Winter Storm Warning for Le Sueur County, Minnesota
From 3:00pm CST, Sun Jan 27 until 6:00 am CST, Mon Jan 28
Action Recommended: Make preparations per the instructions
Issued by: Minneapolis - MN, US, National Weather Service,
...WINTER STORM WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 3 PM SUNDAY TO 6 AM CST MONDAY... *
WHAT...HEAVY SNOW EXPECTED. TOTAL SNOW ACCUMULATIONS OF 6 TO 8 INCHES EXPECTED.
WHERE...PORTIONS OF CENTRAL, EAST CENTRAL AND SOUTH CENTRAL MINNESOTA. *

Tri-City United High School announced its royalty candidates for SnoWeek 2019 on Friday, Jan. 26 during a Pep Fest. The theme this year is “Minnesota Masquerade.” All of the candidates received Mardi Gras masks, and the young women also received flowers. The candidates are (from left) Maggie Trnka, Sarah Colwell, Destiny Dunagan, Lizzie Christian, John Carson, Thomas Budin, Cade Passe and Alex Miland. Missing are candidates Rianna Doyle and Isaac Rynda. See more in the print edition. (Wade Young Photo)

The calendar year of 2019 will be filled with many projects in Le Sueur County.
One of the county’s biggest projects in the last three decades is the construction of the new Justice Center in Le Center.
The project is scheduled to be completed and ready for occupancy in August of 2019.
The county is currently hiring a number of new correction officers and dispatchers.
They are also working on the transferring of probation, court administration, court rooms, judicial court areas, and all sheriff’s department personnel to the new justice center.

It takes a team effort to respond calmly and effectively in the face of an emergency situation.
The outcomes are heavily dependent upon the quick reactions and efforts of those witnessing and responding to the emergency.
A matter of seconds and minutes can be the difference between life and death.
On Friday, August 31, John Segna learned how true this is and fully believes he wouldn't be alive today if it hadn't been for the team of heroes that were there in his time of need, his emergency.

The Blue Earth County Sheriff’s Office reported that three vehicles had fallen through the ice on Madison Lake on Saturday, Jan. 19.
Captain Paul Barta said the vehicles had fallen through the ice in the area of the narrows on Madison Lake, southwest of the Point Pleasant Resort and Campground. He added the area had open water within the past week.
The first vehicle, a Ford Escape, broke through the ice and became fully submerged at 11:51 a.m. All three occupants were able to escape with no apparent injuries.

LE CENTER - Le Sueur County received outstanding bids on their $12.635 million general obligation capital improvement bond sale.
A total of eight bidders attempted to purchase the funds which will be used to fund the remaining non-jail portions of the County's Justice Center and the second phase of remodeling to the current courthouse in Le Center.
The Justice Center will use $9,720,000 of the money and the Phase II Courthouse Remodel will use the remaining $2,915,000.

After multiple rounds of spelling, sixth grader Hayden Winter won the second annual Tri-City United Spelling Bee with the word “circulation.”
The bee started out with winners from grades five, six, seven and eight competing against each other to secure a spot in the bee’s final round.
Some of the words that took students out of the competition included guise, dismissal, pennant, and recognition.
Some of the words had homophones or could be confused with other words. Students were read a definition for these words prior to spelling it.

Brothers Arthur and Edward Devine, sons of Sharon and Robert Devine of Kilkenny, battled it out in Most Holy Redeemer Catholic School's Geography Bee Thursday morning, Jan. 17. Out of a field of 10 contestants, the Devine boys both answered their way to the championship round. In the end, seventh grader Edward was victorious over his big brother, eighth-grader Arthur. "I thought he was going to win," Edward stated. "He reads lots of books and knows things. I was just lucky... I like to look at the globe."

Montgomery and area merchants are offering prizes to the first Montgomery baby born in 2019. To qualify as the New Year’s Baby, the baby must be born after 12:01 a.m. on January 1, 2019, to parents who have a Montgomery mailing address in the 56069 zip code.
Due to privacy laws, hospitals are unable to share personal information about a baby’s birth. If you feel your baby is the New Year’s Baby, contact the Montgomery Messenger within 24 hours of the baby’s birth.

The mind of a brilliant teenager with autism is the focus of this year’s TCU One Act, “The Other Room.”
The play revolves around Austin, (Andrick Wagner) a brilliant teenage astronomer who happens to have autism. Lily (Carolyn Mikel) is his popular classmate who happens to have an interest in astronomy. When a chance encounter after school leads to a growing connection between them, Austin's imagination, intelligence, and constant struggles to connect with the world are revealed in the form of four characters representing his inner life.

Le Sueur County Judge Mark Vandelist sent a strong message to the Le Sueur County Historical Society (LCHS) and its membership on January 3 when he rejected the society’s request to split the fees for the retired judge overseeing the case.
Vandelist stated the disputes within the organization are only hurting it, and if the membership and Board of Directors want to deplete the society’s resources by continuing their contentious disputes, there is little doubt their actions may have an adverse financial effect.

On Sunday Jan. 13 at approximately 9:30 p.m. the Le Sueur County Sheriff’s Office received information that a threat directed at the Cleveland Public School had been posted on a social media group chat site.
According to Sheriff Brett Mason, Le Sueur County Deputies investigated the matter immediately obtaining a copy of the group chat where references to shooting and stabbing up the school were made.

UPDATED at 2 p.m. 1-14-19
Rice County Sheriff Troy Dunn announced the name of the victim in the death investigation. He identified that it was David Amundson, 44, of New Prague, who was found in a field near his vehicle on January 13, 2019, at 30th Street West and Halstad Avenue in Wheatland Township.
UPDATED at 3:45 pm. 1-13-19

Third District Le Sueur County Commissioner John King of Le Sueur was named the chairman of the Le Sueur County Board Tuesday, Jan. 8.
First District Commissioner David Gliszinski of New Prague, was named the vice chair during the board's first meeting of 2019.
The Le Sueur County Montgomery Messanger News was named the county's legal newspaper.
The Lake Region Life was named the county's 2nd legal newspaper.
Newly elected officials were also sworn in by Judge Mark Vandelist.

Bright stars, colorful glow sticks, and a few flashlights illuminated the paths for snowshoers in Richter Woods County Park Saturday night, January 5. There was just enough snow in the rural Montgomery park to make the first-time event possible.
More than forty people participated in the free Moonlight Snowshoeing event, which was sponsored by Le Sueur County Parks, Ney Nature Center, and TCU Community Education.

The 2019 fee schedule in Lonsdale has been set and it does not include an increase to the water and sewer fees.
Every year the city council makes adjustments to the fee schedule and sets the schedule at its first meeting of the new year. On Thursday, the council did just that, making 15 adjustments.
Lonsdale City Administrator Joel Erickson said that the reason for making these adjustments is to recoup costs incurred by the city, not to make a profit on the items.
In particular, the cost for fingerprints for non-residents is doubling in price.