column
By Brenda Winter, columnistMarch 19, 2025A “memories from nine years ago” photo showed up on my Facebook feed. It showed my friend Kim, my two sisters and me smiling in a hospital room in 2016, the day after my first cancer surgery. The photo was all the more poignant because I’m still here, but Kim died of cancer in November. Life is like that. Last week we traveled to be with friends in Arizona. Chris is a college friend who made a…
By Lori Sorenson, editorMarch 12, 2025Former Rock County Star Herald Editor Al McIntosh penned his widely acclaimed “Tired American” commentary in 1965 at the height of anti-government protests and anti-American sentiment. He wasn’t afraid to express his political views on the Star Herald opinion page, though it cost him friendships and garnered plenty of local criticism. He wrote “Tired American” because he was indeed tired. I’m…
By Scott Rall, outdoors columnistMarch 12, 2025My phone has pretty much been ringing off the hook the past few months as people see dead geese decomposing on the ice of area lakes. The bird flu is not a new thing, but a pathogenic avian influenza outbreak has been working its way across Minnesota since it was first reported in 2022. The danger to humans is very low, but you should avoid contact with infected animals and use protective gear…
By Brenda Winter, columnistFebruary 26, 2025A friend of mine lives in a relatively nice Glendale, Arizona, suburb. The house a few doors down from hers is home to a group of high school-aged basketball players from across the U.S. They were sent by their parents to attend high school with a primary focus on their ultimate goal – to play in the NBA. Parents who choose Christian schools are somewhat like-minded. Of course there is…
By Betty Mann, Rock County HistorianFebruary 26, 2025The following appeared in The Rock County Herald on Feb. 26, 1932. Will pay bounty on each crow killed in county Rock County game association will protect game birds by paying five-cent bounty on dead crows A bounty of five cents for each crow killed in Rock county will be paid until further notice by the recently organized Rock County Game Protective association, as a measure promoting…
By Scott Rall, outdoors columnistFebruary 26, 2025This is one of those times of the year when a dog guy gets kind of bored. The ice conditions have been so sketchy that I don’t really feel all that great driving on the ice of the area lakes. More about this next week. So with no seasons open, I took to observing one of the only ways yet available to harvest a pheasant. How do you do that when all of the hunting seasons are closed? You find a…- By Pastor Ed Borchardt, Zion Lutheran Church, HardwickFebruary 26, 2025Ever feel as if you missed out on something? You are hungry for that brownie, but the kids ate the last ones. You missed getting through the green stoplight by that much and now have to wait for the train, which is in slow motion. The person in front of you won the store giveaway. Missed it by that much. The sale ended the day before. Really? Ever since you were born a day late or a day early?…
By Lori Sorenson, editorFebruary 19, 2025It’s been over five years since my sisters and I lost our parents and took over the family farm near Kenneth. The five of us gathered Saturday to paint the kitchen and living room, followed by supper, a little business, and as always, plenty of reminiscing. We had discovered a large, frayed accordion folder with school report cards for each of us girls documenting our achievements from…
By RIck Peterson, general managerFebruary 19, 2025It’s been 20 years since I started working here at the paper. To say things have changed a bit in the paper industry would be an understatement, considering computers, digital cameras, cell phones, internet and social media, not to mention the fax machine that came and went over a relatively short time. All of the afore-mentioned changes came about in the last 30 years or so. Twenty years in…
By Mavis Fodness, reporterFebruary 12, 2025Just before Christmas, an obsession began in our house thanks to the office holiday party. A Star Herald gift exchange resulted in a 1,000-piece jigsaw puzzle coming home with me. The intriguing “Coca Cola memorabilia” picture ultimately led to the opening of the box and clearing off the dining room table for my husband and me to work on it. As a result, we’ve finished 10 puzzles since mid-…
By Scott Rall, outdoors columnistFebruary 12, 2025Who doesn’t like gifts? I don’t think there is anyone who doesn’t like to receive things of value. Some are small and have less meaning, and others might fall under a substantial inheritance. The gift giver makes a determination that the asset is better in the hands of someone else. The Minnesota State Legislature seems to really enjoy giving gifts of great value. The issue is that the gifts…
By Brenda Winter, columnistFebruary 05, 2025The key to successful New Year’s resolutions is to make them so vague that success is ensured no matter the effort. Which is why, after six weeks, I’m keeping all of my New Year’s resolutions for 2025. One of my resolutions for the year was to go to the gym. All I have to do is “go to the gym.” That’s it. Find a parking spot. Boom. I am at the gym. My commitment “to work out” begins if I…
By RIck Peterson, general managerFebruary 05, 2025I never considered myself much of a hat guy. That was until I was searching for a column idea, and as I looked around in my garage, I counted 13 hats and four more in the house … 17 hats in all, so that might make me a hat guy. With the exception of a couple of those hats, I have worn the rest at least once this past year. Four of the hats are for cold weather use. My snowblowing hat is one of…
By Scott Rall, outdoors columnistFebruary 05, 2025Can you remember the very first game animal you ever harvested? I certainly can remember the first goose I ever shot, and I can tell you exactly where I was when I harvested my first duck. But for the life of me, I cannot remember my first rooster. I can remember my first rooster shot over a trained hunting dog. I have been blessed to have been part of many firsts for other new hunters. Most…
By Lori Sorenson, editorJanuary 29, 2025My sisters and I — all five of us — recently returned from a short Florida beach vacation. Cheap airline tickets in November prompted a flurry of last-minute travel plans, and our Allegiant, Airbnb and Turo reservations were quickly secured. We chose Fort Myers, because January temperatures are typically in the 70s, and our stretch of beach on Estero Island was restored from Ian in 2022 and…
By Sgt. Troy Christianson, Minnesota State PatrolJanuary 29, 2025With the holidays upon us, I wanted to share a message about distracted driving. Here is some information we recently shared on our Department of Public Safety blog. “It was supposed to be a routine trip for 20-year-old Megan Severson. On Oct. 17, 2019, Severson was driving from Preston in southeastern Minnesota to visit her boyfriend in North Dakota. But when she reached Highway 52 in St. Paul…
You must log in to continue reading. Log in or subscribe today.
