column
By Jason Berghorst, reporterJuly 29, 2026It all began at the pre-trip meeting. As chaperone for a church youth trip to Colorado, I was given a waiver to sign. The waiver released the owners of the ranch from any responsibility if a planned horseback trail ride in the mountains ended poorly. Horseback ride? No way. Guys my size with limited animal experience are not meant to ride horses on flat ground, let alone on hillsides. …
By Sgt. Troy Christianson, Minnesota State PatrolJuly 29, 2026Question: I’m seeing more and more vehicles in Minnesota with dark tinted windows. I thought there was a law prohibiting dark tinted windows on both the driver and passenger windows but back windows can be dark. Unless the laws changed and I didn’t know. Thank you. Answer: In Minnesota, you can have your windows tinted to a light transmittance of 50 percent, but not less. Light transmittance is…
By RIck Peterson, general managerJuly 29, 2026My column countdown is at the end of the road. This will be the last one. For over 20 years every other week I hunted and pecked out a column. At the top of each of those columns was the heading “For What It’s Worth,” but I’m not sure what the “worth” was of most of the columns. I was more interested in them being entertaining or humorous, often times poking fun of myself and sometimes Mary…
By Calla Jarvie, Rock County Library directorJuly 29, 2026Want to know what one of the keys to having a successful library is? I know you do: it’s partnerships! Here at the Rock County Community Library, we are incredibly fortunate to have amazing partners all across the county, state and even the country. The partnership I want to talk about today is a new one: it’s with Rock County Extension and 4-H. We have teamed up to do four incredible programs…
By Nicole RonchettiJuly 22, 2026There’s no place like home, except maybe Camp RYLA. It’s a youth leadership camp for high school juniors and seniors sponsored by local Rotary clubs. While our regional Rotary District 5610 sponsors a camp held in Nebraska, the RYLA that’s closest to my heart is in my home district of 5580 and is held in Crookston. Each year nearly a hundred teens from North Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin and…
By Sgt. Troy Christianson, Minnesota State PatrolJuly 22, 2026Question: Hello, I live in “cabin country” and it never fails, during the summer months with the influx of traffic, there are always arguments regarding traffic “laws” or “it’s just being Minnesota nice”. There’s been several near misses and I can see both sides of the argument and wondering if you can help clear up an ongoing discussion. At a single-lane intersection, the roadway is…
By Rick PetersonJuly 15, 2026My column countdown continues with just one more remaining after this one. I know you’re probably thinking enough already. As I think back about my newspaper career I can’t help but remember how it all started. It all started with Scott Rall. Yeah, that Scott Rall. He was working at the Worthington Daily Globe way back then and he knew I was looking for work and he called me and told me about…
By Brenda Winter, columnistJuly 08, 2026At 10 a.m. Saturday, July 18, on South Highway 75 the largest nutcracker in the world will be dedicated in alignment with a pretty significant birthday. Mine. In a way, the Luverne nutcracker and I will now share a birthday. In my 63 trips around the sun I’ve had some pretty amazing birthdays. One or two have fallen on Hot Dog Night. Forty years ago, I was a bride-to-be. Thirty-two…
By Scott Rall, outdoors columnistJuly 08, 2026There are dozens of stories swirling around the “Roadless Rule”. The Roadless Rule was put in place back in 2001 by the president Bill Clinton. The rule was put in place by a wilderness regulation and not by a bill passed in the congress. It prohibited the construction of roads across 59 million acres of forests. It basically made these acres wilderness. No roads, no development and no extraction…
By Jason Berghorst, reporterJuly 01, 2026Be careful what you wish for. I’m pretty sure I’ve written columns with this theme before. It’s one of the “life mottos” I try to live by. Or at least remember at times when I think I really want something to happen. That phrase has come to my mind a few times this summer as a result of our busier than normal Main Street and downtown. This is, of course, a result of the Highway 75…
By RIck Peterson, general managerJuly 01, 2026I announced my pending July 31 retirement back in May and the time is sure flying by. I have this month to tie up loose ends and clean out my office. Reflecting back on the last 21 years and my time here has occupied a fair amount of time each day leading up to my last day. Following are personal highlights I have been lucky enough to experience during my time here. In 2007 the Ken Burns…- By Mark Eliason, Pastor of Palisade Lutheran ChurchJuly 01, 2026I am old enough to remember the celebration of the 200th anniversary of the United States. In case you need me to do the math for you, it was 1976. The celebrations of that year were enormous. It seemed that the celebration started in January and ran all the way through December. July Fourth fell on a Sunday that year, so churches had special services in honor of the 200th anniversary of the…
By Nicole RonchettiJune 24, 2026For anyone who’s gone through trauma, it’s as though there’s never a perfect time to start living again. I think I’ve had to learn that the hard way. For the past two-and-a-half years it feels like I’ve been battling one medical condition after another. During the worst of it, I could hardly stand up or walk more than a few feet at a time. Before getting sick I was very active, hiking and…
By Calla Jarvie, Rock County Library DirectorJune 24, 2026The library is thrilled to announce, in partnership with the City of Luverne, the Rock County Community Foundation, the Friends of the Library, and Sioux Valley Energy, our Story Trail is up and running! First of all, what is a Story Trail? A Story Trail is an interactive outdoor reading experience that combines early literacy with physical activity. Pages from a children’s book are separated…- By Walt Moser, Pastor of First Baptist Church, LuverneJune 24, 2026Have you ever sung the song “I’ll Be a Sunbeam”? It was written in 1898 by Ellen A. (Nellie) Talbot for a Sunday school convention. The first verse says, “Jesus wants me for a sunbeam, to shine for Him each day; In every way try to please Him, At home, at school, at play.” Remember the last time a sunbeam broke through the clouds after a thunderstorm? That sunbeam brings a ray of hope and a ray…
By Lori SorensonJune 17, 2026I recently hiked the Flatiron Trail in the Arizona Superstition Mountains. The view from the summit was spectacular, as were the views going up and coming down. But that’s not why I chose to hike it. I did it because I could. (I hoped I could and was thrilled to discover I could.) According to Google AI, the Flatiron summit is a “renowned, strenuous” hike via the Siphon Draw Trail in Lost…
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