JEREMY WALTNER - PUBLISHER Why go to Las Vegas when you can gamble in your own backyard? That’s sort of how Lance Pankratz feels about farming, which in 2021 proved to be a wildcard thanks to the persistent question of whether moisture would relieve drought conditions that threatened the harvest and stirred up thoughts of nine years ago, when dry weather decimated the crops.

JEREMY WALTNER - PUBLISHER Tim L. Waltner, who first started working for the Freeman Courier in 1973, was named editor in 1977 and published the weekly from 1984 to 2016, was honored last week by the South Dakota Newspaper Association (SDNA) for his many years of service as chair of the South Dakota First Amendment Committee.

JEREMY WALTNER - PUBLISHER Another cross-country season, another Region 3B meet and another outstanding showing from the Freeman Academy/Marion boys, who last week finished second in the team standings. It was the ninth time in the last 10 years that a Freeman Academy boys team finished in the top two in the region and the 10th year in a row they’ve been in the top three.

JEREMY WALTNER - PUBLISHER Scott Dent knew what he was up against heading into the 2021 soccer season at Freeman Academy — that is, low numbers to start, inexperience among the players and a group of teenagers most of whom were on the field together for the first time. All of that makes the growth that he saw in a short period of time all the sweeter.

JEREMY WALTNER - PUBLISHER Charges have been filed against Lopez Zepeda Yeson Edurado, a 24-year-old from Guatemala following a high-speed chase through Freeman, south of town and then north on Highway 81 earlier this month. Edurado has been charged with aggravated eluding — a felony — and obstruction — a misdemeanor — according to Freeman Police Chief Scott Brewer, who was involved in the pursuit. Brewer said the obstruction charge is based on acts of reckless driving like excessive speed and running through yield and stop signs.

JEREMY WALTNER - PUBLISHER The city of Freeman’s Westward View housing development is expected to begin taking shape soon. Meeting in special session late Monday afternoon, Sept. 27, the Freeman City Council voted 6-0 to award the bid for site prep and utility work throughout the 14-acre tract to Menning Excavating, Inc. of Mitchell. The bid came in at $506,441.80 and was the lowest of four submitted. The other three were as follows: H&W Contracting of Sioux Falls, $520,745.90

JEREMY WALTNER - PUBLISHER Lois Thieszen Preheim first heard about the infamous blizzard of Jan. 12, 1888 from her mother-in-law, Siglinda Waltner Preheim, shortly after she was married. “I tucked it away in my memory bank,” she told an audience assembled at the historic Bethel Church at Heritage Hall Museum & Archives Sunday night, “and it kept growing from there.”

JEREMY WALTNER - PUBLISHER Freeman Public will take its turn showing off school spirit when another homecoming comes to town. Freeman’s traditional celebration of “Flyer Pride” will formally begin with coronation next Monday, Sept. 27 beginning at 7 p.m., and conclude on Friday with a noon parade, 3 p.m. football game, pork BBQ to follow and a 9-12 dance to finish off the day.

  JEREMY WALTNER  - PUBLISHER With the exception of the downtown business district and several other select locations in town, only parallel parking is allowed along city streets per a new parking ordinance approved by the Freeman City Council last week Tuesday, Sept. 7. The ordinance was OK’d on a 5-1 vote, with councilor Charles Gering casting the lone dissenting vote. The new ordinance states that parallel parking must be observed with the exception of the following locations, where angled parking is allowed:

JEREMY WALTNER  - PUBLISHER In accordance with tradition, Menno kicked off its 2021 Homecoming celebration Monday night, Sept. 13 with the pomp and circumstance — not of graduation — but of coronation. The 7:30 p.m. spirited to-do was held in the old city/school auditorium and featured the crowning of Treyton Sayler and Bridget Vaith as king and queen — a formal honor that is always executed by the previous royal couple, in this case Josh Heckenlaible and Jesse Munkvold.