February is American Heart Month, a federally designated month since 1964 to spotlight cardiovascular health and combat heart disease — the leading cause of death for both men and women in the U.S. 

At my tender age of 65 I have seen exactly two wolves in the wild. Both were in northern Minnesota and both were by pure accident. 

They were both seen running across the road in front of my travel vehicle. 

Dispatch report 

Feb. 4 

•Complainant westbound on Interstate 90 at mile marker 20 reported an accident with property damage. 

•An outage was reported. 

•Rock County Sheriff’s Department issued a weather alert. 

A white SUV was stolen from a farm in Rose Dell Township on Tuesday, Feb. 10, and while the vehicle has been recovered, the suspect has not been found. 

10 years ago (2016) 

•Darrell Hoeck has served on the Springwater Township Board for 38 years. 

He started in 1978 as a clerk at the encouragement of his father, George Hoeck, who served Springwater Township for 25 years. 

Ross Bergman, Kenneth, is a junior enrolled in the College of Arts and Sciences at University of Nebraska-Lincoln and is majoring in biological sciences. Bergman was named to the Fall 2025 dean’s list. 

Several students from the area were named to the Fall 2025 dean’s list at South Dakota State University in Brookings. 

To qualify, students must be enrolled in at least 12 semester hours and earn a GPA of 3.5 or greater on a 4.0 scale. 

Winona State University names area students to the Fall 2025 semester dean’s list. To qualify, students must be enrolled in at least 12 credit hours and earn a GPA of 3.5 or greater. 

Ella Schmuck, Luverne High School senior, was honored as runner up in the Sejong International Sijo Competition, a poetry contest. 

Sijo is a traditional three-line Korean poetic form (often 14–16 syllables per line, 44–46 total) that often includes a twist.