One of the longest running Minnesota County Fairs is celebrating its 169th year next week.
    The Le Sueur County Fair begins Thursday, August 20 at the fairgrounds in Le Center, and runs through Sunday, August 23. It is the last county fair before the Minnesota State Fair.
    Every year the fair board approves improvements to the grounds and this year will be no different, with many new spruced up areas.

    The TCU Junior Legion baseball team capped off a thrilling 2026 summer campaign, cementing their standing as one of the premier programs in the region by capturing the Metro Junior Legion League Tier 1A Division Championship and earning a third place finish at the Tier 1A State Tournament. 
    Competing in Tier 1A, a division designated for high schools with grades 10–12 enrollments between 400 and 1,000, TCU put together a dominant, high-octane season built on relentless base running, clutch hitting, and deep pitching.

Hello again everyone:
    I could not help but to rebuttal Danny O’Keefe’s reason for running. 
    He says he is level-headed. So why did you make a motion and vote yes to double the outlet ditch to drain Lexington Lake faster and way earlier than ever!? 
    He says he is very knowledgeable of county ditches. What you did to Lexington Lake is the reason for a potential and pending lawsuit against Le Sueur County. 
    He says he uses common sense approach. Is that why three other people are running against you?

    The Le Sueur County Sheriff’s Office 911 dispatch center received a call from retired farmer Richard Peterson, age 75, at 3:09 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 2, saying that his attached garage was on fire at 23956 Dodd Road, a little over two miles south of Le Center on the southern edge of the Shanghai Lake Wildlife Management Area.

    Two local 4-H youth are stepping into one of Minnesota 4-H’s most prestigious leadership roles. Le Sueur County is one of only five counties in the state to have more than one State Ambassador selected.
    Elizabeth Holicky of Le Center and Audrey Keltgen of Le Sueur have been selected as members of the 2026–2027 Minnesota 4-H State Ambassador Team, joining 30 other outstanding young leaders from across the state.

    Le Center’s downtown bustled with jubilation in honor of the United States of America’s 250th Anniversary Celebration on Saturday.

The Kolacky Days royalty has been crowned for the 92nd annual festival.

Friday's pageant at Tri-City United High School's performing arts center gave way to the next set of representatives of the city of Montgomery. Allison Rynda was chosen as the 2026 Kolacky Days Queen, Aubrie Barnett as 1st Princess, Raena Wiess as 2nd Princess, and Aubrey Flicek as Miss Congeniality.

    Kids from around the area gathered at Tri-City United PreK-8 Montgomery and Le Center schools last Thursday, July 16, for a quick lesson in science and theories on dinosaurs from Jason Lindsey.

    Tri-City United High School will be losing a few excellent clay target shooters going into next season after competing at the USA Clay Target League’s 2026 National Championship in Mason, Mich., July 8-12. A total of 1,800 shooters between individual and teams participated at the event.
    The TCU squad — consisting of Levi Hohrman, Martin Bongers, Jacob Jones, Dylan Carston, and Branko Schoenbauer —  ended up placing 26th out of the 234 teams at nationals.

    Summer blood donations far lower than needed as hospitals work to protect patient care, according to the American Red Cross. 
    The American Red Cross is declaring an emergency blood shortage as the blood supply fell nearly 25% in June. Blood donors are urgently needed to give now to help ensure patients receive lifesaving medical care without delay. The shortage is especially serious for platelets and types O-positive and B-negative blood.

    Tri-City United Schools teamed up with Let’s Smile, Inc. again this past school year to provide $14,002.00 in no-cost dental work for kids enrolled in the school district, according to TCU Community Education Director Layne Wilbright. It’s a partnership that started in the spring of 2024, and there is no cost to the school as well as families.

    Le Sueur County Sheriff Mounted Posse’s free Rodeo Fun Night last Friday, June 19, at the county fairgrounds in Le Center had a pleasant evening, narrowly missing severe storms that hampered events from the Twin Cities northward.
    A crowd of more than 500 people showed up to watch all ages compete for the best times in barrel racing, pole bending, mutton bustin’, monkey in a tree, a catalog race, a magic carpet ride race.

    Student athletes from Tri-City United High School’s trapshooting team competed this past weekend in Alexandria for a spot in the Minnesota State High School League’s (MSHSL) Clay Target State Tournament happening on Friday, June 26.
    USA Clay Target League’s Minnesota State High School Clay Target League’s Trap Shooting Tournament, June 15-23, at Alexandria Community and Technical College’s site, is the qualifier for the MSHSL state event. Only the top 40 teams, and top 100 in both boys and girls, move on to the MSHSL state event.

    A nine-year-old state track record has been shattered by a Tri-City United (TCU) quartet of runners.
    The 4 x 200-meter relay team of junior Kaitlyn Hartwig, sophomores Carly Hartwig and Jillian Houn, and eighth grader Cami Hartwig are now the proud owners of the fastest time in Minnesota State history, winning the Class AA State Championship with a time of 1:37.90 at the Class AA State Meet held Friday, June 5 and Saturday, June 6 at St. Michael-Albertville High School.

    Le Sueur County took a step to pump the brakes on data centers being built in the county. At the Board of Commissioners meeting on May 26, the county unanimously passed a one-year moratorium on data center construction.
    The moratorium covers unincorporated areas of Le Sueur County. Cities within the county can still make their own decisions.
    “If a city wants to have a data center, we don’t have any control over that at all,” Commissioner David Preisler said. “If they want to, they’re not affected by this ordinance. They’ve got their own planning and zoning.”

    Tri-City United FFA Area Alumni’s 8th Annual Truck & Tractor Pull at the Le Sueur County Fairgrounds in Le Center had a bit of a hiccup last Friday evening.
    Brian Ceplecha, one of the pull’s committee members, said, “Despite a nearly three-hour delay due to the pulling sled having multiple flat tires on it way up from central Iowa, we got underway at 9:15 p.m. and successfully concluded the event at 2:30 a.m.!