Community celebrates annual winter tradition
Luverne’s annual Winterfest Celebration featured all the classic holiday activities over the weekend, along with an appropriate dose of winter snowfall Saturday afternoon.
Public opinion evenly split between rifle, shotgun deer season
Paul Aukes held up a piece of quarter-inch angle iron Tuesday night, Dec. 2, at the public input meeting about rifles vs. shotguns for deer hunting.
Meeting at the marker
Coaches and players from Minnesota, Iowa and South Dakota state champion football teams met at the Tri-State Marker in the southwest corner of Rock County Thursday, Dec.
Fighting a losing battle
These two were fighting a losing battle Saturday as they tried to keep up with falling snow on Main Street in Luverne.
Respect lunch encourages use of 'please' and 'thank you'
Luverne Elementary students enjoyed a sit-down, family-style meal Friday for Respect Lunch, sponsored by Parents Partners in Education.
Santa Claus coming to ... the library
The Christmas Time Story Time Friday morning in the Rock County Library basement featured a special visitors for the children and adults who attended the event, which kicked off activities for Winterfest weekend in Lu
News
- November 05, 2025Gov. Tim Walz last week announced $4 million in new funding for Minnesota food shelves. Funding will provide relief as 440,000 Minnesotans lost grocery benefits through Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Minesota Family Investment Program (MFIP) beginning Nov. 1. Amid the federal government shutdown, the United States Department of Agriculture announced that it will not…
By Mavis FodnessNovember 05, 2025Choir has become the most popular elective class at Luverne Middle-High School. Participation has topped 49 percent as 306 students chose learning to sing over any other elective option during the 2025-26 school year. This fall marked a greater-than-normal influx of freshman students — 60 of them — for choir director Seana Graber, who has been teaching music for 36 years. In response, she…
November 05, 2025Discovery Time preschooler Chandler Hamm enjoys a craft project with Dave and Brenda Hamm last week during “Pajamas, Popcorn, & Pals” in Luverne. Discovery Time hosted the event on Oct. 30 and 31 for preschoolers and their special guests. Students wore their favorite pajamas and welcomed their guests for popcorn and a visit of learning and play. Activities included an alphabet search,…
November 05, 2025Nine “trunks” lined Summit Avenue in Hardwick Friday night for the first Hardwick Fire Department “Trunk ’n Treat” event that was successfully conducted between rain showers in temperatures that reached at best into the upper 30s. Organizers are planning to make the “Trunk ’n Treat” in Hardwick an annual event.
By Mavis FodnessOctober 29, 2025Bethlehem Lutheran Church and Tuff Memorial Home, both in Hills, teamed up to provide an afternoon of trick-or-treating fun at the two locations Sunday. For two hours more than a dozen businesses and organizations handed out candy and other treats from car trunks outside on a windy, 65-degree day. Inside, Tuff residents handed out candy from the doorways of their rooms.
October 29, 2025A two-person acting team from CLIMB Theatre was in Luverne and Hills-Beaver Creek elementary classrooms last week talking to students about brain health. “Brain health,” they said, is defined as “how the brain affects how we think, feel and act.” They illustrated through skits the difference between a healthy brain (smiling, happy body language) and a brain that’s suffering (slumped shoulders,…- By Mavis FodnessOctober 29, 2025Truth in taxation statements will reach Rock County property owners in late November, and Rock County commissioners encourage landowners to read the mailed documents. Landowners have two years to question the assessments and taxes on the property tax statement in order to receive monetary refund for any overpayment. A Steen resident’s statement has been incorrect for more than 20 years, and he…
- By Mavis FodnessOctober 29, 2025A $3.47 million construction project for a 500,000-gallon water tower in Clinton Township will continue, despite federal funds frozen by the government shutdown. Rock County commissioners approved withdrawing up to $1.2 million from the Rock County Rural Water allocation account. Those funds will be repaid once federal government reopens and the $3.09 million USDA grant for the water tower is…
By Lori Sorenson, editorOctober 29, 2025The Rock County Historical Society hosted its annual meeting Monday night, Oct. 27. The evening included refreshments, a business meeting and a presentation about the North Star Story Map. The Story Map, a project of the American Institute of Architects Minnesota, is an interactive website featuring locally sourced stories about buildings of meaning around the state. Ann Mayhew of the…
October 29, 2025Hills native Jayme (Plimpton) Wiertzema was recently recognized as South Dakota Elementary School Art Teacher of the Year. Wiertzema, a 2011 graduate of Hills-Beaver Creek High School, was nominated for Art Teacher of the Year for her work in the Harrisburg School District. “Jayme embodies everything one could hope for in an educator: she is creative, kind, calm, genuine and deeply committed to…
October 29, 2025Dean Luethje of Luverne is the newest member of the South Dakota Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He is a member of Surfin’ Safari, and the band was inducted into the hall of fame at a ceremony Oct. 10 Luethje is the band’s current drummer. Surfin’ Safari organized in 2004 as a ’60s rock and roll band and has since performed hits from the ’60s in the four-state area. According to South Dakota…
By Lori Sorenson, editorOctober 29, 2025Great River Energy, ITC Midwest and Xcel Energy are planning a series of electric transmission projects anchored by a 765 kV transmission line. Known as “PowerOn Midwest,” the project will connect eastern South Dakota and southern Minnesota substations to improve grid reliability and meet energy demand. Project organizers will host a series of public open house meetings across southern…
By Lori SorensonOctober 22, 2025A young singer-songwriter from Hills is creating soulful music that speaks from a higher place. On Oct. 24, 22-year-old Allison LaRock will release her first single, “Beauty,” which she said came from a vulnerable place. “This world doesn’t make sense sometimes, and we wrestle with what the Lord says and how to trust that he’s actually in control of things,” she said about the song. “It’s…
By Lori SorensonOctober 22, 2025Two new weather stations in Rock County are recording real-time data for local users, according to the Minnesota Department of Agriculture. The MDA announced last week that its Minnesota Ag Weather Network (MAWN) recently expanded with the launch of three new weather stations in southern Minnesota. One is located on Rock County Rural Water property south of Luverne, one is on private land on…
By Lori SorensonOctober 22, 2025Two Luverne churches, Grace Lutheran and First Presbyterian, will sponsor a four-week series, “God’s Gift of Soil Soup Study,” about Christian environmental stewardship. The study, starting Sunday, Oct. 26, is based on the Feikema Farms award-winning documentary, “From the Heartland.” The film follows the decade-long journey of Rock County’s Shawn and Becky Feikema as they transitioned from…
By Mavis FodnessOctober 22, 2025Theater fans will find the set for the Luverne High School fall play to be sparse at best. “With minimal sets and props, this show makes the actors rely on their skills to tell the story,” said director Shawn Kinsinger. The students will present “Trap,” by Stephen Gregg, Thursday through Saturday, Oct. 23-25, in the school’s performing arts center. Performances begin at 7 p.m. “Trap,” which…
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