Mankato Free Press

1 day ago | mankatofreepress.com | Dan Kraker |David Schaper

Firefighters battling at least three major, out-of-control wildfires in northeastern Minnesota contended with more hot, dry, windy weather on Wednesday, making it difficult to contain the blazes. The Camp House and Jenkins Creek fires together have burned more than 54 square miles of forest — an area larger than the city of Minneapolis — and destroyed at least 140 structures.

2 days ago | mankatofreepress.com | Dan Kraker |Kirsti Marohn

Fire crews are contending with another day of volatile fire conditions in northeast Minnesota on Tuesday, as they continue to battle large wildfires that have burned more than 20,000 acres and dozens of structures. Three separate major fires continued to burn north of Duluth. “Any one of these fires would tax our system, but the fact we have three is is very, very challenging,” St. Louis County Sheriff Gordon Ramsay told MPR News on Tuesday morning.

3 days ago | mankatofreepress.com | Michael Lagerquist

LAKE CRYSTAL — On May 28, Lake Crystal will lose its only pharmacy, operated by Madelia Health, as it closes its Main Street location. The closure comes fewer than two months after Lake Crystal Ace Hardware, just a block down the street, shut its doors. Located in the former First National Bank of Lake Crystal, built in 1902, the pharmacy also once housed Rexall Drug. The pharmacy had been open just short of five years, according to a news release from Madelia Health.

3 days ago | mankatofreepress.com | Dan Kraker |Andrew Krueger

Local, state and federal firefighting crews continued battling a wildfire northeast of Duluth on Monday, amid concerns that another day of gusty winds and extremely dry conditions could fuel further spread of the flames. Meanwhile, crews were responding Monday to a new, large wildfire in the Superior National Forest, only about 10 miles away from the first.

4 days ago | mankatofreepress.com | Kevin Dudley

TJ O'Malley, a junior on the Mankato Loyola baseball team, is having another great season for the Crusaders this spring. Over 43 innings pitched, O'Malley has a 2.97 ERA and a .222 opponent batting average. He's also hitting .417 with a .491 on-base percentage and 13 runs scored. Last season as a sophomore, he went 5-4 with a 2.54 ERA and hit .303 with 16 RBIs. He earned All-Valley Conference, all-section and all-city honors for his play.