Every small town has a story to tell. And more of them are telling their stories through community murals that adorn sides of downtown buildings throughout southern Minnesota.

Damaris Nyasende punched a security counselor in the head and face nine times in December, the charges allege.

Tom Lawton interned at Jones Metal while attending East High School, shadowing workers and doing simple tasks. After graduating, he went to work there and attended South Central College, where he graduated last semester. He took advantage of the state’s PIPELINE Program where he received gra…

MANKATO — One of the largest groups of Christian churches in the U.S. recently voted to become a sanctuary denomination, prompting local discussions on how to put the declaration into practice.

Free GED testing and support is now available to adults who receive MinnesotaCare and Medical Assistance through UCare.

Kamau Evans, 27, of Mankato, was charged with felony assault Tuesday in Nicollet County District Court.

A woman said Joel Gast held her down, raped her, hit her in the head and strangled her, then took her phone so she could not call for help.

SLEEPY EYE — The announcement Tuesday that Del Monte would shutter its sweet corn and pea canning plant in Sleepy Eye is reverberating throughout the community.

An adult passenger was taken to the hospital with minor injuries after child crashed into a Mankato building.  

NEW ULM — One person was taken to the hospital to be treated for smoke inhalation from a fire in New Ulm shortly before midnight Monday.

Genealogy research brought Greg Wheelock to a tiny cemetery just outside St. Clair about three years ago. A sense of duty to the dead keeps him coming back.

Terry Dean Peters was arrested Thursday after allegedly running stop signs while racing his motorcycle and refusing to take a breathalyzer. 

MANKATO — A man was assaulted, threatened with a military-style rifle, forced into a car, taken to an ATM and forced to withdraw money last week in Mankato, according to charges filed Tuesday against one of the suspects.

Jesse James Cowing admitted to confronting his former friend but claimed the other man initiated the physical fight. 

MANKATO — After cocaine was found in a crashed car, a Mankato man allegedly admitted he was using and dealing the drug.

MANKATO — An Eagle Lake vineyard has plans to expand into a winery over the next few years.

BUTTERFIELD — An 83-year-old Butterfield woman was injured when two vans crashed Tuesday afternoon near Butterfield, the State Patrol said.

SLEEPY EYE — Del Monte Foods announced its intentions on Tuesday to close its 89-year-old plant in Sleepy Eye, one of four plants scheduled to close or be sold off.

CLEVELAND — A detour for Highway 99 at Cleveland was to be removed Tuesday because construction crews completed the installation of a box culvert at Cherry Creek considerably ahead of schedule.

Susan Kay Schwichtenberg is in a Rochester hospital in serious condition after the Sunday crash on Highway 61. 

MANKATO — One of the suspects in a robbery and assault at a Mankato bus stop last week has turned himself in.

NORTH MANKATO — The city of North Mankato is loosening its restrictions against dynamic signs in neighborhoods following a legal challenge to a recent variance decision. Critics welcome the effort but say the change could invite even more issues for North Mankato residents.

Farmers lined up tractors along State Highway 22 to remember Landon Gran, 18, who died in a grain bin accident last week near Norseland.

MONTGOMERY — The Montgomery Police Department is looking for two of the three persons who fled officers in a stolen vehicle Sunday.

The Free Press

MANKATO — As he does most days, Jim Albright arrived at the downtown Hy-Vee Monday at 4 a.m. to put in orders for the meat counter.

MANKATO — The Mankato Department of Public Safety requests the public’s help in finding five suspects involved in a robbery last week.

The Free Press

MANKATO — Burrito Wings is planning a move from near Minnesota State University to downtown.

The Free Press

We ran a story Wednesday about a travel program at Janesville-Waldorf-Permberton School that’s been in place for more than a decade.

Yellow ribbons came to symbolize hope during Bruce Laingen’s 444 days of captivity in Iran.

Lifetime achievement award

By Sgt. Troy Christianson, Minnesota State Patrol

WELLS — A Wells man died in a single-vehicle crash Friday near Easton, according to a State Patrol report.

When state forester Randy Schindle and his wife were walking their dog in Seven Mile Creek Park this spring, he spotted a tree he thought might be special.

Minnesota Valley Action Council has received additional federal funds to add full-day preschool in Mankato. 

The Free Press

Brittany Umbreit’s dream of building a dance studio that families would be drawn to has come along a lot faster than she imagined.