editorial
- December 08, 2020With 21 days left in 2020, the Minnesota Department of Public Safety released a grim milestone — 367 people died on Minnesota roads since Jan. 1 this year. That compares with 364 fatalities in all of 2019. On a 10-year average, 30 people die on Minnesota roads in December. Public safety officials said more crashes were speed-related, involved more motorcycles, more drivers were alone when the…
- December 01, 2020We’re not getting the Christmas we dream of this year, but that doesn’t mean we’re getting lumps of coal. This year more than ever we need to count our blessings and watch for bright spots in the season. On Sunday we watched our Luverne City Park light up with dozens of festive holiday displays decorated by local businesses and organizations. They were ushered in by a 20-minute spectacular…
November 23, 2020We try to leave our readers each week with editorial messages to advocate, encourage, enlighten and inform. This week we’re torn between two messages: get out and support local businesses and stay home to protect vulnerable loved ones and health care workers. Our holidays are coinciding with the peak of pandemic spread, which means we should hunker down with our immediate households at a time…- November 17, 2020In the November Chamber Chatter, the Luverne Area Chamber Director Jane Wildung Lanphere offered ways to be grateful this holiday season. Specifically, she suggested being thankful for this list of blessings: •Awakening alive. Just waking up is something we should be grateful for every day of our lives. Being alive allows us to love, enjoy, make decisions, act and make our day the best. •…
- November 10, 2020Nonprofit organizations are at the heart of our communities, but many of our local organizations have canceled fundraiser galas and activities due to the pandemic. This is not only a loss of social connections, but it represents lost fundraising that would support 2021 projects that strengthen the community. Nov. 19 is Give to the Max Day, a 24-hour online campaign that supports local nonprofits…
- October 27, 2020The Voting Rights Act of 1965 is considered by many to be one of the most effective pieces of civil rights legislation in our nation's history. Now as we head into the final stretch of the 2020 presidential election, it’s abundantly clear how necessary the law is. Before the Voting Rights Act was in place, several states openly and legally suppressed the votes of African-Americans and other…
- October 20, 2020We get a kick out of recalling the “good old days” of wrestling with our siblings in the back seat or sleeping in the rear window of the family sedan on long road trips. And we survived to tell the tale. … Well, most of us did. In 1987 more than 4,000 people suffered severe injuries in traffic crashes. Today that number is roughly 1,000. Why? Seatbelts. Belted motorists often walk away from…
- September 29, 2020Next week, Oct. 4-10, is National Newspaper Week, and the 2020 theme is “America Needs Journalists.” It’s a fitting theme for so many reasons, but 2020 has proven in countless ways that professional journalists are more necessary than ever before. In recent years we’ve watched the ranks of journalists dwindle while the selection of digital “news” sources widens. At the same time, our commander in…
- September 15, 2020Who knew the postal service and mail ballots would be politicized? Who knew we would distrust mail service to deliver our ballot, yet trust it to deliver our tax refunds? Who knew that same mail ballot voting that military members have used for decades would be discouraged for average citizens seeking safety from pandemic exposure at the polling station? Who knew? These are the times we live in…
- September 08, 2020Schools in Rock County resumed classes Tuesday, and that means student pedestrians will be crossing streets and driveways, and school buses will be present for pickups and drop-offs. What that means for the rest of us, especially the motoring public, is that we need to be hyper-vigilant in school zones and in neighborhoods where student pedestrians and buses are present. Further complicating…
- September 01, 2020Census takers are visiting households in Rock County communities to follow up with residents who have not yet participated in the 2020 Census. (See the front-page story) They’re paid, part-time temporary government employees, but the work isn’t easy. Gone are the days of door-to-door salesmen and Avon Ladies, and we rarely get a knock from random Girl Scouts for cookie sales. It’s the world we…
- August 25, 2020The Minnesota Department of Transportation is thanking thousands of Adopt a Highway volunteers across the state and encouraging others to clean a section of roadway in celebration of the program’s 30th anniversary. More than 3,800 volunteer groups, ranging from four to 25 people, spent an estimated 272,000 hours cleaning roadway ditches in 2019, picking up 40,000 bags of trash across Minnesota.…
- By Pat Baustian, mayor, city of LuverneAugust 18, 2020A citizen contacted me last week about a concern that several downtown retailers were not wearing masks in their stores and were not asking patrons to wear masks when shopping in their store. The citizen was concerned for personal health reasons, but the information concerned me on a much broader level. The city of Luverne — its council and its staff members — worked quickly and furiously to…
- August 11, 2020The Star Herald this week carries a story about volunteers assembling personal care kits to be shared with community members. The primary idea is that social isolation and economic hardships of a pandemic take a toll on human beings, especially those with fewer resources. This is especially true for our community members who struggle with brain health. Mark Jabcobson, a peer support specialist in…
- July 21, 2020After months of stay-at-home or stay-safe orders, we are eager to be get back to our normal routines and activities. Last week our summer routines received a reality check. Some of our youth participating in summer games of baseball recently tested positive for the coronavirus. As a precaution, youth baseball was halted as we take a step back and assess what this new public enemy will do next. It…
- July 07, 2020We want to recognize our community activity organizers who are creatively moving forward during this coronavirus pandemic by continuing our annual summer celebrations with interesting social distancing twists. A thumbs up to the Luverne Area Chamber for their recent activities and the Helping Build Communities Stronger, who are organizing this Saturday’s fireworks display in Hills. This past…
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