The Children’s Museum of Southern Minnesota recently established a new community  partnership with Feeding Our Community Partners (FOCP) through their Summer Pack  Food Program. The Museum worked with FOCP and provided a One-Day Family Free  Pass for each of the 1000 food packages distributed in June.  Kim Kleven, Vice President of Education and Learning Experience said, “These passes  give families who may otherwise not have an opportunity to experience the joy and fun  of the Children’s Museum. We are proud to distribute these passes as we continue  toward our mission of providing ways and places for children to play.”  Leaders from [...]

A traveling exhibit titled “RESOLUTE: MN Stories of 9/11 & the War,” created by the Minnesota Military and Veterans Museum, will be on display in Minnesota State University, Mankato’s Centennial Student Union Ballroom from Sept. 7-11. The exhibit focuses solely on Minnesotans and their roles on 9/11 and during the global war on terror. The exhibit is not intended as a recruitment exhibit. Rather, it is put on by historians to show a variety of perspectives on 9/11 events from a Minnesota view. The exhibit is free and open to the public

Area businesses are participating in a school supply drive for regional schools August 22 to September 2 through an initiative by Greater Mankato Area United Way.   Community members can drop off NEW school supplies at the following sites: ·         Frandsen Bank (Waterville) ·         Jay Zender State Farm (St. Peter) ·         Lake Crystal Area Rec Center ·         Maggie J’s (Mapleton) ·         Mankato Family YMCA ·         North Mankato Taylor Library ·         Snell Motors (Mankato) ·         Store It (Mankato) ·         Thrivent - Diane Beckmann (Waseca)   Supplies needed: ·         Colored pencils ·         Markers ·         Glue sticks ·         Whiteboard markers and erasers ·         All other new school supplies welcome!

MANKATO, Minn. ― Mayo Clinic Health System’s Family Medicine Residency Program in Mankato has been ranked No. 2 in the state of Minnesota, No. 5 in the Midwest and No. 19 in the U.S. on Doximity's 2022 Residency Navigator.    The four Midwest Family Medicine Residency Programs at Mayo in Eau Claire, La Crosse, Mankato and Rochester occupy four of the top five spots in the highly competitive Midwest region. For the first time, the three established programs in Eau Claire, La Crosse and Rochester all ranked in the top 10 nationally out of 719 programs, and the programs in Mankato [...]

(Minneapolis, MN)  --  Former Minneapolis police officer Thomas Lane will start his prison sentence at the end of the month. The federal Bureau of Prisons yesterday ordered Lane to report to the prison in Littleton, Colorado by August 31st. He will serve a two-and-a-half year sentence for his role in George Floyd's death. The prison in Littleton is a minimum security facility with an attached work camp.

A lot of people won't be getting a hero pay check from the state.  Minnesota's Department of Labor yesterday denied nearly 215 thousand applications for checks for people who worked during the worst of the coronavirus. The state says most of the rejected requests were because people didn't fill-out the forms properly, but people were also told 'No' because they maxed-out their unemployment benefits or simply didn't qualify. Over 985 thousand people will be getting a check. The Department of Labor says those checks should be about 500 dollars.