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  • By Pastor Ed Borchardt, Zion Lutheran Church, Hardwick
    February 26, 2025
    Ever 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, editor
    February 19, 2025
    It’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 manager
    February 19, 2025
    It’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, reporter
    February 12, 2025
    Just 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 columnist
    February 12, 2025
    Who 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, columnist
    February 05, 2025
    The 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 manager
    February 05, 2025
    I 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 columnist
    February 05, 2025
    Can 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, editor
    January 29, 2025
    My 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 Patrol
    January 29, 2025
    With 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…
  • By Rev. Dr. Phil Booe, St. John Lutheran Church, Luverne
    January 29, 2025
    Imagine a book that is at once beautifully bound and yet deadly to hold? Such a book would be quite the epitome and symbol of deadly knowledge, wouldn’t it? Like a cursed object one might encounter in a fantasy novel. But this isn’t fiction, it’s real and there isn’t only one. Thousands of such books, bound with vibrant green covers, were produced in the 19th century. Their unique and tantalizing…
  • By Mavis Fodness, reporter
    January 22, 2025
    Madi Oye’s kindergartners embarked on a special lesson this month. She’s seeking your help in garnering postmarks from all 50 states via the mailing of Valentine’s Day cards to her Luverne classroom. So far, her students have received 17 cards and have checked a dozen states off the 50-states list. With Feb. 14 three weeks away, we need to get our cards sent to the kindergartners sooner rather…
  • By RIck Peterson, general manager
    January 22, 2025
    I have a little bit of this and a little bit of that for you this week. First, I have to admit until the Caitlin Clark phenomenon, I didn’t pay much attention to girls’/women’s basketball. I watched as Clark took women’s college basketball by storm. I followed her throughout her first year in the WNBA. What I came to realize is that women at the college and professional level can really shoot…
  • By Betty Mann, Rock County Historian
    January 22, 2025
    The following appeared in The Rock County Herald on Jan. 1, 1932.   New auto licenses to be ready tomorrow   1932 plates are maroon and gold; penalty for delay begins February 15th; many apply early The time for the purchase of the 1932 automobile license plates will soon be here. New plates to early applicants will probably arrive some time this week. They are sent direct to the applicant…
  • By Brenda Winter, columnist
    January 15, 2025
    On New Year’s Day my sister sent me a video of our 86-year-old father ripping down the driveway on his new Honda Monkey. The big bike was getting to be a little much, so Dad thought it wise to downsize. He’s usually a safety guy, but in the video Dad – with no helmet – spins his baseball cap around backward and tears off the farm yard. The video records my sister giggling and saying, “There…
  • By Betty Mann, Rock County Historian
    January 15, 2025
    The following appeared in The Rock County Herald on Jan. 1, 1932.   Majority of 1931 tax rates are below 1930   Reflects action taken by local tax units of Rock County levying lower budget for coming year   Tax levies for 1930 are given for comparison   Total tax rates for any division of county may be computed from accompanying figures With a few exceptions, the 1931 tax rates, to be…
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