column
By Scott Rall, outdoors columnistFebruary 09, 2021This is one of those times of the year when you are trapped between watching fishing shows on TV and wondering why the fish don’t bite nearly as well as they did back in December. I have an idea for a project for one of the next weekends when the temperatures are expected to hover around that 0-degree mark. It is a project that very few people ever do, and if they do, they don’t get thinking…
By Brenda Winter, columnistFebruary 02, 2021ATLAS of Rock County and Redeemed Remnants, the ATLAS-sponsored thrift shop, plan to soon be under one roof in the former Luverne Kawasaki building. (That’s the former Bargain Center for you old-timers, the former Kenny’s Super Valu for you really old-timers.) The planned move has been the worst-kept secret in Rock County for about four months. Real estate negotiations require a level of secrecy…
By Sgt. Troy Christianson, Minnesota Highway PatrolFebruary 02, 2021Question: I am getting my 4 place snowmobile trailer ready for a trip. Do I need brakes on all the axels? Answer: Brakes are required on all trailers with a gross weight of 3,000 pounds or more. If brakes are required, they need to be on all wheels of a trailer manufactured after June 30, 1988. Trailers equipped with three or more axles and manufactured prior to July 1, 1988, are not required to…
By Scott Rall, outdoors columnistFebruary 02, 2021It was a little over six weeks ago that I shared with you the trials and tribulations of raising a high energy Labrador puppy. My pint-sized powerhouse is not all that little anymore. He is 7 1/2 months old and has lost the cute puppy breath and replaced it with the “you should have seen what I found and ate in the back yard” breath. When I am picking a puppy from a litter, I always try to…
By Scott Rall, outdoors columnistJanuary 25, 2021Winter finally looks like it has arrived. So far, the wildlife of Minnesota has had a pretty easy go of it due to unseasonably warm temperatures and not a lot of snow. Mild winters can benefit a whole host of different animals, but not all animals see those same benefits. What benefits some wildlife will negatively impact others. I have often wondered how different species survive deep snow and…
By Lori Sorenson, editorJanuary 25, 2021In my early days at the paper, my friend and fellow writer, Carole Olson, wrote a Star Herald column about the NIMBY phenomenon — Not In My Back Yard. I don’t remember what the issue was — perhaps the airport runway expansion, and the nimbys had been articulate. They supported the project in general, as long as it didn’t affect them directly. The words in Carole’s column gently reminded us that a…
By Rick Peterson, general managerJanuary 25, 2021I seem to have a knack for finding myself in awkward situations from time to time, and it happened last week while watching our grandson play basketball with the Redwood team in Pipestone. Shortly before tip-off, I made a pit stop in the men’s room, and an older gentleman entered the bathroom shortly after I did. We’re staring at the wall ahead of us doing our business and — here’s the odd part…
By Mavis Fodness, reporterJanuary 19, 2021A little bit of Rock County has found a home in Iowa. I recently toured a brand new 4,800-head finishing barn near where my daughter lives in rural Schaller, Iowa. She is the reason a part of the county she grew up in now has a home in another state. Courtney works for a company that builds those large hog confinements. Midwest Dry Cast, located south of Luverne, makes the concrete floor slats…
By Sgt. Troy Christianson, Minnesota State PatrolJanuary 19, 2021Question: I was hoping in a future column you could talk about safely navigating a roundabout. Last fall a roundabout was put in by our elementary school. Since the start of the 20-21 school year, I’ve been using it 20 times a week to drop off my kids and pick them up. I see many drivers stopping at the yield sign in order to let other drivers in the roundabout continue on their way. It’s my…
By Betty Mann, president, Rock County Historical SocietyJanuary 19, 2021The following appeared in The Rose History in 1911. Rock County Village ( from 01-14-20 edition of the Star Herald) In the fall of 1880 a side track was constructed, and a correspondent predicted that Ashcreek was about to shape itself into a metropolis. The extent of the subsequent building operations, however, was the erection of a second grain warehouse, 16x30 feet in size, put by…
By Brenda Winter, columnistJanuary 12, 2021I raised my kids with “chore charts” so it’s no surprise that my oldest daughter’s oldest daughter is carrying on the tradition. She’s five. Nothing makes her happier than a timeline, a calendar or a chore chart. Her daily duties include the “pick up toys” and “brush teeth” requirements one expects of a five-year-old. She was so excited about her own chore chart that she made one for her three-…
By Rick Peterson, general managerJanuary 12, 2021With the start of the New Year, the pheasant hunting season came to an end. Because the New Year’s Day holiday fell on a Friday, the season extended through Sunday, Jan. 3. The season for me was a success in so many ways, and none of the success was because of the number of birds I harvested. In fact, I missed more roosters than I hit, and that means there were a lot of birds to take aim at. My…
By Scott Rall, outdoors columnistJanuary 12, 2021When is the last time you bought a lottery ticket? For some it is at least a weekly occurrence and for others the answer might be never. I am not a big gambler by any means, but I do buy a Powerball ticket every once in a while. I have no doubt that I will never win any money, but the Minnesota lottery does do some very good things with the money I spend. When the lottery started in Minnesota,…
By Betty Mann, president, Rock County Historical SocietyJanuary 12, 2021The following appeared in The Rose History in 1911. Rock County Village (continued from 01-07-20 edition of the Star Herald) Ashcreek The little village of Ashcreek, the first station south of Luverne on the Doon extension of the Omaha railway, is one of the two Rock county hamlets in Clinton township. The platted town is on section 23 of that precinct. Though it has never assumed…
By Lori Sorenson, editorJanuary 05, 2021My sisters and I met Sunday afternoon at the farm for an impromptu social gathering. There are five of us, but only four could make it on short notice, and it was just us — no husbands, no kids, no grandkids and, of course, no Mom and Dad. Mom died in September of 2019, and Dad died in August of 2020. The sisters and our families spent a lot of time at the farm last fall going through things in…
By Jason Berghorst, reporterDecember 28, 2020What’s your favorite Christmas song? “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” is my favorite to sing with others. “O Holy Night” is my favorite to listen to soloists, duets and choirs sing. “Silent Night” might be the most beautiful, especially a capella in candlelight. I also love “Oh Come All Ye Faithful,” because it means the start of my favorite hour of the year. To say that the Christmas Eve service…
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