MANKATO — A parent of high school athletes is alleging the New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva Public School District unlawfully banned him from attending home basketball games for the remainder of the season after several instances where he had take his mask off for medical reasons.

It's that time of year again. 

Doctors believe a 19-year-old from Mankato had a mysterious inflammatory syndrome that strikes a small percentage of young people who have had COVID-19.

MANKATO — Area counties combined for 77 newly confirmed COVID-19 cases Friday, contributing to an overall rise in cases this week.

MANKATO — A level three predatory offender is moving to Mankato. 

Anna Sunderman slipped a positive note of encouragement under the door of a dorm room in Preska Residence Community on Thursday.

MANKATO — A service provider is accused of touching a vulnerable adult inappropriately at her Mankato group home.

ST. PETER — A St. Peter man is accused of choking and threatening a woman he knows and coercing her into having sexual contact.

NEW ULM — Five people are facing charges after repeat burglaries involving valuable vintage comic books at the same residence and the recovery of a stolen Sasquatch and nearly 2 pounds of marijuana.

MANKATO — A consultant is recommending Mankato move forward with a $6 million air traffic control tower at its municipal airport, but some City Council members remain hesitant considering the pandemic-related plunge in air travel.

MANKATO — South-central Minnesota’s COVID-19 positivity rate rose for the third straight week, although it remains below the key 5% threshold.

MADELIA — An Iowa man was injured when his semi left the road and crashed into the ditch Thursday afternoon.

The Free Press and MPR News

(This version corrects the duration of time the painting "Landscape With Rainbow" was displayed at the White House).

MANKATO — Newly released survey results show vaping rates leveled out among Minnesota high schoolers in 2020, while remaining at epidemic levels.

Lawmakers appear ready to spend more state funding than ever to expand Minnesota’s broadband internet, but questions remain over how best to use that money.

MANKATO — Two southern Minnesota State Patrol troopers were honored for saving a man they found unconscious in subzero temperatures in Mankato.

MANKATO — Upcoming blood drives in the Mankato area will help make up for donations lost during the country’s recent rash of severe weather.

MANKATO — A man accused of raping a woman in a Mankato residence in 2019 was sentenced to home confinement and probation.

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LAKE CRYSTAL — A driver allegedly fled while at times going 105 mph and in the wrong lanes of Highway 60.

A number of new development projects are in the works, but one that many had been looking forward to — a new Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen — is not going to happen.

The Free Press

More area communities are seeking state aid for flood control efforts this year.

NORTH MANKATO — A man reportedly chased a woman outside a North Mankato laundromat after threatening her with a knife.

ST. PETER — More than 60 St. Peter businesses received COVID-19 relief loans in the city’s latest rounds of funding.

Teacher Joel Boehlke has a new ride to take ice fishing on his day off Friday thanks to a special student and many other supporters.

MANKATO — A patient at the Mankato hospital reportedly threatened to “massacre” staff.

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MANKATO — Larry Van Tol was a bighearted man with a keen entrepreneurial mind who helped build Hilltop Florist into a major destination for a legion of faithful customers.

MANKATO — For the third straight year, Mankato’s annual bond sale, which generates millions of dollars for street and sewer projects, has been newsier than one might anticipate.

ST. PETER — A driver was injured when he was struck by a turning vehicle on Highway 99 just east of St. Peter Monday.

Systemic racism exists in institutions ranging from housing to education, Black members of the Mankato area community say.

MANKATO — A mentally ill man allegedly threatened police officers who tried to take him to a hospital.

Gov. Tim Walz unveiled a $518 million infrastructure proposal Monday, far smaller than his infrastructure spending recommendations in previous years and with few local projects.

NORTH MANKATO — The North Mankato City Council is poised to move ahead with $5 million in upgrades to the Caswell Park softball fields, soccer complex and to finalize design plans for an indoor recreation facility.

MANKATO — Two years after a home invasion and beating led to the death of a rural Mankato woman, investigators think they know what happened. But they need help proving it.

The Free Press and MPR News

MANKATO — Police are looking for a bearded man in a brown truck who reportedly assaulted a stranger Sunday afternoon outside a Mankato residence.

A majority of area respondents say they agree with the city of North Mankato’s plans for the Norwood Inn site, according to a Free Press online question.

The Free Press

No one was surprised that Merriam-Webster picked “pandemic” as its word of the year. Also making the Top 10 were “quarantine” and “asymptomatic.”