Skip to main content

Chuck Wann, who worked for over 50 years with his grandfather, mother and family members to run Suel Printing and The New Prague Times, passed away this past week. He leaves behind a legacy of a family-owned publishing company committed to serving readers and advertisers and helping make the communities they serve better.
Chuck’s obituary appears on newpraguetimes.com and in this week's papers.

After selling fashion online, out of her basement and garage, BAM Fashion Boutique owner Amy Gray opened her first-ever retail store in Lonsdale on Saturday, March 18.
Gray explains that her home business and family’s move to Lonsdale made them look for a brick-and-mortar location.
“I ran out of my basement in Elko in the beginning, then out of our detached garage,” she explained after the ribbon-cutting ceremony on Saturday at 126 Main Street North. “I would have open shopping hours, but never set hours.”

A number of entities came together to implement the Farmers Protecting Rice Creek Project in the Rice Creek watershed in 2018. The project expanded to include parts of Heath and Wolf Creek watersheds in 2021 and was renamed the Farmers Protecting Bridgewater Streams Project (FPBSP).

The board members of DalekoArts, New Prague’s local theater troupe, announced Tuesday, March 7, this season will be its last. The theater on Main Street will close after more than 10 years on June 30.
DalekoArts, a charitable non-profit, was founded by Ben Thietje and his wife Amanda White, who live in New Prague. They said the decision to close was not one made in haste or without tremendous heartache.

There have been times the past 18 months when Maddy Smith’s medical condition has left the New Prague 16-year-old and her family feeling isolated from the community and their friends. Sunday, March 19, they will feel anything but alone.

Community members gathered at St. John Catholic Church in Union Hill yesterday afternoon, Wednesday, March 15, to offer their support and prayers for a young police officer from New Prague injured in the line of duty early Tuesday morning.

The Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) launched a $1.9 million test pilot that aims to improve public transportation needs across western and southern rural Minnesota. If the test pilot goes well, it could be expanded state-wide and improved upon.

(Updated story 3/15)
A New Prague man was cited for a single vehicle crash that happened in Union Hill on Saturday, March 11 at about 3:30 a.m.
A blue 2016 Dodge Ram 1500 was traveling south on Scott County 7 (Church Avenue), ran through the stop sign at MN 19, crossed MN 19 and Hub Drive, sliced through a power pole, over three mailboxes, and ended up in the St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church's old schoolhouse parking lot.

Townships in Scott, Le Sueur and Rice counties, as well as in counties throughout the state, will hold their annual meeting Tuesday, March 14.
Known as Township Day, these annual meetings are held every year on the second Tuesday in March and set townships apart from other forms of local government. The meetings allow township residents to voice their opinions about local issues with other township residents and also vote directly on their annual tax levy -- direct democracy in action. Citizens attending annual meetings also often discuss and vote on other local issues.

They have endured a small taste what life is like as a person without a permanent home, a lesson some will use to better appreciate the lifestyle they enjoy.
A group of 17 New Prague High School National Honor Society students spent Thursday evening, March 2, learning about life as a homeless person. The chaperoned group spent the night sleeping outdoors in a makeshift tent city using small tents or large boxes. They slept in sleeping bags covered in blankets and using body heat for warmth as temperatures dipped into the mid-teens.

Montgomery to New Prague
    
A total reconstruction of MN 13 in Montgomery from just south of Milwaukee Avenue to just north of Tri-City United High School and a roundabout at Le Sueur County 28 and MN 13 will happen this summer.
    

Scott County Sheriff’s Office 911 Dispatch received a report of a two-vehicle crash that occurred on Scott County 23 (Panama Avenue) south of Scott County 68 (190th Street East) in Spring Lake Township at 3:08 p.m. on Mar. 2.
The preliminary investigation indicates that a 2007 GMC Sierra, that was towing an enclosed trailer, driven by Arturo Garcia Rivera (39) of Lakeville, was traveling southbound on Panama Avenue when it crossed the center line, striking a 2019 Volkswagen Tiguan traveling northbound, driven by Megan Rae Taylor (50) of Lonsdale.   

On Tuesday, Feb. 28, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (MnDNR) announced no additional environmental study is needed for a proposed plant from Niagara Bottling in Elko New Market.
Tuesday, Feb. 28, the city received a received notice from the MnDNR in the form of a Record of Decision / Findings of Fact, that the MnDNR has determined that an Environmental Assessment Worksheet (EAW) will not be prepared for the proposed Niagara Water Bottling Project in Elko New Market, as requested by a petition submitted to the Environmental Quality Board (EQB).

After a community forum Tuesday afternoon, Feb. 28, and final interview with the New Prague Area School Board that evening, directors voted 7-0 to enter contract negotiations with Andy Vollmuth to become the school district’s next superintendent.
Vollmuth is the principal of Normandale Hills Elementary School in Bloomington. The board’s other finalist was Dana Miller. She is the executive director of Teaching and Learning for the Wayzata School District. Miller participated in a community forum and final interview with the school board Monday evening, Feb. 27.

New Prague High School gymnastics team won state Friday, Feb. 24, at Roy Wilkins Auditorium.
For more see an upcoming print edition of The New Prague Times.

The Amber Alert for Leon is canceled. The child has been found safe. Below is the message from the City of Lakeville. 

Subscribe to