Columns
By Scott Rall, outdoors columnistJuly 20, 2021With the increase in popularity of off-road recreational vehicles, I am seeing more and more side-by-sides running around the counites where I live. The units I am referring to are like 4-wheel-drive golf carts. Polaris Rangers and others made by Arctic Cat, Yamaha and Bombardier are all commonly seen in southwest Minnesota. I have seen many of these units that have had the off-road tires removed…
By Mavis Fodness, reporterJuly 13, 2021For decades this weekly space has featured personal reflections from our editorial staff. The authors have shared various topics and experiences, and some have talked about cancer — either their own personal battles or those of family members. I’ve read their words, sometimes through tears of joy for the author’s triumph, and sometimes with deepest empathy at the loss of life. My logical self…
By Rick Peterson, Tollefson Publishing general managerJuly 13, 2021Mary keeps telling me that I need to stop getting so upset about things I can’t control and take some pleasure in the small things in life. So, with that in mind and as I was making my morning toast, I was lucky enough to be at the end of a loaf a bread, and there was the crust. The little things in life don’t get much smaller, so I stop to enjoy the crust. When I was growing up, the crust was…
By Betty Mann, president, Rock County Historical SocietyJuly 13, 2021The following appeared in The Rock County Herald on March 31, 1949. Monday Was Pay Day For National Guardsmen They’re Not Phoney So Don’t Pass Up $2 Bills Some over 1,000 two-dollar bills will be in circulation here during the next few days and weeks. And there’s nothing phoney about them either. The bills represent the quarterly payroll to members of the Luverne National Guard unit, who…
By George Bonnema, Luverne HorticulturalistJuly 13, 2021Summer-blooming spireas have pretty much finished their early bloom cycle. A light shear now will remove those dead flower heads, and within a couple of weeks they will put on a new crop of foliage that will look as bright and fresh as they did in the spring. … Wish a hair cut would do that for me! Rain over the weekend was another huge blessing, especially the fact that it was more widespread. I…
By Scott Rall, outdoors columnistJuly 13, 2021It is not very often that legislators call me. I call them regularly, but total solar eclipses are more common than a legislator calling me. About 20 years ago Sen. Jim Vickerman, a gentleman I really respected, called me about wolves, a subject that hardly ever comes up in the ag land zones of Minnesota. Wolves have been listed, then delisted, then listed again about a half dozen times over the…
By Jason Berghorst, reporterJuly 06, 2021“Things happen in threes.” I’ve heard that phrase, or variations of it, numerous times over the years, most often referencing deaths or other bad circumstances and events. I usually dismiss “happens in threes” as simple superstition. If you wait long enough, eventually three people you know are going to die or three unfortunate things will happen to your family. Don’t get me wrong, I’m…- By Sgt. Troy Christianson, Minnesota State PatrolJuly 06, 2021Question: What is the law with regard to insurance cards? I was told it must always be available in the vehicle and then I was told that if you do not have it, there is no fine if you produce it within three days. What exactly are the statutes with regard to having your driver's license on you while driving? Answer: The driver of the vehicle is required to provide current proof of…
By Scott Rall, outdoors columnistJuly 06, 2021The more you read about the history of wildlife in the North America the more you come to believe that almost every animal that you see today was at one time almost wiped off the planet by the settlers of a few hundred years ago. Back in the mid-1850s as white settlers came into the area, they plowed up prairies and drained wetlands thus destroying pelican habitat. They were often…- By Brenda Winter, columnistJune 29, 2021For the past four years, teams of Christian kids from the Luverne area have served on a weeklong, in-town mission trip doing the things locally that youth groups often travel hundreds of miles to do in other places. Under the supervision of two or three adults, the teens paint houses, replace siding, build ramps, landscape, pull weeds, move furniture … and even change light bulbs. Yes, change…
By Rick Peterson, general managerJune 29, 2021Before you know it, we’ll be hitting the unofficial midway point of summer. I know the first day of summer was just a little over a week ago. Yet once the Fourth of July comes and goes, we unfortunately shift our thoughts toward the dog days of August, then Labor Day, then back to school, and summer is over. Don’t shoot the messenger, but that is the way it goes … if you let it. So here are a…
By George Bonnema, Luverne HorticulturalistJune 29, 2021We were blessed with a wonderful rain shower on Monday afternoon, and my gardener’s spirit is revived! It is disheartening to watch the vegetable and flower crops you carefully nurtured succumb to extreme heat and drought. I am grateful! I noticed that the slugs have arrived. I was hoping that the dry weather would have curtailed their appearance, but the damaged leaves on some of my hosts are…
By Betty Mann, president, Rock County Historical SocietyJune 29, 2021The following appeared in The Rock County Star-Herald on March 24, 1949. Luverne Girl Wins County Spelling Crown Margaret Fritz, who is a pupil in the eighth grade of the Luverne junior high school, won the county spelling contest Saturday of a possible 100 words correctly in a written test, also taken by pupils from 11 other Rock county schools. Shirley Hawes of district 45, placed second, and…
By Scott Rall, outdoors columnistJune 29, 2021Anglers that are most attentive to the littlest of details are the ones who normally have the biggest and best fishing stories to tell. I will give you just a few examples of ways that extra attention to detail can make a measurable difference in the day’s catch. The first would be the basics of fishing lines. Many casual anglers have one or two rod and reel combos that they use for every…
By Lori Sorenson, editorJune 22, 2021I stood at the bottom of the inflatable water slide with my cell phone camera pointed at the kids tumbling through the spray and landing in a laughing heap in a puddle at the bottom. I was there on official business as the Star Herald photographer covering Hills Friendship Days, but the kids didn’t know this. A few of them looked sideways at me as they pivoted their bare feet in the muddy grass…
June 22, 2021Question: I own a convertible that I only drive in the summer when it isn't raining. (I hate to put the top up). My commute to work is 1.2 miles each way. It is now of a vintage that I could get collector plates on it, but I've heard there are restrictions on when I can drive it with those plates displayed. What are the rules? I would like to have collector plates but want to be able to…
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