Saturday night will be a busy night in the downtown Mankato area. Eric Jones is the co-director of the Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center. He says if you're heading to events downtown Saturday night allow yourself plenty of time. "People coming to the hockey game, come in on the Hilton side of the building," said Jones. "We also have the Jobes daughters dance in our grand hall. We're telling those patrons to use our second street entrance. And don't forget we'll also have Snowkato events on the lawn in front of the intergovernmental center." City officials say all of the [...]

The New Ulm City Council discussed a potential food and beverage tax in a work session this week. City manager Chris Dalton says information about the process of the potential enacting of the tax was given to the council for their review. Dalton says the issue will be discussed again in a future work session.

Minnesota Representative Jim Hagedorn says in the short-term, the biggest concern for American agriculture is preventing the African swine fever from coming to the United States. "It's devastated China," said Hagedorn. "They've lost half their hogs or more and it's moving into other parts of the world. It's an opportunity for the United States to move our pork products to other parts of the world. It will also be a challenge to keep (African swine fever) out of our country." Hagedorn says he has sponsored a bill related to this issue asking the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Homeland [...]

This year's Kiwanis Holiday Lights event in Mankato was a record-setter. The Kiwanis Holiday Lights Board of Directors says 65-thousand dollars raised from the event will be donated to 69 area non-profit groups. It is the most amount of money donated during the eight-year history of the event. Event representatives add 12 tons of food was donated to 19 regional food shelves. The board said over 160-thousand people attended the 33-day event, an average of nearly 4900 attendees per night.

High school hockey players in Waseca won't be able to wear game jerseys made in honor of a local police officer gravely wounded in the line of duty. League officials stepped in and told the school the jerseys don't comply with rules for uniforms. The Star Tribune says the decision drew criticism on social media. The jerseys donated by a Minnesota company are emblazoned with the words “Waseca Police” and Officer Arik Matson’s badge number on the front and his last name above each player’s number on the back. Matson was shot in the head earlier this month while responding to [...]

Seven individuals will interview for the soon to be vacant St.Clair schools superintendent position over the next two days. The open-to-the-public interviews will begin at three-45 this afternoon and will resume at four p.m. Friday. The interviews will be held in room D127 of the school, located at 121 West Main Street. Current superintendent Tom Bruels is retiring in March. The school board says they hope to hold second round interviews on January 31st and hope to name a new superintendent at a February sixth meeting.

Region Nine Development Commission based in Mankato has joined an effort to conduct a statewide assessment of food and beverage manufacturers. Nicole Griensewic- Mickelson is with Region Nine. "We're conducting a survey to identify food and beverage trends," said Griensewic-Mickelson. "The survey's goal is to support growth in these and other related sectors." Grienswic-Mickelson says their organization is working in partnership with the Minnesota Department of Agriculture and the Agricultural Utilization Research Institute on the survey. She says the ultimate goal is to create increased economic opportunity in all food and beverage related sectors throughout the state.

The second and final community input session regarding the St. Peter school district's superintendent search will be held tonight. The session will begin at six-30 at the Middle School Media Center. St. Peter residents also have the option of filling out a survey regarding the search. The survey is available on the district website until Friday night. Jeff Olson is serving in the position on an interim basis this year. The district is searching for a permanent replacement for Paul Peterson, who became superintendent at Mankato schools.

A man is facing five charges after allegedly leaving a toddler alone in a Mankato hotel and strangling a woman. Blue Earth County court records say 27-year-old Keegan Samsel has been charged with assault by strangulation, possession of a firearm while committing a violent crime, child neglect and two counts of domestic assault. Authorities say Samsel was upset that the victim was late for a Samsel's court appearance for DWI and he allegedly assaulted the victim to the point she lost consciousness. Court records say the investigation determined Samsel's biological son was left alone and unattended in a Mankato hotel room [...]