Columns
By Mavis Fodness, reporterNovember 23, 2020This summer I celebrated my 55th birthday. That’s right the 5-5 —the posted speed limit on most county highways. It is also the minimum age for participating in the eight-hour defensive driving class through the Minnesota Safety Council and Luverne Community Education. Any driver 55 and older can take the initial class that allows certificate holders to receive an auto insurance discount. I…
By Sgt. Troy Christianson, Minnesota Highway PatrolNovember 23, 2020Question: I have heard a lot about “click it or ticket” recently. I thought seat belt use was at an all-time high. Answer: Most Minnesotans are making the life-saving decision to buckle up. According to the 2019 Minnesota Seat Belt Survey, 93.4 percent of front seat occupants are wearing their seat belts. Unfortunately, that means more than 7 percent of motorists continue to risk their lives and…
By Betty Mann, president, Rock County Historical SocietyNovember 23, 2020The following appeared in The Rose History in 1911. Rock County Village (continued from 11-19-20 edition of the Star Herald.) The proposition was carried by a majority of four votes, there being twenty cast in favor of the project [to create a municipality] and sixteen against. The election to select the first officers under the new government was set for October 2. Following is the…
By Scott Rall, outdoors columnistNovember 23, 2020With all of the recent hunting opportunities it is hard to squeeze in other important fall projects, but I have made time to get them done. I got my burn breaks mowed for the prescribed fires that will take place on my wildlife property to enhance the diversity and stand integrity of the native plant species that grow there. Another project that was actually five projects all fell under the same…
By Brenda Winter, columnistNovember 17, 2020There is a story in the Old Testament where the patriarch Abraham gives his selfish nephew, Lot, first choice in selecting farmland. Lot, being a bit of a jerk, takes all the good land and forces his uncle to pack his bags and move on. Abraham must have been downcast or pouting or something because God spoke to Abraham and said, (and I paraphrase) “Hey! Look up! Look around! You still have plenty…
By Rick Peterson, general managerNovember 17, 2020A week from today (Thursday) is of course Thanksgiving, and that means it’s time for my annual list of things I am thankful for. Some of the things on this year’s list I never thought I would find myself being thankful for. They include toilet paper, hand sanitizer, paper towels, Lysol wipes and masks. Who would have thought all of a sudden one day those items would vanish off the store shelves…
By Scott Rall, outdoors columnistNovember 17, 2020The firearms deer season is underway across Minnesota. Reports have been coming in with success rates far above last year. With literally almost no standing crop left in the state, there are far fewer places for deer to hide. I guided a 62-year-old gal to her very first deer harvest. She comes from a family of die-hard deer hunters but just wasn’t up to the task of sitting in a tree stand in what…
By Betty Mann, president, Rock County Historical SocietyNovember 17, 2020The following appeared in The Rose History in 1911. Rock County Village (continued from 11-12-20 edition of the Star Herald.) Within two weeks after the plat was recorded, Gov. Yale had sold ten lots in the new town, more were sold a little later, and the promoters predicted a lively boom during the season of 1892. And they were not altogether disappointed in their hope. One of the…
By Lori Sorenson, editorNovember 10, 2020A group text among my sisters typically makes the rounds during holidays: “When and where will we gather?” and "Who’s bringing what for food?” But this year we’re asking, “Should we gather?” And if so, “How can we safely gather?” There are five of us sisters, and with our growing families we’re about two dozen people. We love each other dearly, and with both of our parents recently passing,…
By Sgt. Troy Christianson, Minnesota Highway PatrolNovember 10, 2020Question: If a person has a permit to carry in Minnesota, can they transport a loaded rifle or shotgun in a vehicle? Answer: The permit to carry law applies only to handguns, so the answer is no with some exceptions. MS 97B.045 – A person may not transport a firearm in a motor vehicle unless the firearm is: (1) unloaded and in a gun case expressly made to contain a firearm, and the case fully…
By Betty Mann, president, Rock County Historical SocietyNovember 10, 2020The following appeared in The Rose History in 1911. Rock County Village (continued from 11-05-20 edition of the Star Herald.) During the summer of 1884 an event occurred which resulted in the death of one proposed town and the birth of another. The victim in this case was Drake. That point had proven to be an undesirable location for any expansion on the part of the railroad company…
By Scott Rall, outdoors columnistNovember 10, 2020The firearms deer season started in most of Minnesota on Nov. 7. In the southwest part of the state it runs for 11 days. Other regions have different dates and season lengths. I am a pretty serious deer hunter but have not harvested a deer in over 30 years. This by no means indicates that I have skipped the opportunity to buy a license and take part in the hunt for any of those three decades. I…
By Mavis Fodness, reporterNovember 03, 2020Circumstances are murky as to how Orville Iveland’s military dog tag ended up in the farm grove of Russell and Doris Wenzel in Springwater Township. What’s clear is that the dog tag is now safely in the Iveland family’s procession. An Oct. 22 Star Herald story with the Wenzels about an unusual rock unearthed during a farm tile project led Russell to showing me a dull-colored metal dog tag he…
By Rick Peterson, general managerNovember 03, 2020About a month ago, Scott Rall wrote in his column the reasons you should carry a cell phone with you while hunting. Carrying a cell phone while in the field is something I have been doing from the time I traded my bag phone in for a flip phone. I hunt alone a lot, so carrying the cell phone is as important as my gun, shells, dogs and, of course, wearing blaze orange. I hunt for a variety of…
By Betty Mann, president, Rock County Historical SocietyNovember 03, 2020The following appeared in The Rose History in 1911. Rock County Village (continued from 10-29-20 edition of the Star Herald.) Magnolia Magnolia, an incorporated village of eastern Rock county, is a station on the Worthington-Mitchell branch of the Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha railroad, seven miles east of Luverne. The line separating sections 11 and 14, Magnolia…
By Scott Rall, outdoors columnistNovember 03, 2020In previous columns I have advised keeping a cell phone in your pocket and telling others where you were going to hunt in case of an emergency. And I’ve also written about falling on a stick and ending up in the emergency room. Well, I have a different story that happened just a few weeks back that makes this all the more important. I hope my bad luck can drive home to you how important it is to…
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