Mayo Clinic Health System in New Prague officially unveiled a $1.2 million renovation to its Women and Children’s clinic Tuesday, Oct. 30.
The renovation covered 9,000 square feet in the southeast corner of the building. The addition was nearly three years in the making, including planning and design. Construction began in late 2017.

Due to a decrease in funding from the state, Le Sueur County veterans will see a change in their transportation provided by the county.
Veterans utilizing the Le Sueur County Veterans Van will now be charged $10 per trip to the Minneapolis VA Hospital.
This change was approved during the Tuesday, Nov. 6 Le Sueur County Board of Commissioners meeting in Le Center.
According to Veteran's Service Officer Jim Golgart, the funding his department receives from the state has dwindled to between $1,500 and $2,000.

Tony Kornder and David Entinger were elected to the Belle Plaine Township Board of Supervisors Tuesday. Kornder received 285 votes for Seat A, with opponent Chris Franke receiving 107. Entinger received 224 votes for seat B, with Mark Schulz receiving 115 and Chris Bieder 79. 
Kristy Bieder was unopposed for Town Clerk, and received 340 votes.

As of 10:45 p.m., With 14 of 15 precincts reporting, it appears Tammy Pexa, Mark Bartusek and Leo Giesen have won four-year terms to the New Prague Area School Board. 
 
The only precinct that hasn’t reported is Lonsdale, and Lonsdale has just a handful of voters in the New Prague Area School District - not enough to overcome the 350-vote difference between the third and fourth place finishers. 
 
Vote totals are: 
Mark Bartusek 3991
Tammy Pexa 3868
Leo Giesen 3237
Sandy McMillan 2887
Matthew Goldade 2141
Miranda Vertnik 2111

Scott County Sheriff Luke Hennen, who was appointed to the position in 2016, won a four-year term with a narrow victory over challenger Jason Arras in Tuesday’s General Election. 
 
Hennen finished with 29,698 votes, or 50.63 percent. Arras recevied 28,726 votes, or 48.97 percent. 
 
Hennen’s term will begin in January and run through 2022. 
 
County Attorney Ron Hocevar was unopposed for reelection. He received 46,632 votes. 
 
In Commissioner District 3 (Shakopee), Michael “Mike” Beard defeated Joe Wagner, 5,688-3,713. 
 

Todd Lippert (DFL-Northfield) had a strong showing in his hometown as he won election to the Minnesota House of Representatives in District 20B Tuesday, Nov. 6. 
Lippert received 10,932 votes, or 55.3 percent, to defeat Josh Gare (R-Montgomery). Gare had 8,832 votes, or 44.68 percent. 

As of 10:30 p.m., With 12 of 15 precincts reporting, Tammy Pexa, Mark Bartusek and Leo Giesen lead the race for New Prague Area School Board. The three remaining precincts not reporting are New Prague Precinct 1 (Le Sueur County), Lanesburgh Township and Lonsdale. 
 
Vote totals are: 
Mark Bartusek 2942
Tammy Pexa 2879
Leo Giesen 2364
Sandy McMillan 2148
Matthew Goldade 1553
Miranda Vertnik 1534
 
This post will be updated when final results are in.

State Rep. Bob Vogel (R-Elko New Market) easily won reelection for a two-year term in the Minnesota Legislature in House District 20A. Vogel received 11,984 votes, or 63.4 percent, to 6,860 votes for challenger Barbara Droher Kline (DFL-New Prague). 
 
Vogel won each of the 25 precincts in the district.

Voters cast their ballots Tuesday morning, Nov. 6, at the St. Wenceslaus Parish Activity Center. Thats where residents of New Prague were voting in the 2018 General Election. There were lines of more than 25 people when the polls opened at 7 a.m. and as of 9 a.m. more than 500 people had cast their ballots - 256 on the Scott County side and 248 on the Le Sueur County side. That does not include the many people who took advantage of the early voting period - which set a record for Minnesotans.

Incumbents Rachel M. Meger and Arthur Kasendorf were reelected to the Heidelberg City Council on Tuesday. Meger received 53 votes and Kasendorf 49. There were 10 write-in votes.

Three unopposed candidates won offices in Helena Township during Tuesday’s election. 
Supervisor Edward Nytes was reelected with 752 votes and Supervisor John Wermerskirchen was reelected with 732 votes. Nathan Hutton was elected Town Treasurer with 710 votes.

Le Sueur County voters chose to keep incumbent Sheriff Brett Mason and incumbent Auditor/Treasurer Pam Simonette in office, along with three other county officials who were unopposed for re-election in county-wide races. 
 
They also returned two incumbents to the Board of Commissioners and chose Danny O’Keefe to represent District 2 on the County Board. 
 

Elko New Market City Council Member Joe Julius defeated incumbent Bob Crawford and will become the new mayor of Elko New Market in January. 
Julius received 1,062 votes, while Crawford had 798. 
Incumbent city council members Josh Berg and Katie Timmerman were unopposed and reelected. Timmerman received 1,185 votes and Berg 1,148. Their next terms will begin in January and run through 2022. 

There was little intrigue in the New Prague City elections Tuesday, Nov. 6, with four candidates running for four positions. 
 
Incumbent Mayor Chuck Nickolay was unopposed and received 2,851 votes. He will begin another two-year term in January. 
 
Maggie Bass and Rik Seiler were the only two candidates running for four-year terms on the council. Bass, who was appointed to the council last year, received 2,400 votes. Seiler received 1,869. 
 
Bruce Wolf won a special election to complete the final two years of a term. He received 2,687 votes. 

Guests tour the Cardio room at the new Fitness and Aquatic Center, located at the New Prague Area Schools’ Central Education Campus. Exercise equipment from the former Fitness Center operated by Mayo Clinic Health System, along with some new equipment, was moved into the CEC building this week and an open house was held Saturday, Nov. 3, from 9 a.m. to noon. A second open house is scheduled Saturday from 3-6 p.m. for people to tour the new facilities and learn about memberhip rates.