Columns
By Rick Peterson, general managerJanuary 14, 2020Before I closed the book on the past year, I went back and checked my first column of 2019 to see what words of wisdom I may have jotted down. As it turns out, I came up short in the wisdom category. My bold and optimistic look at 2019 included four major construction projects that would be well underway by year’s end. The four included tru Shrimp, Premium Iowa Pork, the National Guard Armory and…
By Jason Berghorst, reporterJanuary 14, 2020“There’s a lot of psychology in that.” That’s one of my favorite and most used sayings, at least according to my students and the coworkers that I eat lunch with. Paul Harvey had “the rest of the story.” Al Roker has “here’s what’s happening in your neck of the woods.” My signature saying, it seems, is “there’s a lot of psychology in that.” I’ve been teaching psychology for quite a few years now…
By Betty Mann, president, Rock County Historical SocietyJanuary 14, 2020The following appeared in The Rock County Herald on January 13, 1905. The committee in charge of the Modern Woodmen’s annual dance which is to be given next Thursday, January 19, have completed all arrangements in a very satisfactory manner and the indications are that the dance will be one of the most enjoyable entertainments of the kind ever given by the lodge. As previously announced the…
By Sgt. Troy Christianson, Minnesota Highway PatrolJanuary 07, 2020Question: I see many vehicles driving down the road with ice and snow coming off of them. What is the law about clearing ice and snow from your vehicle prior to driving? Answer: The law states that no vehicle shall be moved on a roadway, unless the load is secured to prevent any leaking, blowing, shifting or falling debris. Ice or snow that may fall from a vehicle could be considered an unsecured…
January 07, 2020Growing up, I often heard the phrase “Keeping up with the Joneses.” Now, I didn’t have any neighbors named Jones, but I knew the saying referred to buying something just because someone else already had the same item. By owning the item, you were at the same high social level, and those who didn’t have said item were somehow at a lower socio-economic scale. Decades later the “Keeping up with the…
By George Bonnema, Luverne HorticulturalistJanuary 07, 2020In response to the problems we are encountering with our popular and reliable shade trees, it is important to make sure the new trees we plant are getting the best care we can give them. Young trees like linden and maple have smooth bark and are very prone to sunscald damage during the coldest part of winter. This problem usually affects the southwest side of the tree trunk and is the result of…
By Betty Mann, president, Rock County Historical SocietyJanuary 07, 2020The following appeared in The Rock County Herald on January 13, 1905. Barely a quorum of the members of the Maplewood Cemetery association turned out Monday evening to attend the annual meeting held in J. H. Furlow’s office. While this fact indicates the implicit faith and entire satisfaction of the lot owners in the present board, the officers would much prefer to have seen a large turnout.…
By Rick PetersonJanuary 01, 2020With 2020 knocking on the door of the New Year, I usually fill the space this time of the year with my resolutions. I haven’t had great success fulfilling my resolutions, so this year I am going to take a slightly different approach. I have come up with what I am calling my Luverne Bucket List. Simply put, the aforementioned bucket list includes thing I would like to do in 2020 right here in…
By Esther FrakesJanuary 01, 2020So what’s in a name? Obviously a very specific spelling, for one thing. One of the challenges for the Star Herald staff is to spell names correctly — not an easy task. As early as possible at the beginning of each school year, we ask the area schools to email student class lists to us for reference when needing to verify spellings of names of students in our stories. The variety of spellings…
By Brenda Winter, columnistDecember 22, 2019From now on, if anyone asks me for the definition of a good sport, I’m going to answer “Betty Mann.” Betty was willing to portray herself in the “Marlene and Darlene Present the Nutcracker” show at the Palace Theatre on Dec. 22 even though the storyline poked fun at nutcrackers and people like Betty who collect them. Betty brought down the house with her line, “It’s beautiful,” while admiring the…
By Betty Mann, president, Rock County Historical SocietyDecember 22, 2019The following appeared in The Rock County Herald on December 18, 1931. Rock County’s Total Population is 10,962 Second Census Bulletin Gives Detailed Report of 1930 Enumeration; Luverne Has Population of 2, 644 Rock County’s total population is given as 10,962 in the second series population bulletin of Minnesota for 1930, in the 15th census of the United States. The report embodies a…
By Rick Peterson, general managerDecember 17, 2019With nearly 400 greeting cards already collected, we sent off a couple hundred greeting cards last week to American military personnel currently deployed around the world, including four from Rock County. I would like to thank Lexi Moore and the students from the Hills-Beaver Creek schools and Jason Berghorst and the students from the Luverne schools for accounting for nearly half of the cards so…
By Lori Sorenson, editorDecember 17, 2019Mom wasn’t a fan of Christmas. She didn’t raise her children to believe in Santa and our tree didn’t go up until well into December. Mostly Mom despised the commercialism of the holidays, openly cringing at the first Christmas ad on TV or first decorations to show up on store shelves. Of course, it didn’t help that the ag economy crashed when she and Dad had five children looking forward to gifts…
By Betty Mann, president, Rock County Historical SocietyDecember 17, 2019The following appeared in The Rock County Herald on December 4, 1931. Will Open Bids on New Paving December 22 Eleven Miles on No. 6 from Luverne to Iowa Line is Included in Projects Under Consideration 1932 Program Calls for 428 Miles of Concrete Paving Luverne to Adrian Link Will Make Continuous Pavement from Cities to Iowa and Dakota Boundaries Bids on 223 miles of truck highway…
By Sgt. Troy Christianson, Minnesota Highway PatrolDecember 10, 2019In the past five years, officers reported snowy or icy road conditions in more than 79,569 crashes (2014-2018). These crashes resulted in 214 traffic deaths and 20,761 injuries. During the winter, it’s important to drive at safe speeds according to road conditions, and give yourself plenty of travel time. State law requires the use of headlights when precipitation is present. Increase stopping…
By Jason Berghorst, reporterDecember 10, 2019“The hopes and fears of all the years are met in Thee tonight.” If you just sang those words in your head as you read them, this may be a column for you. If not, no worries, you can keep reading too. That line is the final stanza of the first verse of “O Little Town of Bethlehem.” Some people really enjoy Christmas music and others don’t. I am firmly among the fans of Christmas music. But…
You must log in to continue reading. Log in or subscribe today.
Columnists
