A total of 14 wrestlers from the WEM Grizzly Youth Wrestling Club competed in the NYWA Minnesota State Wrestling Tournament Thursday, March 30 through Sunday, April 2 at the Rochester Civic Center.
The junior high team competed and won one of their five dual matches, placing third in the Pool 8 Bracket. Each of the following wrestlers got five matches:

The City of Elysian will soon have something in their community they have not had before.
Sometime this summer a basketball court and pickleball court will be completed near the Elysian School in the vacant tennis court.
“The city was deeded the old tennis courts and the ballfield near the Elysian School from WEM School District last year after requests were made to the school from the city to take them over,” Nicole Lamont, a member of the Elysian Park Board said.

JoAnn C. (Cate) Verdev, age 90, of Morristown, died on Saturday, April 1, 2023, at Foxdale Senior Living, Waseca, surrounded by family.
Funeral services will be at Peace United Methodist Church, Morristown on Monday, April 10, 2023, at 11 a.m. with the Reverend Elden Eklund, officiating.  Interment will be at Meadow Ridge Memorial Park, Faribault.
Visitation will be held 9:30 to 11:00 a.m. at the church prior to the service on Monday.
Arrangements are being completed by the Boldt Funeral Home, Faribault.

Carl W. Vollbrecht, Sr., age 93, of Waterville, died on Saturday, April 1, 2023, at Piper’s Good Tidings for Seniors.
Funeral services will be held at Trinity Lutheran Church, North Morristown on Tuesday, April 11, 2023, at 10:30 a.m. with the Reverend Juan Palm officiating. Interment will be at Concordia Cemetery, North Morristown.
Visitation will be at the Boldt Funeral Home, Faribault on Monday, April 10, 2023, from 4 to 7 p.m. and also at church for one hour prior to the service on Tuesday.

John W. Krause, age 91, of Morristown, died on Thursday, March 2, 2023, at Three Links Care Center, Northfield.
Memorial services will be at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, May 6, 2023, at Trinity Lutheran Church, North Morristown. Interment will be at Concordia Cemetery, Morristown.
Visitation will be for one hour prior to the service at church on Saturday, May 6, 2023.

Chuck Wann, who worked for over 50 years with his grandfather, mother and family members to run Suel Printing and The New Prague Times, passed away this past week. He leaves behind a legacy of a family-owned publishing company committed to serving readers and advertisers and helping make the communities they serve better.
Chuck’s obituary appears on newpraguetimes.com and in this week's papers.

A number of entities came together to implement the Farmers Protecting Rice Creek Project in the Rice Creek watershed in 2018. The project expanded to include parts of Heath and Wolf Creek watersheds in 2021 and was renamed the Farmers Protecting Bridgewater Streams Project (FPBSP).

Eugene Charles “Chuck” Wann, 77, of New Prague, passed away Friday, March 17, 2023, in Fort Myers, FL. Chuck was born on January 25, 1946 in New Prague, to Eugene C. and Lois (Suel) Wann. He attended St. Wenceslaus School and was a 1964 graduate of New Prague High School. After attending the College of St. Thomas in St. Paul, he graduated from Mankato State University. On February 10, 1968, he was married to Barbara (Franz) Wann in New Prague. They had two children. He later married Janis (Bethke) Wann on August 20, 1995, in New Prague.

Eugene Charles “Chuck” Wann, 77, of New Prague, passed away Friday, March 17, 2023, in Fort Myers, FL. Chuck was born on January 25, 1946 in New Prague, to Eugene C. and Lois (Suel) Wann. He attended St. Wenceslaus School and was a 1964 graduate of New Prague High School. After attending the College of St. Thomas in St. Paul, he graduated from Mankato State University. On February 10, 1968, he was married to Barbara (Franz) Wann in New Prague. They had two children. He later married Janis (Bethke) Wann on August 20, 1995, in New Prague.

The City of Elysian is looking for funding for a new water treatment plant.
Mayor Tom McBroom made a plea on behalf of the city at both meetings of the House of Representatives and Senate Wednesday, March 8 and Thursday, March 9.
Proposals for clean water and wastewater infrastructure upgrades in Elysian, Blue Earth, and Lewisville were heard. These bills were authored and presented to the committees by Senator Rich Draheim (R-Madison Lake), who represents all three communities.

Grant Pope, owner of We Buy Houses Southern Minnesota, is always looking for opportunities in the area where they can add value to a property and the surrounding communities.
Little did he know his latest project is one of the oldest buildings in Waterville that has significant history to the growth of the city.
The company purchased the old Union Hotel at 201 Paquin Street E. This property has been accepted into the National Register for Historic Places in Minnesota. Pope did not know that upon purchase but found out in quite a hurry.

Four WEM/JWP wrestlers combined for a 22-0 record in conference matches this last season and they were all honored by Gopher Conference coaches.
Sophomores Keegan Kuball and Carson Petry were honored for the second time while freshman Brady Murphy, sophomore Avery Fall, and senior Jack Cahill were honored for the first time.
Kuball, Petry, and Murphy were named to the 15-member All-Gopher Conference Wrestling First Team. Fall was named to the 8-member Honorable Mention Team. Cahill was one of seven wrestlers to receive the Sportsmanship Award.

The Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) launched a $1.9 million test pilot that aims to improve public transportation needs across western and southern rural Minnesota. If the test pilot goes well, it could be expanded state-wide and improved upon.

Long-time educator Juanita Krueger of Morristown has been selected the 2022 Outstanding Elementary Teacher of the Year by a committee from the Minnesota South District of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod.

Class A No. 9 rated Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial outscored the WEM girls basketball team 34-25 in the second half, helping them defeat the Bucs, 60-48 in the Section 2AA, South Sub-Section Semifinals Thursday, March 2 at Mankato East.
The Knights, 27-1 overall and winners of 20 straight games, had defeated WEM 64-45 February 13.
The contest Thursday was much closer than the 12-point victory margin. One little scoring spurt was enough to push the Knights into the Sub-Section Championship against NRHEG, a winner over Waseca in the other Sub-Section Semifinal.

Townships in Scott, Le Sueur and Rice counties, as well as in counties throughout the state, will hold their annual meeting Tuesday, March 14.
Known as Township Day, these annual meetings are held every year on the second Tuesday in March and set townships apart from other forms of local government. The meetings allow township residents to voice their opinions about local issues with other township residents and also vote directly on their annual tax levy -- direct democracy in action. Citizens attending annual meetings also often discuss and vote on other local issues.