Erlin Leroy “Sandy” Rank, age 79, of New Prague, died in Mankato, on Friday, October 16, 2026 after lengthy health issues. Sandy was born on March 14, 1947, in Windom, Minnesota, to Duane Erlin and Delia Martha (Baldwin) Rank. He attended Westbrook High School and graduated from Jordan High School in 1967. After high school, he entered the US Navy and served in the Vietnam War through 1968. Proud of his service, he belonged to both the American Legion and VFW in New Prague.

  New Prague’s football team enjoyed a strong performances in all three phases of the game on the way to a 35-13 win over Rochester John Marshall Wednesday, Oct. 14, at Trojan Field.

  The Trojans took the opening kickoff 81 yards for a touchdown and never looked back. On their second play with the ball, NP ran for a 59-yard touchdown for a 15-0 lead with a two-point conversion.

  NP built a 28-0 lead at intermission and 35-0 lead heading into the fourth quarter. The Trojans rushed for 235 yards and amassed 397 yards of total offense – 140 yards more than the Rockets.

New Prague High School’s girls’ and boys’ soccer teams both saw their seasons conclude in the opening round of the Section 1AAA soccer tournament Tuesday night (Oct. 13).

Seeded eighth, the NP girls fell, 4-0, to top-seeded Lakeville North in a game truncated by continuing lightning.

NP finished the season at 4-11-2 overall, 0-5-0 against teams from Section 1AAA.

NP boys

    My family history holds a lot of music history within it at St. John The Evangelist Catholic Church at Union Hill, Minn. 
    Joseph J. Busch (1873-1966) of Union Hill, Minn., was my great-grandfather. He graduated in 1896 from Catholic Normal School in St. Francis, Wis., a school that was dedicated to training teachers, as a teacher and organist.

Robert L. Srnec, age 89, of Lonsdale, passed away on October 3, 2026. Robert was a dedicated and hardworking man who spent 41 years working for Green Giant, Pillsbury, and Seneca. Farming was also an important part of his life, as he farmed for nearly his entire lifetime and sold Gold Country Seed for many years. Robert truly enjoyed visiting with family and friends and was always happy to share a good conversation. In his free time, he enjoyed dancing, listening to KCHK radio, playing euchre, and hunting.

Jerel "Jake" Charles Lawson, from Eagle Lake, MN, at the age of 73, passed away peacefully at his home on Oct. 3, 2026, surrounded by loved ones and the Lord.

    Minnesota House District 22B and Senate District 22 candidates answered a couple values-orientated questions at the Sept. 22 Meet Your Candidates event held at the Revival on Main in Montgomery. Each candidate was given up to two minutes to answer, whether or not they chose to use the entire time.

New Prague students out-performed their counterparts from across the state in the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments given to students last spring, according to results released this past week by the Minnesota Department of Education.

Michael “Mike” John Miller passed away with immense dignity, love and peace at his home in Marietta, Georgia, surrounded by family, on September 29, 2026, at age 80. While lung cancer was the medical cause of his death, Mike fundamentally died of a broken heart after caring for his soulmate and wife Judi, who passed away seven months earlier. They were married for 59 years.

    The Le Sueur County Officials Association held its monthly meeting Wednesday evening, Sept. 30, at New Prague’s combined emergency response building. The meeting was held in the meeting hall of the New Prague Fire Department with a tour of the new police station at 505 Fifth Ave. NW.
    Interim Mayor Chuck Nickolay welcomed the 20 government officials from townships and cities in Le Sueur County and county commissioners. Nickolay said it had been a real honor to be a part of the association and hoped people would enjoy the tour.

New Prague High School’s girls’ tennis team has won three matches in the last few weeks.

“The Trojan tennis team has had a good couple of weeks on the courts,” said head coach Jamie Schoenbauer.

“We beat Waconia 5-2 on Sept. 22,” Schoenbauer said.

Lily Bible won at No. 1 singles with scores of 6-1, 6-1; Tori Erickson won at No. 2 singles, 6-2, 7-5, and Lucy Larson won at No. 4 singles 6-2, 6-2.  The No. 2 doubles team of Lexi Eischens and Maeve Kane won 6-0, 6-3, and No. 3 doubles Claire Erickson and Kate Gilles won 6-1, 7-6.

To the editor,
    I am writing because I believe Mary Nesgoda is the kind of person we need representing us in the Minnesota House for District 22B.
    What I appreciate most about Mary is simple: She listens, and she cares about people. She takes the time to hear what people are saying and to understand the challenges they face.

Betty Ann Ziskovsky, age 92, of Veseli, died peacefully on October 2, 2026, at Mala Strana in New Prague, Minnesota.

    Last Tuesday afternoon, Sept. 22, a regular customer of Lonsdale’s Dollar General store crashed into the entryway of the building.
    Lonsdale Police Chief Jason Schmitz said that the call came in at 1:57 p.m. for the incident, with Lonsdale Fire Department and Northfield Ambulance also responding.
    “The cause of the crash was the driver failed to stop. We suspect the driver accidentally accelerated the vehicle instead of stepping on the brake pedal,” said Chief Schmitz. “Were just thankful no one else was hurt knowing how busy Dollar General is.”

    Social media posting on Facebook has been all abuzz the last couple weeks about the roundabout in Lonsdale at Highway 19 and Rice County 2, which was completed less than two months ago. 
    The subject of the chatter is a large dip on the northeast corner of the roundabout that developed that is about four-to-six inches deep, about four-to-six inches from side-to-side and extends the width of the lane.