JEREMY WALTNER - PUBLISHER Meeting in regular session Monday night, March 14, leadership at Menno Public School heard from a number of patrons who had gathered to question two recent administrative decisions that will change how things have traditionally been done: 1. Moving baccalaureate from the school’s main gymnasium to the old city/school auditorium, and; 2. The decision to move fifth graders into the 6-8 middle school structure.

JEREMY WALTNER  - PUBLISHER After more than a year of starts, stops, changes and doubts, a capital outlay project that would see a new wrestling and multi-use facility called The Hangar built in the green space between the auxiliary gym and bus lane at Freeman Public Schools has gained approval. Meeting in regular session Monday night, March 14, the Freeman Public School Board voted 4-0 to accept a base bid in the amount of $1,099,999 from Puetz Design+Build to engineer the project.

A blindfolded Nathan Epp, one of the assistant coaches for the Freeman Academy/Marion boys basketball team, shoots free throws during a game that was part of the pep rally for the State B-bound Bearcats in Sterling Hall Tuesday night. Epp actually swished three straight shots during his turn at the line to the delight of the large crowd gathered. Tuesday's pep rally served as an inspiration sendoff for the FAM boys, who left for Aberdeen Wednesday morning.  

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Two community events are scheduled in anticipation of Freeman Academy/Marion’s trip to the State B Boys Basketball Tournament next week. A community pep rally will take place Tuesday, March 15 at 6:30 p.m. in Sterling Hall on the campus of Freeman Academy.

In his written preseason report distributed to area media outlets late last year, Austin Unruh suggested this year’s Freeman Academy/Marion team would be “must-see Class B basketball.” He was right. And now an entire state will be able to watch.

This was the scene on the basketball court at James Valley Christian Tuesday night, March 8 as fans assemble to grab a shot of the Freeman Academy/Marion boys following their historic win over Timber Lake in the SoDak 16. The Bearcats move on to state where they are the No. 6 seed. It will be the first time a Freeman Academy team has ever been to a state tournament and first time since 1999 for a team from Marion. 

JEREMY WALTNER  - PUBLISHER A new era of Hutchinson County government dawned in late November of 2019, when all business moved from the courthouse that had been used for nearly 140 years into a brand-new building located on the top of a hill on the northwestern edge of town, overlooking the tiny county seat of Olivet.

A Hutchinson County-operated excavator is about to take its first bite in the demolition of the historic building that served as the Hutchinson County Courthouse for almost 140 years. The process began shortly after 1 p.m. Monday, March 7 on the southeastern corner of the Olivet building and saw most of the east wing taken down by the end of the day. The demolition continued Tuesday as workers proceeded around the back side of the main building in the morning, with the entire process expected to continue in the days to come.

This was the jury box in the old courtroom located on the second floor of the former Hutchison County Courthouse in Olivet. Demolition of the building was expected to start early Monday afternoon, March 7. The building that had been the oldest working courthouse in South Dakota has been vacant since county offices moved into a new building in late 2019.