James J. Johnson Sr., 78 of Blooming Prairie, died Thursday, May 31, 2018 at his home.  
He was born Nov. 25, 1939 in Austin to Alvin and Grace (Filley) Johnson. James was a 1957 graduate of Austin High School and received his Associate’s Degree from Riverland Community College.  

At the beginning of the season, almost every golfer has the goal written down to make the second day of their section tournament. As the Kasson-Mantorville girls golf team approached last week’s Section 1AA Tournament, they knew that they had a couple of young golfers that could find their way to the second day by themselves, but also wanted to get to there as a team in a loaded section.

Let the caps fly and the celebrations begin.
That’s exactly what is happening around the area. Seniors have finished their school work and now have diplomas in hand for the next venture in their lives. 
I can’t believe how it has been 32 years since I graduated from high school. I can assure you that time passed by quickly. For once I wish time would slow down, but as you get older, I think it goes even faster. 

As is tradition every June, Kasson-Mantorville High School honored its latest graduating class on last Sunday afternoon. In front of a jam-packed Home Federal Arena, the KoMets graduates remembered their rise through the ranks and were given advice as they enter the world with their diplomas in hand. 

The halls of Kasson-Mantorville Elementary School were abuzz Thursday morning as staff and students celebrated K-M’s 2018-2019 Teacher of the Year, Rita Buehler. 

An unidentified Kasson police officer is in the hospital after what is believed to have been a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
The Dodge County Sheriff’s Office responded to a grassy area near a residential subdivision on 257thAvenue in rural Mantorville around 6 a.m. Saturday. Deputies found a Kasson police officer with apparent gunshot wounds that were self-inflicted.

Leona Mae Volkert, 91, of Kasson, passed away after a brief battle with cancer on Sunday, May 20, 2018, at Seasons Hospice in Rochester.
Leona was born Jan. 15, 1927, in Afton Township, Stillwater to Herman and Luella (Pechuman) Heuer. She married Elroy J. Volkert on June 21, 1947 in Afton Township Stillwater, and they farmed in White Bear Lake, Minn. and Roberts, Wis. They were charter members of the St. Croix Riders Saddle Club.

Noma Fay Houseman of Stewartville died on Sunday, May 20, 2018 at the age of 98.
She was born on May 29, 1919 in Cayuga, N.D., to Ben & Lydia (Kramer) Zelinske. She graduated from Mantorville High School in 1937. On Oct. 14, 1944, she married Harvey Lee Houseman and they resided in Mantorville, where Noma worked at Erdman’s Grocery Store from 1957 until 1981. They moved to Stewartville in 1982.

There could be a cliche used that says that the action in the Section 1AAA tournament opener between Kasson- Mantorville and Winona was as hot as it could be on May 26. However, such a statement could not have been more true as the KoMets and the Winhawks went to battle in temperatures hovering around the mid-to-high 90s in Winona.