In city council action Tuesday night, July 18, Jonathan (Jay) Slevin was named Freeman’s new chief of police. The council also voted to hire Barron Nankivel as a police officer. After coming out of executive session, councilor Blaine Saarie made the motion, with a second from councilor Steve “Charly” Waltner, to hire Nankivel as police officer - effective immediately - at the hourly rate of $22.50. All councilors voted in favor of the motion.

These construction barricades stand on the northwest corner of the city of Freeman on the North County Road and prevent access to the city's tree/branch and rubble site a half-mile to the west while Hutchinson County completes culvert work. Access can be gained, however, from the west. City Hall says work is expected to continue all week.

For the second year in a row, Freeman is the No. 3 seed and will face No. 6 Menno in the first round of the District 6 Amateur Baseball Tournament that starts this week in Crofton, Neb. The Blacksox and the Mad Frogs will square off in the second of two games Friday, July 21, with first pitch set for 8 p.m. In the first game that will start at 6 p.m., No. 4 Wynot will face No. 5 Crofton.

In a game that ended after midnight, Menno built an early lead and held off a late charge by Freeman to claim victory in the first round of the District 6 Amateur Baseball Tournament in Crofton, Neb., Friday night, July 21. The sixth-seed Mad Frogs won 14-11 and will face second-seed Tabor Sunday at 7:30 p.m. The third-seeded Blacksox play in an elimination game Thursday, July 27 against fourth-seeded Wynot. First pitch is set for 8 p.m. Also coming up in amateur postseason play, No. 1 Lesterville will face No.

Is is typical between 10:30 and 11 a.m., the Freeman Post Office was a busy place Monday morning.

JEREMY WALTNER - PUBLISHER Valley View Golf Course was closed to the public on Tuesday for a traveling senior tournament that brought 30 two-person teams from around the region to the 9-hole playing ground set on 80 acres located just outside of Freeman city limits. That’s 60 people who wouldn’t have otherwise decided to make the Freeman community — albeit one mile to the south — their destination on July 11, 2023.

JEREMY WALTNER - EDITOR & PUBLISHER The Freeman City Council has taken action to enable those who hold a valid driver’s license to operate an insured golf cart on the streets of Freeman. Meeting in regular session Wednesday, July 5, the council unanimously approved the second reading and adoption of ordinance 2023-03, which opens the door for residents to obtain a golf cart permit for operation of the vehicle on municipal roadways.

The pattern of wetter weather continues after another shot of rain during the overnight hours of Wednesday morning. Close to 2 inches was reported in Freeman with more than an inch falling in rural areas. This photo was taken by Dollar General along Highway 81 on the northeast corner of Freeman, looking to the southeast.

JEREMY WALTNER - PUBLISHER For those who have moved to Freeman in the past 30 years, or for those born in the 1990s or later, Valley View Golf Course has always just been part of the larger community — an 80-acre recreational vista located one mile south of town that is a regular destination for novice and serious golfers alike. Of course, it hasn’t always just been.

JEREMY WALTNER - PUBLISHER On the occasion he is asked by a visitor to his office at the Salem Reformed Church on the south side of Menno the best way to get to Scotland — a 15-minute drive to the southwest — Rev. Michael Hecht says there are three ways to do so in order to avoid gravel. One way is to continue south for three miles to Maxwell Road, go through the colony and pick up Highway 25. Another way, the pastor said, is to go down to the Stone Church, continue across the river and take the oil road into Scotland.