It was a question that needed to be asked but wasn’t expected. The position of the school board on this issue is critical to the financial future of the New Prague Area School District and the relief candidates for seats on the board brought is welcomed.
The question to board candidates at the forum held Tuesday, Oct. 15: Should the New Prague School District remain a member in the Minnesota State High School League? The six candidates all answered in the affirmative.

We find ourselves once again in the fall season when trees change colors and farmers are busy harvesting their crops.
This fall, Minnesota has been spoiled with warmer than average temperatures in August and September. It’s only been over the last few weeks temperatures have begun to plummet into the 50s and 40s. Temperatures have also been cold enough for frost warnings to spring up once or twice during the night.

There is a fee for election-related letters starting Aug. 29
The New Prague Times is charging for the publication of letters to the editor that relate to candidates for office, are a political endorsement, or relate to an upcoming election. These letters will be considered political paid ads and are subject to a $25 charge for local candidates (i.e. mayor, city council, school board).

This past week I saw a literature piece that I assume was sent to almost all households in Lanesburg Township. It was a hit piece about candidate Liz Krocak who is running for a county board seat. The authors of this mailing did not have the courage to sign their names,  which tells me a lot about what I need to know about their character. An unsigned letter isn't worth the paper it is written on.

The content of public words and actions combined with a person’s/organization’s overall words and actions in private matters in the political realm, whose words and actions affect the lives of every person within that country.

If you’re a baseball fan, they say the best four words each spring are ‘Pitchers and catchers report’ to spring training. Each spring, when professional baseball players show up for spring training, it’s a sign we’ve survived another winter, that the best of our climate is yet to come and there is hope for better days ahead.

As of this month, I have been in New Prague working for The New Prague Times for 25 years.
In the last few months, I’ve had a few people mention they remembered when I started. One person said they remembered how black my hair was then. At the time I started, I was 31. Someone recently asked how old I was now and when I told them, they were surprised.

I can recall a number of naughty things I have done over my earlier childhood years when left to my own devices. Usually, these instances of mischief would come from being with the company of another friend in the same boat. Both of the following stories come from about the same age period of about 12 years old or so — give or take a year or two. It’s been about 30 years since then so forgive me if I don’t remember.
 
Flame broiled

You know the penny dishes originally intended for folks to use a penny or two rather than breaking a dollar bill. You take a few pennies when you need ‘em and leave a few when you have extra.

There used to be a baseball stadium along the Minnesota River in Shakopee, at the north end of the old Holmes Street bridge.
It’s the same bridge where, local legend has it, a man flew a small airplane under the bridge to win the affections of a local young lady. Such a feat today would be considered insanity since the level of the river is much higher than it reportedly was back in those days.

This week marks 248 years since the signing of the Declaration of Independence, when the American colonies declared themselves free from the United Kingdom. Many people will be celebrating it by spending time with family, friends and with fireworks capping the day.

The time has come for school districts to put their feet down. It’s time to consider banning cell phones in schools, especially the high school. No, this isn’t about what books, videos or information is made available to students. The time to ban cell phones in schools, New Prague Schools, in this case, has arrived.

A few weeks back, the New Prague Area School Board discussed the notion of once again asking voters to approve some form of levy increase, possibly a blend of levy and capital projects referendum.
The district has had two separate levy requests rejected, a two-part question in 2022 and a levy increase alone in 2023.

Even here in New Prague, we’ve started to see a few of the new state flags flying, some of them so new you can still see the crease marks from where they were folded for packaging.

Many Minnesota partisans have recently been saying out loud what many of us have said for years: Precinct caucuses are a major contributor to the angry, political division permeating politics today.

We acquired a .22-caliber handgun for dispatching unwanted animals from the barn. Fortunately, we gave it away before ever needing to use it. We were always taught every gun is always loaded unless you personally see it is not loaded. The point of such counsel was to prevent the unthinkable. The advice came from an older brother, who owned many handguns all properly stored in a secured gun locker separate from ammunition.