Sun Patriot

11/13/2025

For months, China was boycotting American soybeans in retaliation for the tariffs President Donald Trump has imposed, leading to a soybean glut and pushing down crop prices. China is the largest buyer of U.S. soybeans exports. Roughly one in four Minnesota soybean rows were sent overseas to China, according to the Minnesota Soybean Growers Association.

As the calendar turned to November, most of the soy beans and corn in this area had been harvested, according to the latest crop reports.

11/10/2025

“Our community has a huge heart and we feel very supported through all the generosity the last week or so,” Gather and Grow executive director Angie Cruzen said. “With that continued support we will be able to keep our shelves full for our neighbors experiencing food insecurity.”

With the federal government still shut down as of Friday and federal SNAP benefits set to expire Nov. 1, philanthropy and local food programs were left to fill the void

11/05/2025

With all three precincts reporting in, the referendum in ISD 110 has passed, with 61.8 percent of the vote (2,613 votes). The vote against the measure earned 33.8 percent of the vote (1,336 votes).

Voters in the Waconia school district were asked Tuesday to approve or reject an operating levy that would increase revenue by $731 per pupil and provide ISD 110 approximately $3

11/05/2025

With one of three precincts reporting in, the ISD 110 levy referendum is gaining traction with 61.3 percent of the vote in favor, and 38.7 percent of the vote against.

Voters in the Waconia school district were asked Tuesday to approve or reject an operating levy that would increase revenue by $731 per pupil and provide ISD 110 approximately $3

11/04/2025

Election results will be posted as precincts report in. Polls close at 8 p.m.

Results from the Nov. 4 ISD 110 levy ballot request will be posted here as precincts report in. Polls close at 8 p.m. All results from local election authorities are

11/03/2025

District residents are being asked to approve an operating levy that would increase revenue by $731 per pupil and provide ISD 110 approximately $3 million annually for 10 years. Waconia school leaders say the funds are needed to preserve current class sizes and sustain the high-quality educational programs the community values. Without the additional revenue, the district faces serious financial challenges that could negatively affect the quality of education in ISD 110.

An election on an operating levy referendum for Waconia ISD 110 is less than two weeks away, on Tuesday, Nov. 4. Early and absentee voting has been underway since Sept.

10/31/2025

“This isn't a decision we arrived at easily. Our team and board of directors have examined alternative approaches and funding sources in recent years, but the numbers simply don't add up to allow our nonprofit Chamber to continue taking on the financial and legal responsibilities of producing the fireworks event,” the chamber stated in a press release.

After more than three decades, the Fourth of July fireworks spectacle held annually over Lake Waconia may be no more after the Waconia Chamber of Commerce and Tourism announced it

10/27/2025

The Waconia event was the first of what was described as a statewide series of town hall events focusing on gun violence prevention, with the next session slated for Nov. 6 in Rochester.

The Minnesota DFL brought Gov. Tim Walz, former Arizona Congresswoman Gabby Giffords, and education and medical professionals to Waconia on Saturday afternoon for a town hall on gun violence prevention.

10/25/2025

Around 200 people filled the Waconia High School Performing Arts Center for the hour-long presentation. Besides Walz and Giffords, panelists included Dr. Tim Ku**er, the assistant medical director of Hennepin EMS and the first physician to arrive on the scene of the Annunciation Catholic School shooting in Minneapolis; Michelle Morse-Wendt, a fourth-grade teacher at Mounds View and a candidate for Roseville Area School Board; and Emma Brown, executive director of the GIFFORDS foundation.

Also in attendance were the families of victims and survivors of the Annunciation shooting.

Editor's Note: This is a brief overview of the Oct. 25 DFL town hall meeting in Waconia. Full coverage of the meeting will soon be posted online at sunpatriot.com and

10/25/2025

Gov. Tim Walz and former Arizona Congresswoman Gabby Giffords are slated to take the stage at 3 p.m. at a DFL-hosted town hall in Waconia.

10/24/2025

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and former Arizona Congresswoman Gabby Giffords will be in Waconia on Saturday for a town hall focused on preventing gun violence, according to the Minnesota DFL, which is coordinating the event.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and former Arizona Congresswoman Gabby Giffords will be in Waconia on Saturday for a town hall focused on preventing gun violence, according to the Minnesota DFL

10/21/2025

The Chaska rally drew around 3,500 protestors, while nearly 300 protestors rallied in Waconia at the corner of Highways 5 and 10, many carrying signs like “Honk for democracy” and “Hands off judges.”

Large crowds of protesters rallied in cities across the U.S. Saturday for “No Kings ” demonstrations decrying what participants see as the government’s swift drift into authoritarianism under President Donald