Here's what's been going on in and around Belle Plaine lately, according to the Belle Plaine Herald:

- Anthony Mark Klaseus of Belle Plaine pleaded guilty to second-degree manslaughter in the case of his 8-year-old son's death in a hunting accident. The story ran on page 14 of the June 25 issue of the Herald.

- Chase Hentges, drafted last month by the Kansas City Royals, is the grandson of Mike and Shirley Fogarty of Belle Plaine, the grand marshals of the St. Patrick's Day parade in Belle Plaine.

Did you know the Scott County Fair started in the city of Jordan in 1915?

Originally, the county fair was at a park owned by the Jordan brewery. You might know the area as the Mini-Met. The fair later moved to its current location along 190th Street in St. Lawrence Township, near the intersection of highways 282 and 169 in Jordan. 

For more information, go to www.scottcountyfair.com/fairhistory.php.   

Mathias Baden reports:

“A ways out there, but an appealing combination of pastoral and urban.”

Sound familiar, like someone is mentioning a little town you might have in mind?

In the July edition of Mpls St Paul magazine, Brian Lambert, Shawn Gilliam, and Sarah Howard combined to write an article about the best places to live in the Twin Cities, and Jordan made the list of 20 “great neighborhoods.”

The writers took into account crime statistics, school quality ratings, subjective insights of real estate industry professionals, and historical home sales.

Ten years ago, a 6-inch downpour chased the usual Concert in the Park indoors, creating a "Concert in the Gym." Still, 250 people attended and enjoyed the music, according to the newspaper account of the event.

For more information, read the Looking Back column in the July 3 issue of the Jordan Independent. Read it online in the Print Edition section, or subscribe by going to www.jordannews.com/subscribe.

Little has changed today in the races for governmental positions representing the city of Jordan or Helena, Sand Creek, St. Lawrence, or Spring Lake townships, according the Minnesota secretary of state’s Web site. Here’s where we’re at:

- Yesterday, U.S. Rep. John Kline filed for re-election. He is a Republican in the Minnesota's Second Congressional District, which includes Jordan. He does not yet have a challenger, according to the Minnesota secretary of state’s Web site, although Steve Sarvi of Victoria has been endorsed by the Democratic-Farmer-Labor party.

Of almost 300 bicyclists who rode in the Jordan Valley Bike Tour, only a few were from town. Your local newspaper editor interviewed several of them, upon their returns from a day of street riding, and most of them agreed that more Jordan bicyclists should support the Jordan Area Chamber of Commerce-sponsored bike tour, which is organized with the purpose of eventually expanding the trails system in the area.

Here's what bicyclists had to say last Saturday:

While some people see Sand Creek as a trickle of water slowly flowing past picturesque bluffs, into the woods, and through a golf course, rural backyards, and a park near Jordan, the river offers a surprisingly speedly stretch of rapids.

For the best ride on an inner tube, start near Sawmill Woods and take a windy 23-minute trip to the state rest stop along Highway 21. It's a fairly quick trip, even at this time of year, or especially after a good spring rainfall. Watch my latest, giddiest tube ride:

Jordan residents Jonathan Huss, 8, and Brandon Feltmann, 10, scoured the waters of the Mill Pond, catching tiny tadpoles. “They’re in big groups,” Feltmann said. “There were so many, they looked like rocks.”

Here’s how their fishing trip went down: