Columns
By Greg Hoogeveen, sports editorSeptember 11, 2024I get a lot of comments from student athletes like, “You got a photo of me with a weird face as I hit the ball,” or “How come you shot a photo of me with my tongue out?” Those comments give me two thoughts about my coverage of sports events. One, the kids are looking for the photos of themselves in our coverage of the events in the paper or online. Two, I can’t control how they look when they…
By Scott Rall, Outdoors columnistSeptember 11, 2024How many times do you hear folks say that the summer just got away from them and they cannot believe it’s almost fall already? I am getting to be a pretty old man, and I realize I am most likely living in the last quarter of my life. I spend considerable effort doing my very best not to be one of those other folks. I spend every waking moment I can outside. I hustle to finish at least part of…
By Brenda Winter, columnistSeptember 04, 2024The wedding of our youngest daughter, Katherine, to her man of many years, Dylan, last Saturday was a mountaintop experience. Literally. They got married on a mountaintop. It was dark when we headed west out of Denver toward Boulder. I rode in the back seat through several miles of hairpin turns as we ascended the wedding mountain. I was flanked by two granddaughters, one of whom spilled a…- By Sgt. Troy Christianson, Minnesota State PatrolSeptember 04, 2024Question: I’ve been helping my neighbor prep for sale a 1955 Ford pickup that has been in her family since new. I noticed the other day that the VIN plate is missing from the glove box door (the rivet holes are still there). It must have been lost by the body shop that painted the truck about 15 years ago, and is now out of business. I was able to locate the VIN stamped into the frame and it…
By Scott Rall, Outdoors columnistSeptember 04, 2024How many times do you hear folks say that the summer just got away from them and they cannot believe it’s almost fall already? I am getting to be a pretty old man, and I realize I am most likely living in the last quarter of my life. I spend considerable effort doing my very best not to be one of those other folks. I spend every waking moment I can outside. I hustle to finish at least part of…
By Lori Sorenson, editorAugust 28, 2024Matt and I were married 10 years ago, on Sept. 6, 2014, and we came across my wedding column titled “Cross-county courtship results in marriage — and new byline for the editor.” The column shared that Matt and I knew each other professionally through his work in the State Patrol and mine in the media. We connected personally in December 2005 when he responded to a playful request for Christmas…
By RIck Peterson, general managerAugust 28, 2024Had a bit of a weird experience the other evening. It was more of an odd observation. Mary and I stopped at the new Alibi bar and restaurant on the east side of Sioux Falls on Highway 42 between Sioux Falls and Brandon. If you take the back way to Sioux Falls, you might remember the old Alibi Bar on the corner of Highway 42 and Six-mile Road. It’s fair to say the old Alibi was a bit of a dive.…
By Scott Rall, Outdoors columnistAugust 28, 2024My fiancée Joan Holles is signed up for a Women’s Learn to Hunt workshop for next weekend. When visiting her daughter in Orlando a few weeks back, she shared this little tidbit with her daughter and son-in-law. The first words out of their mouths were, “How could you ever even consider shooting a pheasant?” This is a question often asked by the non-hunting public. They could not conceive of an…
By Jason Berghorst, reporterAugust 21, 2024Sometimes it’s good to step outside your box. Other times it might be good to step off the dock and into a small fishing boat. In my experience last weekend, the two mean the same thing. As a teacher, my summer ends this week. It’s been a great summer and I’m always thankful for the opportunity to rejuvenate and reset for the new school year. My last opportunity for rejuvenation came last…
By Sgt. Troy Christianson, Minnesota State PatrolAugust 21, 2024Question: Since I've moved to Minnesota, I've seen many drivers use right turn lanes as a bypass lane. Is this legal or does the sign reading "lane must turn" mean exactly what it says? Answer: White signs are regulatory and failing to comply can result in a citation for “fail to obey traffic control sign/signal.” “Right Turn Lanes” are what they are posted for, not passing or bypassing. The “…
By Scott Rall, Outdoors columnistAugust 21, 2024Gals love to shop and guys go the store to buy stuff. There is no memory I have of going to a hunting/ fishing store and just looking around for a few hours and then going home with nothing. That whole idea is foreign to me. Another pretty foreign idea to me is to spend about three weeks looking in every store that has the item I want in order to save $3.95 on that item. What I am a little…
By Mavis Fodness, reporterAugust 14, 2024Two months ago I wrote about how my mother blossomed into a different person since moving into Tuff Home in Hills late last year. For as long as I can remember, she mainly showed her stubborn side and rarely let a softer side of her personality shine. On Sunday, at the age of 96, and after living a full life on her own terms, my mother died. Her service is today (Aug. 15), and I agreed to…
By RIck Peterson, general managerAugust 14, 2024When you live in Minnesota, you have a variety of seasonal tools. In the winter a snow shovel, ice scrapper and possibly a snow blower are all tool essentials. For the fall the rake probably ranks at the top of the list. In the spring you break out the rake again to do a little spring cleanup around the yard. If you’re a gardener the hoe is your “go to” tool. Summer is where you need the big…
By Scott Rall, Outdoors columnistAugust 14, 2024My decision on the next dog to join the dog pack at my house is getting closer. I have been bringing you into my decision-making criteria for the past two weeks or so. I have narrowed the choices from about 30 down to three. The dog breeds that are still on my short list include the small Munsterlander, the English setter and the German shorthair pointer. The pros and cons of each as I am able…
By Brenda Winter, columnistAugust 07, 2024Our friendship began in college. She thought I was funny and I loved her infectious laugh. We became apartment-mates and centered our home life around Tom Petty, Bud Light, Marlboro 100s, Doritos and cheese dip. She lived with my family in Luverne for a few months after our freshman year. We walked beans and picked cucumbers. The summer’s highlight was her catching a ride home to Rapid City…
By Scott Rall, Outdoors columnistAugust 07, 2024Last week I started a conversation about the possibility of adding a pointing dog to my pack of flushing Labradors. I was pretty uneducated about where to start on this endeavor. I looked up a group of dogs called versatile breeds and found 28 different breeds that all fall into this category. The general description of a versatile dog is one who can point and retrieve game on both land and…
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