After a few weeks returning to in-person meetings, the Waconia City Council was back online for its latest meeting Monday, July 20. That follows a recent exposure to COVID-19 among a city staff person.
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If there’s one thing everyone agrees on, it’s keeping pollinators happy. Everything from bees to hummingbirds are a welcome sight in a garden. This includes solar gardens around Minnesota. As part of many Conditional Use Permits (CUP), solar gardens are required to establish a pollinator gar…
Public schools across Minnesota have their assignment for the upcoming school year. Make staff and student health their top priorities and do the best they can to keep kids in school buildings when classes resume this fall.
The city of Waconia will get almost $1 million in CARES funding. What to do with that money was the focus of a city council work session Monday, July 20.
Watertown-Mayer has many creative kids, with two more students being announced as published for the American Library of Culture’s Student Poetry Contest. McKenna Quinlan and Josie Williams were both recognized for their excellent poetry skills, with very different poems. They are already con…
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Home is where the heart is, and Norwood Young America is looking to at more art to their heart. The Economic Development Commission, Parks and Recreation, and the NYA Council have all been hard at work with the Downtown Redevelopment Implementation Plan. One aspect of their progress will be …
Three months after $150 billion in federal coronavirus relief funds were allocated to state and local governments, Minnesota cities are finally getting the cash in hand. The funding is part of the larger $2.2 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act signed into law …
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Road and other infrastructure work continue this month at a few locations in western Carver County. Here’s a brief update.
While local public schools await state directives on how they offer classes for the 2020-2021 school year, Waconia private schools are moving forward with reopening.
The Waconia City Council addressed two project funding mechanisms at its latest meeting on July 6.
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Businesses incorporate for a number of reasons, primarily to manage assets and grow the business.
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Residents of Mayer may have noticed a few new fixtures in their parks the last few weeks. Two of those fixtures, a batting cage in Old Schoolhouse Park and a new playground in Discovery Park, are the results of a couple years of planning. With restrictions easing up and weather getting nicer…
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Even though many people are returning to work, many families are still in need of help throughout Carver County. In an effort to help out those families, two teachers from Cologne Academy got to work organizing a food drive. The plan: Camp out at the school until they reached their goal of 3…
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Nickle Dickle Day will be going “old school” for this year only – back to its origins in 1961 simply as a way for businesses to attract people to town.
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It’s time to get out and smell the flowers… literally, because Cologne Glad Days are confirmed to be happening this year. The 19th Glad Day have been scheduled for July 23-25, and while it won’t be quite the same as usual, there are still going to be some fun and safe events for Cologne resi…
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For the last two years, Timber Creek Golf Course in Watertown has been home to the Women’s Charity Golf Tournament. This year’s tournament is scheduled to take place on July 25, and while it’s going to look a little different thanks to COVID-19, that doesn’t mean it’s going to take away from…
The contract for Waconia Public Schools’ Superintendent Pat Devine was a point of contention early this year before being resolved in late February. It came up again last week at two school board meetings.
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Many students get summer internships to find out how things go in the real workplace world. Last month, several Waconia teachers participated in “externships” to learn the same thing.
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The Waconia business community gave its long-time Chamber of Commerce president Kellie Sites a fond retirement send-off last Thursday, June 25, at its first in-person Chamber meeting since the coronavirus pandemic limited social gatherings – a luncheon held at Sovereign Estate Winery.
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Infinity Diamond partners Mimi Swonder and Judi Johnson made a short move down First Street this spring, but a big jump for their jewelry business.
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With cabin fever strong after an extended period of isolation and with social distancing apt to guide every aspect of our lives for the foreseeable future, Minnesota’s miles upon miles of trails and its numerous parks have been beckoning us for some time.
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We’re already in July, and getting close to the halfway mark for school summer breaks. While many schools in Minnesota are waiting for direction from the Department of Health and Department of Education on what the fall semester is going to look like, private schools are able to make their o…
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With many of us continuing work from home for the foreseeable future, there’s been nothing more important than communication. Whether that’s been regarding projects, new procedures, or just knowing the next steps, businesses around Minnesota have had to learn new ways to keep employees in th…
COVID-19 may have stopped a lot of things, but it hasn’t stopped construction season. A lot of projects are underway around Carver County. Recently, the Department of Transportation (MNDOT) held a public forum about their plans for Highway 25. Diane Langenbach, MNDOT’s South Area Engineer, w…
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The Minnetrista Police Department received more applications for permits to purchase a firearm during the first six months of 2020 than it normally would in an entire year. Likewise, Orono PD has already processed 15 more of these applications than it did in all 12 months of 2019, and West H…
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They say that music is therapy for the mind and soul.
