Opinion
- December 09, 2025December is Seasonal Affective Disorder Awareness Month which calls attention to a winter depression condition now known as Seasonal Depression. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI, the condition is characterized by recurrent episodes of depression in late fall and winter, alternating with periods of normal mood the rest of the year. This month, NAMI encourages people to…
By Brenda Winter, ColumnistDecember 09, 2025It was Christmas 1967, or maybe '68. My four-year-old eyes were wide with wonder as I cradled the new Christmas doll. Locks of beautiful synthetic chestnut hair curled around her angel-like face. Eyelids with long, thick lashes blinked for real when she reclined and sat up again. Awake or asleep, the tiniest hint of a smile remained on her perfectly formed red lips. But, oh, that hair. It…
By Rick Peterson, General ManagerDecember 09, 2025There are only about three weeks left in the 2025 pheasant hunting season, and due to some mobility issues, I haven’t hunted once this season. However, I have hunted vicariously through other hunters’ Facebook posts and watching YouTube videos. By all accounts from the locals, I am missing out on a banner year of available roosters. Jeff Haubrich had a recent Facebook post where he shared what…
By Scott Rall, Outdoors ColumnistDecember 09, 2025As soon as Thanksgiving has come and gone, it is the Christmas shuffle that creeps up on me. I do not wait until the last day or two, but I am never way ahead of time. I get a bad taste in my mouth when I must default to a gift certificate when all else fails or the procrastination overcomes me. I am a “consumable-product-gift” kind of guy. Buying a gift that sits on a shelf or hangs on a wall…
By Calla Jarvie, Rock County Library DirectorDecember 09, 2025Like it or not, the holidays are upon us. Are you a “Christmas tree-goes-up-on-Nov. 1” kind of person? Or are you a “Christmas-tree-goes-up-after-Thanksgiving” kind of person? I’m more of a “What Christmas tree?” kind of person, because I have cats. If you’re the first kind, you’re in luck, because we have all the Christmas books and movies out at the library. We have a very solid…- By Tom GetmanDecember 03, 2025November was Indigenous Peoples’ Month, a time to recognize and respect the history, spirituality and culture of those on whose territory we reside. We not only have recounted the traumatic history of our pre-colonial “first (Sioux and Piscataway) residents’’ but have begun to deepen our awareness and alter our own Pipestone, “Indian” and Pilgrim stories and are finding new ways to seek healing…
By Lori Sorenson, editorDecember 03, 2025This week’s Star Herald went to press without the trusty guidance of our proofreader, Esther Frakes, who retired after our Nov. 26 edition. We have smart and capable staff who are assuming Esther’s duties, but we are all nervous about carrying on without her. For 21 years, we’ve enjoyed the assurance of Esther’s eagle eyes on our final drafts before press time. Her job was to catch errors in…- December 03, 2025Radisewitz: Medicate costs are growing crisis for seniors To the editor: Seniors in Rock County face troubling changes in 2026, as many Medicare Advantage plans are being discontinued. While some options remain, the future is uncertain and the choices are increasingly difficult. For 2026, seniors have three main options: •Original Medicare (Parts A & B) With a prescription drug plan (PDP…
- November 25, 2025This week, the Star Herald offers a thumbs up, thumbs down, editorial comprised entirely of thumbs up. That’s not to say there’s nothing to complain about, but in the spirit of Thanksgiving, it’s best to focus on what’s going right in Rock County. Thumbs up — To the bumper crops hauled in by our local farmers. Just when we think our dirt can’t do any better than the year before, new genetics…
By Rick Peterson, general managerNovember 25, 2025Last weekend The Blue Mounds State Park was closed to the public because of the annual youth deer hunt. Ten hunters between the ages of 12 and 15 spent the weekend trying to harvest a deer. Each of the hunters along with an adult mentor, generally a parent or grandparent, spent the time in pre-determined hunting zones. Only the youth hunters were allowed to harvest a deer. This will be the…
By Sgt. Troy Christianson, Minnesota State PatrolNovember 25, 2025Question: Can you explain what the lines on the highways and streets indicate? I feel like a lot of people can’t figure it out. Thanks. Answer: Pavement markings direct and regulate traffic. White lines separate lanes of traffic traveling in the same direction. •White dashes: You can change lanes where this marking is present. •Shorter and thicker white dashes: The lane is ending. •Solid…- By Linda Wenzel, program manager, A.C.E. of SW MNNovember 19, 2025November is National Family Caregivers Appreciation Month — a time to honor and recognize the vital role that family, friends and neighbors play in caring for loved ones who need support due to age, illness or disability. In Rock County, A.C.E. of Southwest Minnesota – Rock County is proud to support caregivers through a variety of programs designed to provide respite, education and emotional…
By Brenda Winter, columnistNovember 19, 2025On an early November morning three years ago, Mom and I sat in the living room. She was holding a fluffy, blue and white blanket. Her shortness of breath made it clearer that her remaining time on earth was short. I didn't know the blanket’s ownership was in dispute between Mom and my nephew until she said quietly, “Kingston gets the blanket.” Apparently she and her 8-year-old grandson had a…- By Thomas GetmanNovember 12, 2025Voices are being raised from “occupied” Washington as DC’s citizens struggle with both national and international challenges … even gutting tragedies. National Guard members roam our parks and streets looking lost while aware they are being used as theatrical props. The darkening picture seems rooted in misguided institutional violence with authoritarian abuse of our Constitution and basic…
By Lori Sorenson, editorNovember 12, 2025The American poet John Russell Hays wrote, “The Groves Were God’s First Temples” in 1895 as a tribute to nature. I’m not a fan of abstract poetry and didn’t even know the poem existed until a friend shared it with me after learning about my frequent walks in our grove. I’ve written columns about the joy of long walks on gravel roads, either with a friend or with a dog. However, our aging lab-…- By Sen. Amy KlobucharNovember 05, 2025In Minnesota and across the country, farmers are having trouble making ends meet amid low commodity prices and increasing costs. Farmer loan repayment rates continue to decline across the Midwest, and small farm bankruptcies have reached a five-year high. Why? Our farmers can’t offset the toll of tariffs on the rural economy. As I visited family farmers across western and southern Minnesota…
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