2025

Luverne residents and visitors celebrated their 11th Annual Fourth of July celebration at The Lake Friday. The holiday event included all the classic summer beach features, including land and water competitions, food, live music and fireworks. The daylong event started with a triathlon (see page 2B for results) and continued with food trucks, a beer garden, music and inflatables throughout the…

Several additional Luverne alumni and former educators will be inducted this fall into the Luverne Alumni Hall of Fame and Luverne Educators Hall of Fame. The 2025 Class of the Luverne Alumni Hall of Fame and the Luverne Educator Hall of Fame will be honored in ceremonies Friday, Sept. 19, during Luverne’s Homecoming celebration. The Luverne Public Schools Hall of Fame Committee includes…

Dispatch report June 25 •Complainant on E. Spring Street reported a civil issue. •Complainant on E. Fletcher Street reported a civil issue. •A civil issue was reported. •An outage was reported on N. Kniss Avenue. •A hit and run accident was reported on Estey Street. •Complainant on 41st Street in Steen reported property damage. June 26 •Complainant on S. Kniss Avenue reported lost/found…

Eight members of Grace Lutheran Church recently returned from a weeklong mission trip to Guatemala.  This was the first global mission trip organized and funded by the church for members of the Luverne congregation to participate in.  Grace Lutheran has supported foreign missionaries in the past and continues to support programs to address world hunger, natural disasters, and other challenges…

Luverne will celebrate its status as “Nutcracker Capital of the World” next week with a full slate of Nutcracker Festival events and activities. There will be nutcracker beer, the Wooden Warrior, released at Take 16 Wednesday; Hot Dog Night Thursday; a nutcracker base race (the Redbirds will change into nutcracker uniforms after their game with Brandon) and live music at Redbird Field Friday;…

Luverne will celebrate its 63rd annual Hot Dog Night Thursday, July 10, with local businesses serving over 15,000 free hot dogs and beverages starting at 5:30 p.m. The event started in 1962 as a customer appreciation gesture by local merchants and has grown since then. “Hot Dog Night is one of those iconic summer events that people who grew up in Luverne — that’s what they remember,” said Jane…

The 11th Annual Fourth of July celebration at The Lake in Luverne will include all the classic summer beach features, including land and water competitions, food, live music and fireworks. Mike and Traci Davis, who own the buildings and campground adjacent to The Lake, have helped organize the celebration since it began in 2015. “We do it to give back to the community we live in,” Mike Davis…

The Rock County Planning and Zoning Commission approved a conditional use permit June 17 for a 100-by-400-foot banquet center in Luverne Township southeast of Luverne. Billy and Missy Cowell of Luverne already constructed the facility on the 21 acres adjacent to their acreage along 111st Street. Located on the same road, but west of the banquet hall, is the Rock River Campground, which the…

Seven members of the Hardwick American Legion Post will be honored as parade marshals Saturday during the Hardwick Jubilee Days. They are all Vietnam War veterans with ties to the Hardwick community. Honorees include Hardwick natives Dean Wenzel, Lon Remme, Keith Schmuck, Rodger Ossenfort and Don Bryan and Kenneth natives Del Nieuwboer and Dale Remme, and they will lead the annual parade down…

Sioux Valley Energy and its members are making an impact in Rock County. During the most recent quarterly meeting of the Sioux Valley Energy Customers’ Trust Board of Directors, $32,725 in grants were awarded by the Cooperative’s Operation Round Up® program. An additional $5,000 was reserved for scholarships. Rock County recipients included: •The Hills-Beaver Creek Community Education…

10 years ago (2015) •After more than 120 years of weddings, funerals and worship services, Kenneth Lutheran Church will close its doors at the end of the month. A final worship service will be at 10 a.m. Sunday, June 28, followed by a catered meal. The small building with a proud white steeple housed hundreds of summer vacation Bible school classes, cubed beef suppers, bridal showers and…

Zander Carbonneau was selected at the 2025 Boys State event earlier this month in Collegeville to attend Boys Nation July 18-25 in Washington, D.C. Carbonneau is one of two Minnesota attendees out of the 173 who participated in the Minnesota Boys State event who will participate in the national event. Two students from each of the 49 Boys State events are invited to Boys Nation to learn the…

LSS meals at Generations   Monday, June 30: Baked pork chop with pork gravy, scalloped potatoes, mixed vegetables, wheat bread, oatmeal raisin cookie. Half-Priced Day sponsored by Sanford Health. Tuesday, July 1: Chicken cordon bleu, sliced carrots, green peas, red delicious apple, wheat dinner roll. Half-Priced Day sponsored by Cattnach Insurance. Wednesday, July 2: Salisbury steak with…

Local churches across Rock County hosted Vacation Bible School over the past week, and organizers at St. John Lutheran Church shared images from their summer event that was themed “Wonder Junction.” They hosted 65 students for their annual Vacation Bible School program June 16-19. The "Wonder Junction" theme transported students “Out West” by train to learn about the life of Christ from baby, to…

Members of the Luverne City Council approved four of five conditional use permit (CUPs) requests to operate cannabis retail establishments in Luverne at their June 17 meeting. The four approvals and one denial were each recommended by the Planning and Zoning Commission following a June 9 public hearing.  The Planning and Zoning Commission considered the same conditions for the cannabis…