News

PARDONED - Turkeys Blossom and Peach were pardoned by President Joe Biden in 2024. Now retired, they currently reside in their own private shed at Farm America and receive top notch care.

Celebrity turkeys Blossom and Peach survive another Thanksgiving

Since shortly after being pardoned by former President Joe Biden last year, Waseca County’s famous resident turkeys, Blossom and Peach, have been living the high life at Farmamerica. They even get special attention from the facility’s Program Coordinator, Kari Wadd. “With the changing of...

MAKING WAVES - Competitive swimmer Tyler Jellum is part of the swim team at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, where he is a freshman, having graduated from Waseca in 2025. Tyler participated for six years with the swim team coached by Jeanne Sexton and sponsored by the Waseca Community Education Department.

Competitive swimmer

Although he was a member of the Waseca Community Education competitive swim team for six years, 2025 Waseca High School graduate Tyler Jellum notes many of his classmates didn’t even know the team existed. That didn’t bother him, though. He wasn’t in it for notoriety. “Racing’s fun,”...

Local food cooperative committee researching options

“There’s a lot of energy and excitement surrounding this,” says Waseca resident Jim Boerboom, who is part of a steering committee to form a Waseca area food cooperative. “People are interested in a retail model that supports local growers and allows them access to locally raised meat and poultry...

Waseca middle grades give concert at high school

A band concert for students in grades five to eight was well attended the evening of Nov 24 at the performing arts center of the Waseca Junior Senior High School. Bands were directed by Anders Peterson for high school and Selma Kleinsmith for WIS. For many of the students this large-scale...

TIPS AND TRICKS - Charlie Rohwer, researcher at the University of Minnesota Southern Research and Outreach Center, gave a talk on proper tree care and fruiting trees in southern Minnesota on Monday, Nov. 24, 2025.

SROC's Charlie Rohwer addresses garden club

Members of the Waseca Garden Club held their monthly meeting with a potluck dinner thrown in on the evening of Monday, Nov. 24 at the University of Minnesota’s Southern Research and Outreach Center (SROC). Before the meeting Charlie Rohwer, processing research employee at the center, spoke about...

LIVESTOCK JUDGES - Members of the NRHEG FFA Livestock Judging Team placed first in regional competition in Arlington during October and will be taking part in state competition in April. Team members are (from left) Gus Bethke, Lauren Wakefield, Olivia Johnson, Abbie Viktora, and Paige Johnson.

NRHEG livestock judges advance to state

The five members of the NRHEG FFA livestock judging team won a place at this coming April’s state competition during an October contest in Arlington, where 25 chapters were represented. Team members learned of their accomplishment after returning home; results of their contest, they explain, are...

NRHEG School Board approves reports, sales

During their Nov. 17 meeting, members of the NRHEG school board declared the garage associated with the residential property at 302 Broadway Avenue South, which the district purchased in September for $70,000, as “surplus property.” The garage, at least 20 years old, has extended into property...

Christine Possin of New Richland died in the Nov. 4 head-on crash near Hope. The other driver involved has been charged with criminal vehicular homicide for allegedly being more than twice the legal limit for alcohol.

Man charged in fatal crash

The surviving driver of a fatal head-on crash near Hope earlier this month has been charged with felony criminal vehicular homicide. David Ramirez, 26, of Owatonna, made his first appearance Monday in Steele County District Court, where he was also charged with two counts of gross...

Renee Worke

Appeals Court judge arrested in Steele County

Minnesota Court of Appeals Judge Renee Worke of Owatonna is facing legal trouble after being arrested for suspicion of driving while intoxicated over the Thanksgiving weekend in Steele County. The Steele County Sheriff’s Office responded to a vehicle stuck in a snow drift at U.S. Highway 14...

TOM THE TURKEY - A small crowd of children attended the New Richland Public Library's Storytime hour on Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2025. Pioneer photo by Ben Revermann

New Richland Library tells a turkey tale

The New Richland Public Library held another Storytime Hour the foggy morning of Tuesday, Nov. 25. With the big kids in school, the little kids dominated the library grounds, but when it came time to pay attention, they did a pretty good job. Librarian Kathy Kronebusch was in charge for the...