column
By Lori Sorenson, editorJanuary 04, 2022A young family stopped in the Star Herald office just after Christmas to inquire about a subscription to the newspaper. The newsroom was busy sending pages to press, so I didn’t greet them at the counter, as much as I would have liked to. From across the room, I could hear our front office staff take down their address and subscription information while small talk unfolded. “So, you’re new to…
By Scott Rall, outdoors columnistJanuary 04, 2022I was sitting in my garage over the New Year’s weekend having a few adult beverages with my neighbor when an all too familiar topic was raised. He expressed his angst about the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources — that they are just too powerful. I then prodded for some additional details. I asked him to give me an example of what he thought was too powerful. He came up with a very vague…
By Jason Berghorst, reporterDecember 28, 2021I have a habit of inserting unsolicited local history into conversations with my friends, co-workers and students. Not helpful, insightful historical facts that people find interesting, but often random tidbits of how things used to be. It’s perhaps an occupational hazard for a history teacher living in his hometown and working in the school he graduated from. But more than that, it’s human…
By Scott Rall, outdoors columnistDecember 28, 2021I have a great job as a self-employed, independent investment adviser, helping people try to get to a comfortable retirement. Saving money for your later years is not something that everybody is good at. I would like to think I have made a measurable difference in that regard for my clients over the past 33 years, but they still needed to participate in order to achieve success, and that takes…
By Mavis Fodness, reporterDecember 21, 2021My mom used to hide Christmas gifts in the closet under the stairs. I passed by that door every day as I went up to my bedroom. I never gave a thought to what was inside until one Christmas decades ago I just had to see if I was getting the gift I hoped for. As it turns out, I was. The gift was a Breyer horse. Two, actually, because the Clydesdale mare and her foal were a set. They each came with…
By Scott Rall, outdoors columnistDecember 21, 2021This is a year much like last in that there are more hunters afield later into the season than normal. If Mother Nature delivers like she normally does, there are only a few diehards still chasing what by now are the smartest remaining roosters in the state. This year and last year were very different. This is my hypothesis as to why. In a normal year there are thousands of bird hunters…
By Brenda Winter, columnistDecember 14, 2021My dear husband has spent the past 35 years listening to me ask, “What is that smell?!” But then, in late November, I got Covid 19 and lost my sense of smell. Along with the rest of the state of Minnesota, I came down with Covid 19 last month and, like 80 percent of Covid sufferers, my case was mild. I used (prescribed) ivermectin (for humans) and was symptom-free in three days. The weird part…
By Rick Peterson, general managerDecember 14, 2021No one has ranted more about the high cost of medical care and the cost of insurance to cover it than yours truly. You can ask my wife, my coffee group and my insurance guy for verification if you wish. The recent financial departure packages that Sanford has doled out to a few Sioux Falls doctors and executives has been in the news and the talk at the coffee shops. It’s difficult for many of us…
By Scott Rall, outdoors columnistDecember 14, 2021This has been a fabulous fall for conservation work, and I spent the last six to eight weeks with a variety of needed preparations for the coming spring. These include mowing fire breaks and seeding grasses. If you intend to do a prescribed fire in the spring, you need to do all of the preparations before the snow flies. I mowed about five miles of burn breaks so that when the temperatures warm…
By Lori Sorenson, editorDecember 07, 2021Those who know me know I wear my Dutch heritage like a badge of honor. I’m frugal to the core in such a way that I’ve made a sport out of finding the best deals and recycling household items. Like plastic service ware. Most plastic forks, knives and spoons in my pantry have been used, washed in the dishwater and reused more times than I can count. I get laughed at, but no one knows the difference…
By Betty Mann, president, Rock County Historical SocietyDecember 07, 2021The following appeared in The Rock County Herald on February 3, 1905. In Social Circles Record of a Typical Mid-Winter Week Serial Life In Luverne Characterized by One Continuous Round of Pleasure—Dancing, Card, Dinner, Birthday Parties, Etc.—Wedding next Wednesday This is continued from last week’s publication *** The most enjoyable event of last season was the first party given by the “Has…
By George Bonnema, Luverne HorticulturalistDecember 07, 2021Blooming plants are wonderful gifts to brighten our homes for the holiday season. Knowing what makes them happy keeps the color show going. Poinsettias are the traditional favorite. Red is the natural color and all other colors and variations are mutations that have been “hybridized” to give us choices. The red color is actually a bract of red leaves that attract pollinators to the little yellow…
By Mavis Fodness, reporterNovember 30, 2021After nearly a month of roaming Rock County, a wayward moose may be gone. I write “may be” because I don’t want the last social media post about a young male moose lying in a ditch near Tea, South Dakota, to be the same young male moose that’s been roaming Rock County. Sightings of the Rock County moose began around Halloween when the first pictures of the young moose surfaced. The most startling…
By Rick Peterson, general managerNovember 30, 2021White lights or colored lights? Blinking lights or non-blinking lights? Real tree or artificial? Open gifts on Christmas Eve or Christmas morning? These are the questions that are causing more than a few discussions or debates in our household, and yours as well, I suspect. I’ll cut right to the chase. The Petersons prefer white lights, the non-blinking kind. The real tree/artificial tree debate…
By Betty Mann, president, Rock County Historical SocietyNovember 30, 2021The following appeared in The Rock County Herald on February 3, 1905. In Social Circles Record of a Typical Mid-Winter Week Serial Life In Luverne Characterized by One Continuous Round of Pleasure—Dancing, Card, Dinner, Birthday Parties, Etc.—Wedding next Wednesday This is continued from last week’s publication Miss Elsie Johnston proved herself a charming hostess Monday evening when…
By Scott Rall, outdoors columnistNovember 30, 2021My newest Labrador, Ghost, is all grown up now at 1 1/2 years old. He makes No. 4 at my house with his superiors being 10, 7 and 5 years old. At full size he is the smallest dog I have ever had at a whopping 40 pounds. I did all of the obedience and collar training on this dog starting at about 7 to 8 months of age. The puppy needs to grow up a little before you can expect their brains to be…
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