Artist Peter Haakon Thompson set up his Mobile Sign Shop at the Rock County Community Library in Luverne Thursday afternoon, June 22, where he assisted participants with making wooden handmade signs. The signs are reminiscent of the wooden, engraved, painted, handmade signs used in northern Minnesota to designate roads leading to lake cabins. The activity encouraged participants to talk about their signs and the origins of their names. The activity was sponsored by the Plum Creek Library System through Legacy Amendment funds.

Area volunteer fire departments helped each other last week extinguish two hay bale fires.
Firefighters were first dispatched at 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, June 20, to the Morris Fick farm southwest of Luverne in Luverne Township.
Hills and Beaver Creek fire departments provided mutual aid.
According to Luverne fire chief David Van Batavia, about 100 to 120 large round bales were lost in the June 20 blaze.
Crews spent more than four hours at the scene and used more than 60,000 gallons of water.
Van Batavia said people working around the farm did not notice smoke rising from the bales to signal overheating was occurring until the fire began.
The hay was baled last year, and Van Batavia speculated that the area’s sixth-tenths inch of rain penetrated their surface, causing the insides to heat and create a fire.
The Hills Fire Department responded to a second call at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, June 21, at a bale fire at the Alan Baker farm east of Steen in Clinton Township.
Hills fire chief Jared Rozeboom said about 100 stacked large round bales were on fire.
Departments from Luverne, Beaver Creek and Rock Rapids, Iowa, transported an estimated 65,000 gallons of water to prevent the blaze from spreading to a nearby silage pile and additional round bales stacked nearby.
Crews spent four to five hours at the scene.
At both fires, crews broke apart the bales in order to extinguish the flames.
Rozeboom said combustion within bales is hard to detect and can happen depending on moisture content of the hay and how the bales are stacked.
He said the origin of the Baker fire is undetermined.

Schomacker: Thanks, Greg, for all your work

Letter to the Editor:
I have been wanting to write this letter for some time and then another week is gone and I am reading the new Star Herald. So, this is the week.
It has been a great addition to the paper with all the cool pictures, many in color, of the sports of Rock County along with great stories.
There is proof of when one door closes, another one opens wide. Thanks, Greg Hoogeveeen, for all your work. It is appreciated!
Glenda Schomacker,
Luverne

The U.S. Surgeon General recently released a warning about the negative impacts of social media on children’s mental health, saying that it presents a profound risk of harm.
The advisory also urged social media companies to help parents with the burden of managing the effects of social media on kids. 
 Big tech companies have shown time and time again that they cannot be trusted to protect kids’ data or safety online. We’ve spent years talking about these problems, but it’s time to actually do something about them.
 First, tech platforms need to cut down on the addictive and otherwise dangerous content they are showing kids. There is growing evidence that kids are getting addicted to apps like Instagram, Snapchat, and TikTok.
According to a recent report, around one-third of girls ages 11 to 15 say they feel “addicted” to a social media platform and over half of teenagers report that it would be hard to give up social media.
Big tech companies see this as a success, but parents know that social media addiction and dangerous online content has been disastrous — for everything from kids purchasing deadly drugs laced with fentanyl to constant distractions from homework.
Facebook’s own research showed that 13 percent of teen girls reported that Instagram worsened suicidal thoughts, and there have been numerous examples of content that encourages eating disorders among teen users on TikTok.
I am working with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to pass a bipartisan bill to require big tech companies to do more to protect kids on their platforms and give parents the tools to keep their kids safe.
 Additionally, we need to make sure big tech companies can’t collect data about children without their parents getting a say. Using social media generates all sorts of information about who a person is, where they are and what they like.
That data can be used by platforms to create addictive content or target kids with ads. That’s why I’m working to pass legislation to require these platforms to get explicit consent from users age 16 and under and their parents before collecting data.
 It’s also critical that we address the impact of social media on drug addiction and trafficking.
I will never forget the story of Minnesota teenager Devin Norring who struggled with dental pain and debilitating migraines. He bought what he believed was Percocet over Snapchat, but the dealer gave him something laced with fentanyl, and it killed him. 
 Devin’s story is sadly too common.
That is why I have long pushed to strengthen efforts to detect and intercept fentanyl at our borders.
I am also leading and cosponsoring several bipartisan bills to stop fentanyl trafficking online, including legislation to bolster federal law enforcement’s ability to investigate online fentanyl trafficking, including on the dark web, so we can crack down on these crimes.
Social media has been a gateway to drugs for too many kids, and it is past time we meet this threat with the all-hands-on-deck response it requires. 
We need to protect kids from big tech profiting off of their personal data, dangerous content that harms their mental health, and drug traffickers moving deadly substances.
I will continue working on meaningful reforms to address social media’s harms to children.

