News

Breaking news: Riess case featured on NBC’s Dateline.

The Lois Riess murder investigation will be featured in a two-hour “Dateline NBC” Friday night. The show begins at 8 p.m. Riess is serving a life sentence in a Shakopee prison after pleading guilty last August to killing her husband in their rural Blooming Prairie home in March 2018. She also...

Medford’s Charley Elwood scores a takedown against Westfield’s Sam Skillestad. Elwood won by fall in the final seconds of the third period. Elwood’s win increased Medford’s lead to 24-9, a lead they would never relinquish, winning 54-21.

Westfield’s struggle continues with pair of losses

The Westfield wrestling team’s disappointing start to the season continued this past week when they went 0-2 at a pair of triangulars. In the first triangular, the Razorbacks lost to Maple River 45-28 and lost to perennial power Scott West 60-12 on Tuesday, Jan. 19. In its second triangular, which...

Senior Casey Johnson skates down the ice looking for an opportunity to score against the Mankato East Cougars during Saturday's game. The Cougars knocked off the Huskies 5-2.

Split results for Owatonna boys hockey

Owatonna’s boy hockey head coach, Josh Strom, was left with a bad taste in his mouth, after his team spilt games this week, winning against Rochester Mayo and losing to Mankato East. The team started off the week with a win 5-3 over Mayo, that saw junior Levi Kubieck score two goals in the contest...

Awesome Blossoms’ forward Mitchell Fiebiger tries to get around past two Rebel defenders during the first half of Blooming Prairie’s home opener.

Free throws doom Blossoms in home opener

The Blooming Prairie boys basketball team came close to taking the lead multiple times, but could never quite overtake the United South Central (USC) Rebels and ended up losing its home opener 59-46 on Friday, Jan. 22. The Rebels scored the first five points of the game to take an early two-...

Christina Spencer and her eldest daughter Dalila work at chipping away a block of ice from their sculpture as her youngest, Moira, looks on.

Snow sculpting a family affair

Blocks of snows are carefully being carved away and shaped to a myriad of different designs in Owatonna’s Central Park as Minnesota Michelangelos vie for the top prize at this year’s snow sculpture contest. This is the third year of the contest and it serves as the perfect preamble to the city’s...

Public Health Director Amy Caron keeps a watchful eye on staff, vaccines and patients at a recent drive-thru vaccination clinic in Owatonna.

Senior citizens left frustrated with not getting COVID shots

Frustration is mounting among senior citizens who want to get COVID-19 vaccinations, but a limited supply of vaccine is forcing them to wait. Last week Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz announced that people 65 and older could begin getting vaccinated. However, Steele County Public Health Director Amy Caron...

St. Mary's fifth-grade teacher Cheryl Kasper answers questions from her students during the inauguration ceremonies.

St. Mary’s class watches inauguration

Cheryl Kasper’s fifth-grade class at St. Mary’s School in Owatonna watched President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris be sworn into office on Jan. 20. Kasper said it was important for the kids to watch, because it provided a lesson of democracy in action in the United States. “I think...

Dayton Sauke of Owatonna is accused of threatening to kill cops and selling homemade firearms. The photos above showing firearms were posted by Sauke on social media of what he represented to be a “sawn-off” shotgun in a vehicle, according to the federal complaint filed against him last week.

Man allegedly threatens to kill cops

An Owatonna man faces a federal charge after he is accused of threatening to kill cops at a pro-Trump rally and selling undercover agents homemade firearms. The U.S. Attorney’s Office has charged Dayton Charles Sauke, 22, with a single count of possession of an unregistered firearm. Sauke appeared...

Blooming Prairie forward Allison Krohnberg tries to drive past her Bethlehem Academy defender during the second half of the Awesome Blossoms’ dominant win.

BP girls earn dominant win over BA

The Blooming Prairie girls basketball team didn’t allow Bethlehem Academy to score its 10th point until the second half and never let the Cardinals get closer than 16 points in the second half, cruising to a 46-28 win on Saturday, Jan. 16. The Awesome Blossoms got off to a fast start and led 20-8...

New season, same Sarah. This time she rises up for a high-percentage shot during the final five minutes of Owatonna’s 61-46 win over Rochester Century. Kingland led the Huskies with 16 points. Her ability to play for a competitive team and stay close to home were a couple reasons she chose to commit to play for the MSU-Moorhead Dragons next winter.

A school fit for a King-land

Making a big life decision is never easy and finding the right university for academics and athletics makes it even harder, but despite those obstacles Owatonna girls basketball star Sarah Kingland has found the right school for both of her passions. She recently announced she’ll be continuing her...