The Free Press

Question: What is being done about distracted driving? It seems like it is getting worse.

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In a wetland area a few miles west of St. Peter, ducks bobbed on a recent day on the water’s surface. Mallards and blue-winged teal took flight as an eagle swooped into the group in search of a meal.

MANKATO — The decision by the School Sisters of Notre Dame to sell its property on Good Counsel Hill has created challenges for nonprofits now housed on the campus.

MANKATO — A teenager allegedly assaulted and threatened to kill Mankato police officers.

MANKATO — City staff removed stickers promoting neo-Nazism from traffic light poles in Mankato.

MANKATO — City staff is removing stickers promoting neo-Nazism from traffic light poles in Mankato.

MANKATO — A Le Center man was injured in a two-vehicle crash Friday afternoon just north of Mankato.

MAPLETON — Four law enforcement officers were recognized by a state policing organization for their non-lethal response to a hostage situation in Mapleton in 2019.

NORTH MANKATO — For the second year in a row North Mankato’s Fun Days has been canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

NEW ULM — The longtime mayor of New Ulm is retiring due to health issues and an appointee will take his place.

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MANKATO — “Everybody has a Donny story,” said Leroy McClelland, describing the legacy of his South Bend Township neighbor.

MANKATO — COVID-19 positivity rates remained concerningly high in south-central Minnesota and statewide this week.

MANKATO — Coronavirus cases and quarantines are up again among Mankato Area Public Schools students and staff.

ST. JAMES — The city of St. James has suspended its eviction of the Watonwan County Humane Society and will consider selling the city property to the organization.

MANKATO — The Blue Earth County Sheriff’s Office is warning of imposter phone calls.

MADISON LAKE — A Madison Lake business owner who fired a shotgun into the sky and drove an ATV while intoxicated was sentenced to probation.

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MANKATO — Two clients of the South Central Minnesota Small Business Development Center, located at Minnesota State University, were selected to receive Launch Minnesota innovation grants.

MANKATO — A group of business students at Minnesota State University has been adding to book learning by building their own company.

NEW ULM — A high homeless woman allegedly assaulted two Brown County law enforcement officers as they took her to detox.

MANKATO — Loyola Catholic School is purchasing its campus and athletic fields on Good Counsel Hill from the School Sisters of Notre Dame.

It’s clear the Minnesota Legislature is looking to make a large investment on broadband this year. What’s not so clear is how lawmakers plan to do it, or where the money’s going to come from.

MANKATO — A $7.2 million makeover of Riverfront Drive through Old Town has been denied federal funding, although city officials may still decide to move forward with the project.

MANKATO — A woman allegedly had a blood alcohol concentration four times the legal limit when she crashed into a Mankato road sign.

LE SUEUR — A repeat drunken driver crashed an ATV into a vehicle, walked home injured and then resisted arrest in Le Sueur, charges say.

MANKATO — Mayo Clinic Health System patients and non-patients ages 16 and up can now schedule an appointment to be vaccinated for COVID-19 without a letter or notice from Mayo.

WASECA — A Waseca man who was accused of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl was sentenced to probation.

MANKATO — A suspect is in custody after two residential burglaries in the Lincoln Park neighborhood Tuesday evening.

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A tumultuous year has made Heather Mueller more optimistic about the future of education in Minnesota.

State officials are asking the Minnesota Legislature for $17.8 million to renovate Minnesota Sex Offender Program buildings inside the St. Peter Regional Treatment Center.

MANKATO — With hopes that the pandemic might be ebbing and even Mother Nature looking like she can’t wait for the summer of 2021 to begin, Mankato city officials are contemplating a return to something resembling normalcy.

ST. CLAIR — A man is facing a sixth DWI charge for allegedly driving an ATV while intoxicated through rural Blue Earth County.

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NORTH MANKATO — A North Mankato woman allegedly repeatedly punched a man she knows and hit him with pieces of wood.

MADELIA — A rural Madelia home was destroyed by fire believed to have started from a cigarette dropped into grass.

MANKATO — About 100 staff positions will be cut to help Mankato Area Public Schools offset a projected $7.5 million budget deficit next school year.

MANKATO — Much needed rainfall is on the way this week, but first Mankatoans were treated to their first 80-degree day of the year Monday.

Things may be getting better, but area residents should still be vigilant about COVID-19 precautions and get vaccinated as soon as possible.

MANKATO — A man already well-known to Mankato police allegedly stabbed a stranger because the victim would not share his alcohol. He then reportedly bragged about it to other people he did not know.

MANKATO — Like many big projects, the Freyberg family’s truck travel center took a lot longer to put together than the family hoped.

ST. PETER — Does wool processing make you think of a beloved granny hunching over her spinning wheel by the light of a roaring fireplace?