Effective Monday, August 9, 2021, all Rice County employees and visitors are required to wear a face covering in Rice County government buildings. This requirement is going into effect to help slow the spread of COVID-19.
Rice County is currently classified as “high” community transmission of COVID-19 by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention’s COVID-19 Data Tracker. The CDC and the Minnesota Department of Health recommend face coverings be worn in indoor, public settings by all individuals -- vaccinated or not -- when in a community with high transmission.
According to the Czech Center, kroj (plural: kroje) designs and colors vary widely across the Czech regions of Bohemia, Moravia, and Silesia, with each having its own distinguishing characteristics.
They vary around the Montgomery area too, according to artists who colored their interpretations of the Czech and Slovak traditional costume in the Montgomery Messenger’s “Color the Kroj Contest.”
An honor guard leads the procession out of St. Wenceslaus Catholic Church in New Prague on Sunday, Aug. 1, for the funeral of Montgomery Police Officer Bryan Tupy. Officers and members of area police departments, sheriff’s offices, the State Patrol, the Montgomery Ambulance Service and Fire Department participated in the honor guard during the funeral. For more see upcoming print issues of the Montgomery Messenger and The New Prague Times. (Patrick Fisher Photo)
The three key missions of the Tri-City United Public Schools are to empower learners, create opportunities, and be united for success.
District Superintendent Lonnie Seifert reiterated that point at a work session held by the TCU school board on July 26 as he addressed the discussion topic of Critical Race Theory.
“All means all,” Seifert said. “Equal opportunities for all students. That’s really what it should be, and that’s what we have been pushing.”
The Postal Service is good to go on its plan to slow down the mail and implement aggressive price increases, according to the Postal Regulatory Commission in a pair of decisions handed down this week.
The PRC expressed skepticism about the wisdom of adding an additional day to service standards for both First-Class and Periodicals mail.
But it stopped short of telling USPS not to make the change. Instead, it cautioned USPS to examine its assumptions about cost savings and to look into the root causes of mail slowdowns in recent months.
Seven businesses participated in this year’s Christmas-themed Kolacky Days Window Display Contest.
Moonshot on Main’s window display at The Rustic Farmer, which is located at 209 1st St. S., earned the most points—an impressive 525 points. Judges could award each entry up to 40 points for theme, 40 points for design, and 20 points for signs/explanatory materials.
Le Sueur County District Court has ordered the abandoned and dilapidated property at 100 First Street South to be razed.
The court ruled in favor of the City of Montgomery on July 16. Judge Patrick Goggins is ordering Taraba to vacate and remove all personal possessions from the property by Friday, July 30, 2021.
Taraba is also ordered, by the same date, to raze the building, remove all building debris from the site, dispose of it in a legally appropriate manner, and bring the basement back to grade.
Officer Bryan Tupy, who began with the Montgomery Police Department in October 2019, unexpectedly passed away on Monday, July 26, 2021.
Officer Tupy began his law enforcement career as a part-time officer for the City of Le Center in 2015. Officer Tupy generally worked the afternoon or night shift with Officer Jack Strand.
Officer Bryan Tupy, who began with the Montgomery Police Department in October 2019, unexpectedly passed away on Monday, July 26, 2021.
Officer Tupy began his law enforcement career as a part-time officer for the City of Le Center in 2015. Officer Tupy generally worked the afternoon or night shift with Officer Jack Strand.
Four people lost their lives in a two-vehicle accident in Le Sueur County’s Sharon Township, Sunday night, July 25.
According to a press release issued by the Le Sueur County Sheriff’s Office on Monday, the crash occurred at approximately 11:30 p.m. at the intersection of Le Sueur County Road 15 and Le Sueur County Road 22.
Initial investigation indicates a 2012 Ford Expedition with seven occupants, who were all from California, collided with a 2016 Chevrolet Silverado with one occupant from Le Sueur.
They’ll be dishing up delicious dumplings at the Miss Czech Slovak Minnesota Pageant booth this weekend.
Volunteers mixed, formed, rolled and cooked 3,060 potato dumplings on Sunday, July 18 in the Tri-City United High School kitchen. (That’s 12 and a half 25-pound bags of flour and 24 five-pound cans of potatoes!)
The dumplings will be sold as part of the stand’s popular Czech Meal Deals throughout the weekend at Memorial Park.
Montgomery’s law enforcement agency is implementing a bodyworn camera (BWC) program.
The program was approved by the City Council on Monday, July 19.
Police Chief Nathan Hintz believes the time is coming when the department will be forced to use them. He also said the cost-savings from avoided litigation will pay for the program.
“I believe one case of litigation or lawsuit will pay for it. It records the behavior our officers are seeing on the street. It makes us do our job correctly. It keeps us out of court. I believe it’s necessary at this point,” he stated.
Grace Barnett, daughter of Kevin and Keri Barnett, and Abby and Chris Degrood, was crowned the 2021 Kolacky Queen on Friday. Joining her are First Princess Ellaina Novak, daughter of Gary and Tami Novak. Second Princess went to Ronni Smith, daughter of Clint and Jill Smith. The candidates chose Aubrey Filter as Miss Congeniality. (Wade Young Photo)
A community garden is taking root at the foot of Montgomery’s water tower takes to a group of ambitious Girls Scouts who are working to earn their Silver Award.
“We wanted to do a more long-lasting project for the community, and we thought there should be a community garden, so we decided to make it happen,” explained 14-year-old local Girl Scout Tahlia Buckingham.
The Credit River Antique Tractor Club held its 1 p.m. parade on Friday, July 16, at Cedar Lake Farm Regional Park. Around 40 tractors took part in the parade that was part of the 22nd annual show, which continues at the park north of New Prague on Saturday, July 17, and Sunday, July 18. Tractor parades will also be held at 1 p.m. those days with antique vehicles and engines on display, plus activities around the park and food vendors. The show is held from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day and offers free admission and parking. For more see an upcoming print issue of The New Prague Times.
Beginning at 4 a.m. on Thursday, July 15, the intersection of Main Street and Highway 21, on the west side of New Prague, is scheduled to be closed for one day for mill and overlay work. The work will begin at the intersection and go west on Highway 19 to the intersection with Fifth Avenue NW/SW. There will be several detours around the closed intersection. Northbound vehicles on Highway 21 can take the turnoff right before the intersection to get onto Main Street. Drivers can then go north on Second Avenue NW, then west onto Second Street NW and reconnect to Highway 21.