We spent last week in the beautiful Black Hills exploring backwoods logging trails and climbing atop lookout points of the national forest service.
We enjoyed breathtaking scenery … as we do every time we travel to the Hills.
Maybe it’s because we live on the relatively flat prairie among cornfields and soybeans, but the Black Hills views of the deep canyons and majestic overlooks never get old.
I once wrote a column about Black Hills wildflowers that grow in the most impossible places — sprouting out of rock crevasses and in the middle of hardpacked roadways.
This time I was inspired by mountain streams.
For many of our ATV trips, dust is part of the deal. Our wheels kick up dust, no matter how slowly we travel, and we often spend our evenings rinsing grime out of our hair.
This year rain has been plenty in the Hills, and dust was minimal.
And I found myself watching the streams.
I was mesmerized by them.
Every roadway and primitive trail seemed to have a stream bubbling alongside it. Some were wide and fast; others were narrow and meandering.
All were crystal clear … and icy cold.
I know this because I couldn’t help putting my toes in water when given the chance.
Watching the flowing water, I wondered where it came from and where it was going.
I imagined individual drops of water on important journeys. Some appeared very driven — moving swiftly over rocks and around fallen logs.
Did they start as a melting snowflake or a falling raindrop? What was their mission?
Would they satisfy a thirsty cow or deer? Or would they support a thriving trout population?
During our drive back to Rock County Friday, we heard the radio forecast of severe storms and flash flooding in Spearfish Canyon where we had just been.
Would one of these sparkling, serene streams overflow its banks and threaten wildlife, property and humans?
Enough individual drops of water all in one place in too short a time could cause devastation.
It occurred to me that we humans are like the water in a mountain stream.
Some of us move swiftly through life. Others meander along, content to accept what life gives us.
We’re all flowing downstream and will ultimately perish, but what is our purpose along the way?
Will we nourish a thirsty soul? Will we provide a supportive environment for those around us?
Or will we find ourselves in a raging river of individuals bent on ill will or destruction?
Unlike the water droplets, we humans have a choice.
What is our mission?

I am not sure why, but I’ve been thinking about sounds lately. Maybe sounds have been at the forefront of my thoughts because some people would have you believing my hearing is a bit suspect.
Sure, sometimes I don’t always hear my phone ringing, but no worries – hence voicemail. And I don’t always pick up on office conversation. And maybe that is by design.
Those aren’t the sounds I am talking about. I am talking about the sounds you hear throughout your day. Some of the sounds are a pleasure to hear and others not so much.
The honking of a flock of geese flying overhead day or night, spring or fall, always puts a smile on my face. The crow of a rooster pheasant off in the distance is music to my ears. The sizzle of bacon on the Blackstone is a heads up to my nose that the smell of bacon is not far behind.
The sound your Apple computer makes after you reboot it means you’re back in business.
The sound of an airplane circling above Luverne all day on a summer weekend means the skydivers will soon be falling from the sky.
Never owned one myself, but the sound of a Harley Davidson motorcycle is unmistakable and really cool. Jake braking and the sound it creates, outlawed in many communities and understandably so, but that too is a cool sound to my ears at least.
Some sounds aren’t necessarily a sign of good things to come. The tornado sirens come to mind as does the sound of the police car siren behind you. The sound of the Sanford helicopter coming and going brings two thoughts to my mind. One is somebody is having a worse day than I am (hopefully they will be okay) and every time the chopper flies in and out of Luverne, I think of Radar O’Reilly from M*A*S*H.
The sound of thunder can go both ways – good or bad.
“The Sound of Music” – never saw the show – but a life without the sound of music would be pretty boring.
On one of those hot days last week someone said you can hear the corn growing. I guess you need field corn ears to hear the corn growing.
So here is your homework assignment for the next couple of days. Listen and enjoy some of the sound around you.

