Late last week an emergency meeting was called for Monday, Jan. 12, of the city council for the City of Kilkenny. No large emergency was present other than information that Nicole LeBrun, the current city clerk, had found a new position elsewhere and a replacement would need to be figured out.

Kilkenny Mayor Tammy Holicky seemed happy for LeBrun, saying that she found an “amazing position somewhere else,” which LeBrun wanted to keep private.

The Le Sueur County Sheriff’s Office and the Minnesota State Patrol (MSP) have released their incident report and crash reconstruction report regarding the fatal crash on Sept. 11, 2025, at the intersection of Country State Aide Highway (CSAH) 28/320th Street and CSAH 32/211th Avenue, a few miles north of Clear Lake in Derrynane Township.

Belle Plaine mother Mackenzie Jo Glaser, 23, perished in the incident. She was a new mother carrying her one-year-old daughter in the vehicle, who survived without injury. Glaser was on the way to drop off her daughter at daycare at the time.

When Tri-City United (TCU) senior Ella Schmiesing grabbed her 1,000th career rebound Tuesday, Dec. 30 at Waterville, she became one of the select few in state history to have both 1,000 career points and 1,000 career rebounds.

The St. Catherine basketball commit is one of only 267 players in Minnesota history to record the milestone.

As a freshman Schmiesing played in all 26 games, recording 219 rebounds in 610 minutes of action.

Montgomery City Administrator Brian Heck formally announced to city council his retirement plans, which has a somewhat flexible target date of June of this year. This was announced at the Monday, Jan. 5, special city council meeting.

“What I told Tom (Mayor Thomas Eisert) and what I put in my notes to council is that my target is June. June is what I’m looking at, and I will commit to hanging around until someone is brought on,” said Heck.

Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation (SMIF) recently approved $300,000 to support 14 capital projects in small towns under 10,000 through the Taylor Rural Improvements Grant. Each project provides services to underserved populations in the community. This grant round considered projects involving food, clothing, shelter, transportation and internet accessibility. An additional $100,000 was dispersed for food and direct assistance through a Good Neighbor Grant from The McKnight Foundation. 

The Rice County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday, Dec. 9, approved the county’s 2026 budget and property tax levy, which increased by 8.51% over 2025. That’s slightly less than the preliminary figure approved in September.

  While the $103 million budget is about $12 million lower than the current budget, the levy increase is largely due to cost shifts from the state, reductions in state grants and county program aid, the 2026 elections and higher personnel costs laid out in negotiated collective bargaining agreements.

Tri-City United High School Assistant Principal David Reuhs was surprised when he walked into the school's media center on Monday, Jan. 5, for what he thought was a staff meeting.

Ruehs was met by the Minnesota Association of Secondary School Principals (MASSP) Executive Director Bob Driver, his family,  much of the staff of the school, and media, where he was presented the honor of being the chosen the 2026 Minnesota High School Assistant Principal of the Year award. 

He will be put up against others across the nation in April for the national award. 

The Tri-City United School District School Board voted on Monday, Dec. 22, to ask voters in the district again to pass the same $39.99 million bond that was proposed at the November 2025 single vote election. In November, the tax base that showed up to vote voted 926 in approval and 1,088 in opposition.

Eleven members of Tri-City United High School’s FFA chapter spend Dec. 14 and Dec. 15 in St. Cloud competing and learning at the Minnesota FFA Winter Leadership Summit at St. Cloud State University.

The first day of the summit included an lengthy agriculture discussion session and a party. The second day of the summit included preliminary rounds for the seven Leadership Development Event (LDE) categories student competition, employment skills, leadership workshops, final rounds of competition, and an awards ceremony.

At a meeting of the Le Sueur County Officials Association, State Senator Rich Draheim (22, R) and State Rep. Terry Stier (22B, R) were present to share information from the state legislature that affects the area. The meeting was held Dec. 3 at Le Sueur City Hall.

“I don’t want to say it was the most confusing year, but probably the most uncertain year I have seen in my nine years,” Draheim said, noting the size of the state government has tripled in funding since he took office in 2017.

The message of the evening was clear from Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (MnDNR) Tuesday, Dec. 18, at the Montgomery American Legion, aeration systems are rather ineffective at providing meaningful oxygen to most bodies of water and are a source of danger to the public.

About 100 Wheatland Twin Lakes Sportsmans Club (WTLSC) members and the general public gathered to see, hear, and ask questions about what the MnDNR had to present about Cody Lake and the possibility of reinstating an aeration system there.

History of aeration at Cody Lake

Montgomery’s Sharing Tree Coordinator Eileen Segna wants everyone to know they are more than just offering gifts during the holidays, although it’s a big part of their efforts, and that everything given goes directly back to our community.

“This year I think we had 129 (Sharing Tree) tags and there was 19 left over, so we went last Saturday to buy gifts for those 19 people. So, tomorrow when we deliver, everyone will have gifts that otherwise would have been left out,” said Segna.

It wasn’t quite as low as the 3.9% increase from last year, but the Le Sueur County budget and levy passed was still among the lowest of the last decade.

On Dec. 2, the Le Sueur County Board of Commissioners held its annual Truth in Taxation meeting to hear residents’ concerns. The hearing was followed by the official vote on the next budget.

The final levy was set at $30,337,063, which represents a 4.4% increase over last year.

The only years where the increase was lower were in 2021 (4%) and 2025 (3.9%).

Lonsdale was the centerpoint of Christmas-related activity this past Saturday.
    Triumphant Life Church held an ornament-making activity in the afternoon. Next door, the Lonsdale American Legion hosted kids bingo. Down the street, Something For All held their outdoors Who-Ville event for all to meet The Grinch.

Much of Minnesota is feeling the effects of a large winter storm currently with Tri-City United Schools cancelling all afternoon and evening activities, rescheduling the music concert from tonight at the same time tomorrow night, Friday, Dec. 18.