After competing for the blue and white KoMets for the past two years, right-handed pitcher and third baseman Kaleb Thiesse has decided to compete for another blue and white team, the Norse of Luther College, next year.
            He chose Luther because, “I loved the campus, loved the facilities and the people on campus seemed very welcoming.”
He also liked that Luther was just a little less than 90 miles away.

Each year about 500 high school sophomores and juniors apply to make it into the following year’s All-State band, mixed choir or orchestra, but only about 140 are accepted. Despite those odds, Kasson-Mantorville High School will be well represented next year as Ethan Barnum (clarinet) and Sayer Flynn (flute) made the All-State band while Olivia Smith made the All-State mixed choir.

Two former Steele County commissioners who lost their spots on the county board in the 2016 election are staging a comeback in this year’s election.
On Tuesday, James “Corky” Ebeling and Mark Schultz filed to get their old seats back on the Steele County Board. They will go up against the two incumbents that beat them in 2016—Jim Abbe and Rick Gnemi. 

Nathan Davidson has made the half hour trip to Kasson from Grand Meadow area hundreds of times in all types of weather conditions in the last 30 years driving a yellow VW.   

A last minute filing has produced a race for state representative in Minnesota’s District 24A, which covers Steele and Waseca counties.
Former Steele County commissioner and county administrator Tom Shea of Owatonna has filed for District 24A to challenge incumbent John Petersburg in November’s general election.
Petersburg, of Waseca, has been in office since 2013.

The Steele County Free Fair has joined a growing number of fairs in canceling its 2020 fair.
On Wednesday night, the Steele County Fair Board voted to cancel this year’s fair because of the coronavirus pandemic. 

This past week I had the pleasure to interview a woman who turned 107 years old on Sunday.
My only regret with this story is that I didn’t get to personally meet Elrose Milverstedt, who grew up in Dodge County and now lives in Owatonna. Knowing that social distancing requirements are in effect right now with long-term care facilities, we arranged for a phone interview.

As weather patters change from polar pushes into the state to more tropical weather from the Gulf of Mexico our days are warming and trees are leafing out.
Grass needs mowing at least once a week as heavy rainfall moves through the region. (Most folks are hoping it’s not a repeat of last year’s record-setting downpours.)

Isaac Andrew Monson, 17, of Dodge Center, passed away on May 23, 2020.
Isaac was born on July 12, 2002, in Rochester, the son of Tracy and Heather (Bowman) Monson.
Isaac was to graduate with the Triton High School Class of 2020, and planned to attend Riverland College this fall.  He enjoyed working on computers and was an avid gamer. Family was very important to Isaac and he enjoyed going on trips with his grandmother, Linda.