column
By Nicole RonchettiApril 08, 2026I’ll admit that I cry very easily. If a book or a movie has a bittersweet ending, my friends and family know to have a box of tissues on standby. But I don’t think I’ve ever cried as hard as when I watched “When Life Gives You Tangerines.” That might not sound like a winning endorsement, but bear with me. The story starts off in post-war Korea, focusing on a young, soon to be orphaned girl…
By RIck Peterson, general managerApril 08, 2026April is Earth Month and earlier this week we hosted a Star Media Conversation with Shannon Dwire, president of Millennium Recycling in Sioux Falls. Starting this Thursday, you can watch that episode on our Star Media YouTube page, www. starmedia.today website, the Star Media Facebook page, or on the Star Herald website and Star Herald Facebook page. We discussed the do’s and don’ts of…
By Sgt. Troy Christianson, Minnesota State PatrolApril 08, 2026Question: Can you write about the laws on headlights on when they are to be used? It would probably be a good idea to mention the rules of dimming one’s bright lights. Thanks. Answer: When you are within 1,000 feet of an oncoming vehicle or following another vehicle at a distance of 200 feet or less, your headlights must remain on low beam. Your headlights must be turned on at sunset and used…
April 01, 2026Question: I just purchased a pull behind camper. I have never owned or pulled one before. What do I need to know? Answer: If you pull a camper or trailer with your vehicle, you must maintain at least 500 feet of following distance from other vehicles. When loaded, 10 to 15% of the trailer’s weight should be balanced on the hitch between the trailer and vehicle. When correctly loaded, the…- By Lori SorensonApril 01, 2026After we sent pages to press last week for our March 26 edition, I began the familiar process of second-guessing AP (Associated Press) style choices, editorial judgement and potential errors and omissions. It’s a press day curse shared universally by newspaper editors around the world. This week, the bothersome word choice was “unchartered.” I had quoted our Rock County Land Management…
March 25, 2026It’s nearly April! Spring is officially here. We’re all going to pretend there’s no possibility of any surprise snowstorms. April has one of my all-time favorite programs: Ag Trivia Night. This year it will be at 7 p.m. April 9 at Take 16. It’s the same format as regular Trivia Night: bring your team of four to play five categories with 10 questions apiece. However, Ag Trivia Night is all…
March 25, 2026I was on Day 4 of Gramma duty. I had just finished logging my Kentucky granddaughters into their online Zoom class. With swiftness and confidence, I signed them in, adjusted their cameras and renamed them in their participant profiles. Check. Check. And check. All systems were a go. Until. Until, I glanced out the window and noticed a backyard chicken sauntering across the lawn. …
By RIck Peterson, general managerMarch 25, 2026The weather and basketball have dominated conversations at the office, at coffee and just about everywhere else. This column is about a little bit of both. The past week to 10 days has been one for the record book as far as the weather is concerned. On Saturday, March 14 we had single-digit temperatures, high winds and a snowstorm. Seven days later we had 85-degree temperatures, calm winds…
By Nicole RonchettiMarch 18, 2026It’s difficult to describe what it feels like to taste a familiar family recipe. Every person has one, something that their mother or grandmother made that instantly transports them back to their childhood home, even 60 years later. It’s a mixture of comfort, and memory, and nostalgia. This year will be the first time I’ll be spending a major holiday by myself, and as a result I’m going to be…- By Pastor Joe Steenholdt, Christian Reformed Church, LuverneMarch 18, 2026Imagine you’re the messenger of good news to people in bondage. You report that a higher power will personally free them and grant victory beyond expectations. Wouldn’t you expect triumphal news about a strong warrior or overwhelming force? But what if, instead, you announced a poem about a frail servant—someone who gets picked last for kickball and isn’t invited to parties? We look for heroes…
By RIck Peterson, general managerMarch 11, 2026It’s been a while, but I am back at the keyboard hunting and pecking out my first column in over a month and a half. Over the last six weeks I have had two emergency room visits, one at Sanford Luverne and two days later at Sanford Sioux Falls. I have been through two surgeries, two different hospital stays, seven weeks of daily IV infusions at the local hospital, countless blood draws and…
By Lori SorensonMarch 11, 2026According to Wikipedia, “knocking on wood” is a superstitious tradition to avoid “tempting fate after making a favorable prediction or boast, or a declaration concerning one’s own death or another unfavorable situation.” I’m here to tell you, dear readers, knocking on wood did nothing to help my fate after I recently declared, “Gosh, I haven’t been sick in years. In fact, I can’t remember the…- By Paster Jeremy Wiersema, Steen Reformed ChurchMarch 11, 2026Something is missing. But what is missing? Our culture has changed. What we see happening in our nation and in our state should be concerning. The answer might not be as complicated as some may think. What is missing in our culture today is something that has sadly gone missing in a host of churches as well – its fellowship. Fellowship is the act of being together caring for each other…
By Brenda Winter, columnistMarch 04, 2026My friend said it so casually you might have missed the poetry of it. We were chatting on the phone when she mentioned her husband had ended his attempt at growing out his hair. After going more than a year without a haircut, he came home with a crisp new look. She said, “He looked great!” Then she added, “But he’s handsome no matter what he looks like.” I laughed and thought “That’s not how…
By Nicole RonchettiFebruary 27, 2026I grew up in the woods, surrounded by the birches, spruce and pines of northern Minnesota. For me, being surrounded by trees is a comfort. It feels like home. Some of my fondest memories are of playing under the pines at my family’s ramshackle cabin, and of long walks in the woods with my mother where she would teach my siblings and I the names of the trees and flowers we passed. Everywhere I’…
By Calla JarvieFebruary 25, 2026It’s March! That means spring is within sight! We’ve almost made it, guys!! You can tell we’re getting spring fever at the library because we’ve got all sorts of special stuff planned for you this March. I hope you have your calendar out, because this is going to be good. On Wednesday, March 11, at 6:30 p.m., local author Jessica Vandrovec is coming to speak about her memoir “Held.” “Held” is a…
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