1,000 to help purchase robot component parts
Kasson-Mantorville Community Education — $500 in support of expanding arts access

After taking the month of January off, the Mantorville Art Guild has reopened and will be celebrating the retirement of Art Guild founder Theresa Hoaglund on Saturday, Feb. 22.
To say that the Mantorville Art Guild exists because of Theresa Hoaglund is putting it mildly, fellow Art Guild members say. She has put her heart and soul into the Art Guild for the past 25 plus years.