Robb Murray

Mankato

Freelance Writer, Editor, Content Marketer, and Educator at Freelance

Writer | dog rescuer

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Articles

New Boots: Singer-songwriter Nate Boots to release new double album

1 week ago | mankatofreepress.com | Robb Murray

In the past 10 years, one of the most ubiquitous names on live music listings has been Nate Boots. For the past year and a half, Boots (aka Nate Leboutillier) has been chipping away at his latest project, a 22-song double album titled “A Stretch of Wing, a Leap,” which will be officially released at an event Tuesday.
Suspect in Kwik Trip killing deemed incompetent to stand trial

1 week ago | mankatofreepress.com | Robb Murray

MANKATO — The man police say stabbed and killed a Kwik Trip employee at the store in March has been deemed not competent to stand trial. The order, issued Wednesday, delays indefinitely the second-degree murder case against Michael Miller in the killing of 34-year-old Dennis Vosika.
Drug bust brings felony charges for three Mankato residents

1 week ago | mankatofreepress.com | Robb Murray

MANKATO — Three Mankato residents face first-degree drug charges after a traffic stop and subsequent search of a residence found large quantities of illegal drugs, authorities said. Ramone Lashawn Williams and Zaniya Lasha Williams, both 21, each were charged in Blue Earth County District Court with two counts of first-degree controlled substance crime. Jarod Amou Troy Zeigler, 21, faces two counts of second- and third-degree controlled substance crime.
Charges dismissed, then reinstated in Earle murder case

2 weeks ago | mankatofreepress.com | Robb Murray

MANKATO — While motions were made and orders were filed last week in the murder case against Travis Ryan Earle, the status of the case hasn’t changed: Earle, who admitted to killing his father in 2022 in their rural Mankato home, remains in the Minnesota Security Hospital and remains, for now, not competent to stand trial. The status of those charges changed briefly last week when a Blue Earth County District Court judge ordered the charges be dismissed.
He's the Man! Facebook page chronicles Mankato's funny side

3 weeks ago | mankatofreepress.com | Robb Murray

As the hiss of an espresso machine mostly drowns out the smooth sounds of the Wilco song playing, I scan the room for the mystery man I’m supposed to meet. Is it the balding man in the plaid shirt sitting cross-legged in the corner reading the newspaper? Could it be the pierced-lipped hipster sipping a turtle mocha and wearing studio-grade headphones, the one who only looks up from his laptop to cast furtive and judgmental glances at folks walking in the door?
Council poised to approve tech upgrade

3 weeks ago | mankatofreepress.com | Robb Murray

MANKATO — Last month, when a child reported an attempted abduction near Franklin Elementary School, it took police roughly 36 hours to figure out the initial report was fabricated. And in April, while a family of geese tried to cross a Mankato street, a motorist veered their car into the family, killing a gosling. A nearby business’ surveillance camera captured the scene on grainy video, the license plate number unreadable.
Scott Cutcher for the defense: After 30-plus years, public defender calls it quits

4 weeks ago | mankatofreepress.com | Robb Murray

MANKATO — Before Scott Cutcher passed the bar and took up the noble cause of defending your indigent neighbors charged with crimes, he worked as a prison guard at the Minnesota Correctional Facility in Oak Park Heights. And if you’re thinking, “Gee, that’s gotta be dangerous,” Cutcher’s worst night on the job is proof you’re right.
Kato pizza joint stars in rock video

1 month ago | mankatofreepress.com | Robb Murray

When it was time to produce a music video for their latest single, “I Don’t Know, I Just Work Here,” the brother-sister duo that heads the Burnsville-based rock band Durry had an idea. For a song about the misery and hopelessness that sometimes accompanies life as a low-wage, high-stress, under-appreciated restaurant worker, what better place to film a video than an actual restaurant?
UPDATE: Finger-lickin' felony; armed robbery suspect at KFC nabbed in 90 minutes

1 month ago | mankatofreepress.com | Robb Murray

MANKATO — A Mankato woman faces robbery charges for an alleged late-night holdup of a former employer — a crime it took just 90 minutes for police to solve. Latosha Marie James, 44, was charged Friday in Blue Earth County District Court with a felony count of first-degree aggravated robbery and gross misdemeanor counts of theft and carrying a handgun without a permit. Police responded to the KFC restaurant at about 11 p.m. Thursday to a report of a robbery.
At songwriters event, it's all about that bass

1 month ago | mankatofreepress.com | Robb Murray

Shelley Pierce didn’t have to think twice when asked to moderate a Songwriters in the Round discussion at this year’s Minnesota Original Music Festival. “I'd been kicking around the idea of getting bass players together to do something like this, so it just kind of ended up being the perfect opportunity to do that,” said Pierce. “Mostly just because there's such amazing bass players around here.