Like a multiple-choice test, local schools are trying to figure out whether it will be answer A, B, or C in terms of going back to school this fall.
Effective July 6, Adams Publishing Group, the parent company of Sun Patriot Newspapers, will be opening its office doors to the public again. Office doors were closed March 16 in an effort to slow the spread of COVID-19.
Soon after it opened, the Cologne Fitness Center is closed following a fire Saturday afternoon, June 27.
Like other communities, the city of Cologne is starting to reopen with the easing of state restrictions related to the coronavirus pandemic.
On June 9, the Watertown City Council held a regular meeting via Zoom to discuss a few items. One of these items was utility adjustment rates for bars and restaurants, as well as liquor license fee adjustments due to COVID-19.
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There are plenty of ways residents have had to adapt in response to COVID-19, children included. Their lives were as much turned upside down as their parents’ with school and activities being held over Zoom, if at all. However, with the help of the Cologne community, students at the Elite Da…
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On a Saturday in late June, Waconia’s downtown streets normally would be filled with visitors, and more than a dozen marching bands would be marching shoulder to shoulder at the Lake Waconia Band Festival.
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While several events around Carver County are being cancelled, one event in Mayer will still be taking place on July 11 - the Mayer Rising Community Festival. As a part of this festival, the annual Car Show and Craft Fair will also be taking place. There are a few changes in response to the …
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As summer approaches, major street and infrastructure projects are under way in both Waconia and Cologne. Here’s an overview from each community. Both cities are using letters and flyers to update affected residents about impeding work, and weekly project updates are available on each city’s…
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After weeks of discussion, Norwood Young America’s Stiftungsfest committee decided the event would be cancelled this year due to COVID-19 concerns. It was not an easy decision, and there were many factors that played into it, according to organizers.
While most of the national conversation is on the likely face-off of incumbent Republican President Donald Trump and the presumed Democratic nominee, former Vice-President Joe Biden, in the 2020 presidential election, the ballot facing local voters is a heavy one – everything from county com…
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During this year of the pandemic when many spring and summer events have been cancelled, the city of Waconia’s music and movies in the park series will go on. It starts with a concert at 7 p.m. this evening, Thursday, June 25, at City Square Park, a movie this Friday at 8:30 p.m., and contin…
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The beaches at Lake Minnewashta and Baylor regional parks opened to the public June 2 for the summer season (see related article). That’s not the case at Lake Waconia Regional Park, which remains closed while improvements continue at that facility.
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There’s nothing wrong with a little sunshine, and Sunshine Inspiration in Norwood Young America has been hard at work bringing some to folks around the community. One of their most recent efforts brought smiles to the folks living at The Harbor in NYA, who are still under isolation during th…
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Summer is here, and with workplaces everywhere starting to open back up, many parents are looking into childcare for the season. While they are now open to everyone, there area of course a few changes for the time being to keep everyone healthy and happy.
Waconia High School teacher and Waconia Park Board member Carl Pierson has announced his candidacy for a spot on the city council representing Ward 2.
Laketown Elementary School will have its third principal in only its first few years of operation. Keith Baune was selected for the position recently, replacing Eduardo Navidad who left for another opportunity after just a year.
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A St. Bonifacius man is dead following a crash in Wright County, according to the Wright County Sheriff’s Office.
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By this time most years, organizers of the annual Waconia Relay for Life event would have their plans in place and be ready to go.
A long-standing dock dispute in the city of Waconia could end up at the Minnesota Supreme Court.
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While COVID-19 has had a huge impact on local seniors’ final year of high school, the Class of 2020 won’t let it define them.
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It’s no surprise the news of riots and protests has everyone worried, even when they don’t live in the Metro. While there are plenty of worries, a few around Carver County working to make things a little easier on the folks in the Cities trying to keep things manageable. A few Cologne reside…
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It’s the first week of June, which for 2020 is turning out to be a pretty historic month. This week is seeing the reopening of businesses all around the state, and with those businesses are churches. However, there are of course a few rules on gathering, just like with everyone else.
School’s out, which means so are school activities. While activities hit a rough spot with the pandemic, that doesn’t mean that everything was completely cancelled. For example, the Norwood Young America has been still been recognizing student achievements in any way they can. A senior in Ce…
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