column
By Mavis FodnessApril 16, 2025My youngest daughter is getting married next Saturday, and she’s asked me to give a little speech at the event. I’m happy to oblige. It’s not very often that children ask parents what they think, let alone listen to what they have to say. Thoughts about what I’ll say are still being formed, as Lyndsey has taken a very long route in the choices of how she’s living her life. I’d liken Lyndsey…
By Brenda Winter, columnistApril 09, 2025It was 1992. I was a young pup reporter for the Rock County Star Herald and was assigned to cover speakers for the Luverne School’s 125th anniversary. I sat with hundreds of folks on the courthouse lawn listening as dignitaries and others extolled the wonders of Luverne. Then it was Jim Brandenburg’s turn to speak. I waited for him to talk about the Great Big World out there and the delights of…
By Lori Sorenson, editorApril 02, 2025With our nation’s current political upheaval (that’s my best shot at a diplomatic description), I’ve increasingly wondered what I can do to make the world better. And I came across a quote from Anne Frank that struck a chord with me. “How lovely to think that no one need wait a moment. We can start now, start slowly, changing the world,” she wrote. “How lovely that everyone, great and small,…
By Rick Peterson, general managerApril 02, 2025In today’s Star Herald and in this weekend’s Luverne Announcer there is an ad announcing The Great Easter Bunny Hunt. The season for The Great Easter Bunny Hunt runs from April 3 through April 22. Just to be clear, no bunnies will be hurt in any way. The Easter Bunnies in this case are paper bunnies. There are only 10 bunnies hidden. A different paper bunny will be hidden in each of the 10…
By Sgt. Troy Christianson, Minnesota State PatrolApril 02, 2025Question: I’m wondering about a light that seems to only be on at night on the traffic lights. It’s a small purple or blueish light that’s near the traffic lights. I’ve tried to figure out what its use is or if it’s a camera. I’ve asked other people what it means, and I’ve never met anyone who knows what it is. Thank you! Answer: What you are talking about is a blue light, and they are visible…
By Mavis Fodness, reporterMarch 26, 2025For more than four decades, the Minnesota Horse Expo offered a variety of vendors, exhibits and educational talks for horse owners and fans of the four-legged animals. I’m a huge fan of the Minnesota Horse Council-sponsored event, and I recall, probably 30 years ago, packing the kids into the minivan to spend a day at the state fairgrounds in St. Paul. We learned a few things and left with a…
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-…
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