Dispatch report
June 16
•Complainant on N. Spring Street reported a fire.
•A warrant was issued on W. Hatting Street.
•Complainant on W. Warren Street reported threats.
•Complainant reported harassing communications.
June 17
•Complainant on N. Oakley reported a missing person.
•Complainant on S. Central Avenue reported theft.
•Complainant east-bound on Interstate 90, mile marker 10, Luverne, requested roadside assistance.
•A warrant was issued on 251st Street, Jasper.
•Complainant on S. Kniss reported a transient.
•Complainant on E. Main Street reported suspicious activity.
•Complainant on E. Main Street reported suspicious activity.
•Complainant east-bound on Interstate 90, exit 12, Luverne, reported a driving complaint.
June 18
•Complainant on S. Kniss Avenue reported drunkenness.
•Complainant on E. Luverne Street reported theft.
•Complainant on W. Luverne Street reported a driving complaint.
•Complainant on S. Kniss Avenue requested assistance from another department.
•A warrant was issued on E. Minnesota Avenue, Steen.
•Complainant west-bound on Interstate 90, mile marker 12, Luverne, reported a driving complaint.
•Complainant at city park reported suspicious activity.
•Complainant on Central Avenue, Luverne, reported suspicious activity.
June 19
•Complainant east-bound on Interstate 90, mile marker 12, Luverne, reported a road and drive law issue.
•A warrant was issued on 81st Street in Beaver Creek.
•Complainant east-bound on Interstate 90, mile marker 22, Magnolia, reported a miscellaneous public assist.
•Complainant on S. Cottage Grove reported a burglary.
June 20
•Complainant on County Highway 4, Luverne, reported a fire call.
•Complainant on Oak Drive reported a miscellaneous public assist.
•Complainant on County Road 20 and County Road 6, Luverne, reported road and drive laws issue.
•Complainant on 71st Street reported a fire.
•Complainant on S. Cottage Grove Avenue reported an assault.
June 21
•Complainant reported an outage.
•Complainant on 21st Street, Steen, reported a fire.
•Complainant on Edgehill Street reported a public nuisance.
•Complainant on N. Spring Street reported a missing person.
 
In addition, officers responded to 6 motor vehicle accidents, 1 transport, 5 ambulance runs, 8 animal complaints, 2 fingerprint requests, 4 burn permits, 1 alarm, 1 stalled vehicle, 20 traffic stops, 21 abandoned 911 calls, 4 welfare checks, 1 report of cattle out and 1 follow-up.

Rock County Sheriff Evan Verbrugge (left) swears in deputies Griffin Haas (center) and Max Brewer Tuesday night, June 20, at the commissioners meeting in the courthouse. Brewer grew up in Morristown, Minnesota, and attended Riverland Community College Austin Campus, where he received a diploma in corrections. He worked for the Ely and Arlington police departments before coming to Rock County. Haas is from Hastings, Minnesota, and graduated from Inver Hills Community College. He worked as a non-licensed police officer in Northfield for almost five years. Both deputies started field training with the sheriff’s office in February, finishing last month, and both are currently on patrol.

The 31-member LHS concert band performed on the Disney professional stage in Anaheim, California, during a June 19-23 trip. Students and seven chaperones visited sites in San Diego including Sea World, whale watching, USS Midway Museum and Mission Beach boardwalk.