Freeman's Main Street remains open to traffic on Monday and won't be closed to vehicles for another day or two because of a slight delay in the construction process, according to city officials. The downtown stretch from Railway south to Fifth Street was scheduled to be closed to vehicles beginning May 2.  Watch for signs and the placement of barricades in the coming days.

Below is a direct link to the Freeman Ministerial Association's 2022 baccalaureate, which was held Sunday, May 1. Click here for the baccalaureate live-stream

Registered voters living in Hutchinson County will decide on a new sheriff to replace a retiring Jim Zeeb, who has held office since 2004. Barron Nankivel and Maurice Waltner are both on the ballot for the June 7 primary election. Both currently work for Hutchinson County; Nankivel is the emergency manager while Waltner is a deputy with the sheriff’s office.

JEREMY WALTNER  - PUBLISHER Orange and white-striped barricades familiar to construction zones blocked off traffic at the intersection of Railway and Juniper one block west of Main Street starting Tuesday, April 26 in anticipation of work beginning on the city of Freeman’s long-awaited Main Street Project the following day.

Main Street project to begin at Railway and Juniper April 27

Freeman Public hosted 18 schools and more than 700 student-athletes at the Flyer Invitational Thursday afternoon and evening, April 21. Colman-Egan won the girls division while Chester Area won for the boys. Here's a link to the full results.

Today is big day for Menno author Jeanette Ulmer, who is holding a book-signing for her new novel, Jim River Boy, at Vintage Vault and Floral on Freeman's Main Street. Ulmer will be signing from 5 to 6:30 p.m.

Football practices for the new Freeman/Marion/Freeman Academy football team will be split equally between Freeman Public and Marion. Information in this week's story that accompanied the announcement of the new team mascot was incorrect. The story is being updated online and a correction will be printed in the April 21 print edition.

This photo certainly doesn't do it justice, but strong and sustained winds are unsettling dirt across the dry landscape, like this approach to the Westward View housing development on the western edge of Freeman. The wind has been a reality for days and is expected to continue into the foreseeable future, although Thursday's conditions appear to be the worst of it.

JEREMY WALTNER  - PUBLISHER It’s now likely just a matter of weeks before work begins on Freeman’s long-awaited rebuild of Main Street. While he couldn’t say for sure, engineer Paul Korn, whose company Sayre Associates has worked on the reconstruction project from the ground up, told The Courier on Monday that activity could be underway by the first week of May.