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  • By Rick Peterson, general manager
    September 24, 2019
    It’s been a while since Grandma Mary and I watched the granddaughters for an overnight stint. The granddaughters’ mom and dad were headed to Minneapolis to celebrate their wedding anniversary and take in a Vikings game, so Mary and I were recruited for overnight childcare duties at their home in Hartford. The granddaughters, Brooke and Ellee, are ages 4 and 2 respectfully, so one might think we’…
  • By Brenda Winter, columnist
    September 24, 2019
    Unlike some, my husband and I heard the tornado sirens loudly and clearly when they blasted a severe weather alarm around midnight on Sept. 11. We were asleep. Deeply, blissfully, soundly asleep. When suddenly, a low whining, blaring, horn-like sound filled our bedroom. It was the sound of someone playing a poorly tuned saxophone, or perhaps it was a beagle in pursuit of a rabbit. Perhaps a…
  • By Lori Sorenson
    September 17, 2019
    My husband’s parents, Arden and Mary Ellen, said good-bye this week to their little house on the banks of Split Rock Creek. The rolling green pastures, lush farm ground and thick grove of trees are deceptively tranquil considering the destructive force of the river in high-water years. For decades, a closely monitored sump pump kept flood damage at bay — until last week when an 8-inch deluge 30…
  • By Rick Peterson, general manager
    September 10, 2019
    By now the fall high school sports seasons are all underway. Before each season begins, parents, coaches and student athletes gather for a required meeting to discuss a number of rules that need to be adhered to by parents and the athletes. Items that are covered are eligibility rules, player and parent conduct, and additional rules such as game day dress code for the players that coaches might…
  • By Jason Berghorst, reporter
    September 10, 2019
    What makes a person a true Minnesotan? Some may say it’s rooting for the Vikings or the Twins. Others might say it’s having a special taste for tator-tot hotdish, lefse or a Jucy Lucy. It could be owning or using a boat, a hockey stick or a snowmobile. Or is it a propensity to utter phrases like uff-da and you-betcha in regular conversation? Many would say it’s as simple as having a Minnesota…
  • By Rick Peterson, general manager
    August 27, 2019
    Last week I reached one of those birthday milestones, something called Social Security age. Twenty years ago that was the age when darn near everyone walked off the job into retirement. Not so much nowadays. With $1,000-a-month health insurance premiums, not many of us can pull the plug on the nine to five. I have quickly learned the new target date for retirement is more likely to happen  around…
  • By Brenda Winter, columnist
    August 27, 2019
    It was 1971. Or maybe it wasn’t. I don’t know. I was a kid and there were three of us in the back seat of a Ford Mustang with Mom and Dad in the front. I sat in the middle. I always sat in the middle. I was the middle child and that’s where I sat with my older brother on one side and my younger sister on the other. The middle back seat of a Ford Mustang is actually a hump. I sat on a hump with no…
  • By Lori Sorenson, editor
    August 20, 2019
    I got a new keyboard for my Mac at the Star Herald last week, and in addition to being shiny and new (and clean), it has a new sound. A satisfying sound. … Almost like a typewriter, minus the ding of the return cartridge. Clickety clackety clickety clackety … “It sounds very productive,” a fellow news writer observed. My previous keyboard arrived quietly. With little ado. Its plastic casing with…
  • By Jason Berghorst
    August 13, 2019
    It may only be August, but I’ve decided to make a wish list. Instead of a Christmas list, however, I’m writing a wish list for Luverne. My guess is many local readers have found themselves saying, “I wish Luverne … ,” so I thought I’d turn my thoughts about that into a column. Luverne already has many things that other small towns might wish for. From the historic Palace and nice restaurants to…
  • By Mavis Fodness, reporter
    August 06, 2019
    Sometimes a little hope is found floating amid a sea of sadness. For Luverne native Abby Lange, that hope came June 26 when she helped a woman deliver a healthy baby boy. Abby works as a paramedic with Ringdahl Ambulance in Fergus Falls. The unexpected delivery was the result of a 5 a.m. emergency call of a female not feeling well. The ride to the hospital is something that Abby won’t soon forget…
  • By Sgt. Troy Christianson, Minnesota Highway Patrol
    July 30, 2019
    Question: With the upcoming new hands-free law that is effective August 1, can a teen that is under 18 years old and has a driver’s permit or provisional driver’s license use their phone in hands-free mode? Answer: The new hands-free law does not change anything for teens under 18 with a driver’s permit or provisional driver’s license: They cannot make or answer calls while driving (hand-held or…
  • By Rick Peterson, general manager
    July 30, 2019
    If you watch any baseball on television, you may have heard from time to time the announcer will talk about the unwritten rules of baseball. One of those rules is you don’t steal a base when your team is up by 6 or 7 runs late in the game. The same holds true for bunting for a base hit to break up a no-hitter late in the late inning of the game. That got me thinking about the unwritten rules of…
  • By Brenda Winter, columnist
    July 30, 2019
    “How hard can it be,” is a phrase that has allowed me to stay married, to have kids, to buy rental property, to homeschool, to direct a play, to travel in China, and last week it allowed me to serve as the camp chaplain at a camp for kids in foster care. How hard can it be? It got hard when all 52 of them stepped off the bus. They were not the mini-thugs I was expecting. Some of them were little…
  • By Betty Mann, president, Rock County Historical Society
    July 30, 2019
    The following appeared in the Rock County Star Herald on July 1, 1965.   Record Crowd Attends Hills 75th Jubilee          Biggest crowd to gather in Hills during its 75-year history was on hand for the Diamond Jubilee cele-bration Tuesday night.          Parking space for late comers could be found only at the village’s extreme limits. Weather cooperated, and now it was a day of fun and interest…
  • By Lori Sorenson
    July 23, 2019
    Pain is part of being human, and the hard lessons we learn from pain often help shape us into better people.  There are entire Pinterest pages of inspiring quotes about living and growing through pain, and most of them — most of the time — make sense. “At the end of every dark storm there is a bright rainbow,” for example. But what does this mean for those who live with chronic physical pain?…
  • By Betty Mann, president, Rock County Historical Society
    July 23, 2019
    The following appeared in the Rock County Star Herald on July 1, 1965.   No Outgoing Mail After 6 P.M.   Service on Night Mail Cut Tuesday          Beginning Tuesday night, there was no outgoing mail service for any mail dropped in the outside collection box at the postoffice after 6 p.m.          The announcement was made by Assistant Postmaster Arlo Bier-Bierkamp after receipt of a letter from…
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