In today’s issue, the staff at the Steele County Times is providing our readers something different than most weeks in our newspaper. 
Granted, we have had special sections, tabs, etc., but we have never combined two topics into one section before. And that is what our readers will get in the first four pages of the ‘D’ section.
The city of Medford is having two very special events wrapped up into one this weekend. 

… And the winner is: US Bank and the new Vikings stadium.
Well, that really depends on one’s perspective. 
Perhaps this should read: And the losers are small town newspapers and the rural communities served by US Bank.

Voters in the New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva School District overwhelmingly said ‘No’ to a $14.5 million project that would have improved facilities at Ellendale and New Richland.
In the June 9 referendum vote, 64 percent voted against the project and 36 percent voted for the project. There were 1,048 total votes. The school district was expecting approximately 1,200 voters.

Going into the State Class 3A golf tournament June 9-10, Owatonna’s Peter Jones had one thought in mind — winning. In a different year, a 144 finish may have been enough, but this year, it was one short. 

With six cast members, 24 chorus members and at least 20 behind the scenes crew members, the Little Theatre of Owatonna’s “The Producers” is one of the toughest undertakings yet. 
The reason it is so challenging is due to the vast amount of costumes, actors and actresses, props and the huge set. 
The musical, written by Mel Brooks and Thomas Meehan, is adapted from the 1968 film and first hit the Broadway stage in 2001. 

When Matt Hanson was 15-years-old, he was challenged at a wrestling camp to make a list of goals for the next 10 years. One of those goals was running an Ironman triathlon.
Fourteen years later, Hanson became the North American Ironman champion. 
The beginning

Rainy skies did not stop nearly 200 people from gathering at the Geneva Bar and Grill on Saturday morning to raise money to fight cancer in the fourth annual Geneva Cancer Run. 
92 motorcycles, four cars and a short bus made the over 120-mile journey to Douglas, West Concord, Hayfield and then back to Geneva. 

New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva School Superintendent Dr. Dennis Goodwin will become the new superintendent at Camp Verde Unified School District in Camp Verde, Ariz.
He will take over the position on July 1. He has been NRHEG school superintendent for two years.

For Barry and Marybeth Mosier of Dodge Center just being alive is a miracle so when they decided to start a strawberry farm it was a natural to call it the Miracle Strawberry Farm.
Seven years ago, while serving as missionaries in Africa, the Mosier’s and two of their children, April, 14, and Andrew, three, were in a plane crash in the Congo.