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Just when you’re about to give up on people in general, something happens and you realize there are still good people out there … more than we realize. As strange as what you’re about to read may seem, it really happened. A week or so ago on a Saturday, Mary and I thought we would take our side-by-side to Rowena, South Dakota, to the junk fest. We were going to zigzag our way over there, and we…

Our sports reporter is leaving the Star Herald to move with his wife to Portland, Oregon. It’s a beautiful part of the country where they met each other and where their close friends live. And, he said, “We’d like to do some things while we’re still young and before we have children.” He assured me he’s not leaving because his editor got after him about missing box scores and photos with feet…

The following appeared in The Rock County Star-Herald on April 7, 1949.   County Public Health Nurse Would Cost Residents Estimated 40 Cents Per Person   Maximum Annual Outlay For Program Would Be $5,000, According to Report Cost of maintaining a public health nurse in Rock county will average 40 cents per person per year, it was announced here Friday night. A meeting, arranged for by the Luverne…

With the increase in popularity of off-road recreational vehicles, I am seeing more and more side-by-sides running around the counites where I live. The units I am referring to are like 4-wheel-drive golf carts. Polaris Rangers and others made by Arctic Cat, Yamaha and Bombardier are all commonly seen in southwest Minnesota. I have seen many of these units that have had the off-road tires removed…

For decades this weekly space has featured personal reflections from our editorial staff. The authors have shared various topics and experiences, and some have talked about cancer — either their own personal battles or those of family members. I’ve read their words, sometimes through tears of joy for the author’s triumph, and sometimes with deepest empathy at the loss of life. My logical self…

Mary keeps telling me that I need to stop getting so upset about things I can’t control and take some pleasure in the small things in life. So, with that in mind and as I was making my morning toast, I was lucky enough to be at the end of a loaf a bread, and there was the crust. The little things in life don’t get much smaller, so I stop to enjoy the crust. When I was growing up, the crust was…

It is not very often that legislators call me. I call them regularly, but total solar eclipses are more common than a legislator calling me. About 20 years ago Sen. Jim Vickerman, a gentleman I really respected, called me about wolves, a subject that hardly ever comes up in the ag land zones of Minnesota. Wolves have been listed, then delisted, then listed again about a half dozen times over the…

“Things happen in threes.” I’ve heard that phrase, or variations of it, numerous times over the years, most often referencing deaths or other bad circumstances and events. I usually dismiss “happens in threes” as simple superstition. If you wait long enough, eventually three people you know are going to die or three unfortunate things will happen to your family. Don’t get me wrong, I’m…

Question: What is the law with regard to insurance cards?  I was told it must always be available in the vehicle and then I was told that if you do not have it, there is no fine if you produce it within three days. What exactly are the statutes with regard to having your driver's license on you while driving?  Answer: The driver of the vehicle is required to provide current proof of…

The more you read about the history of wildlife in the North America the more you come to believe that almost every animal that you see today was at one time almost wiped off the planet by the settlers of a few hundred years ago.      Back in the mid-1850s as white settlers came into the area, they plowed up prairies and drained wetlands thus destroying pelican habitat.        They were often…

For the past four years, teams of Christian kids from the Luverne area have served on a weeklong, in-town mission trip doing the things locally that youth groups often travel hundreds of miles to do in other places. Under the supervision of two or three adults, the teens paint houses, replace siding, build ramps, landscape, pull weeds, move furniture … and even change light bulbs. Yes, change…

The following appeared in The Rock County Star-Herald on March 24, 1949.   Luverne Girl Wins County Spelling Crown Margaret Fritz, who is a pupil in the eighth grade of the Luverne junior high school, won the county spelling contest Saturday of a possible 100 words correctly in a written test, also taken by pupils from 11 other Rock county schools. Shirley Hawes of district 45, placed second, and…

I stood at the bottom of the inflatable water slide with my cell phone camera pointed at the kids tumbling through the spray and landing in a laughing heap in a puddle at the bottom. I was there on official business as the Star Herald photographer covering Hills Friendship Days, but the kids didn’t know this. A few of them looked sideways at me as they pivoted their bare feet in the muddy grass…

Question: I own a convertible that I only drive in the summer when it isn't raining. (I hate to put the top up). My commute to work is 1.2 miles each way. It is now of a vintage that I could get collector plates on it, but I've heard there are restrictions on when I can drive it with those plates displayed. What are the rules? I would like to have collector plates but want to be able to…

Monday night, a dedicated group of 4-H horse project leaders assembled new portable bleachers for the horse arena at the Rock County Fairgrounds. It’s no small undertaking. The bleachers arrived last week in a tidy box filled with hundreds of bolts, rivets and aluminum pieces. When assembled, they become a safe and secure public seating area. The old wood and steel bleachers can hopefully benefit…

Sunday is Father’s Day and the funny thing about Father’s Day for me is I don’t consider it a day set aside for me as a father. I know that sounds rather confusing, but what I am trying to say is Father’s Day for me is more about three other very important fathers in my life. First is my father, or Dad, as I called him. He died of cancer at the age of 47 some 40 years ago. I think about him often…