Editorials
- January 19, 2021One thing sets the Southwest Minnesota CEO program apart from others across the country — community support. As the 2020-21 CEO class opens their group business venture, “Souper” Supper, this weekend, the students will have already reached half of their fundraising goal of $15,000 through business sponsorships. Other members who follow the Midland Institute for Entrepreneurship model only raise a…
- January 12, 2021Some of you know that one of life's joys that I take pride in is my athletic career long ago on the championship football and basketball teams in Luverne. These memories, if verbalized, honor the coaches who were men of active faith who cared deeply for those of us who played for them. They focused more on character building than on winning, and as a result were perennial champions as…
- January 05, 2021According to data from the Minnesota Department of Public Safety, 2020 has proven to be a challenging year on state roadways. Preliminary reports show there were 394 traffic deaths on Minnesota roads in 2020, compared with 364 in 2019. Of the 2020 fatalities: •64 were motorcyclists, compared with 44 in 2019. •10 were bicyclists, compared with 10 in 2019. •45 were pedestrians, compared with 50 in…
- 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…
By Jessica Mead, Complete County Committee chairperson and Luverne city clerkNovember 03, 2020Way to go, Rock County and city of Luverne, for your high level of participation in the 2020 U.S. Census! Being counted helps our community get its fair share of the more than $675 billion per year in federal funds spent on schools, hospitals, roads, public works and other vital programs. Businesses use census data to decide where to build industry, offices and stores, and this creates jobs and…- 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.…
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