editorial
- March 03, 2020In this week’s paper we have a story on page 6 about Dental Day in the elementary school. This happens to be a puff piece about kids having fun learning about oral health, but it’s part of a broader effort to bring dental health care to an underserved community. Rock County’s 9,000-plus residents are served by one local dentist office and we’re darn lucky to have it, considering other communities…
- February 18, 2020We are an agricultural community, and what’s good for the farm economy is what’s good for the Main Street economy. This isn’t news. Especially not to those of us who live in Rock County or even grew up here. And lately, agriculture has been a rapidly changing industry, in terms of technology, farm practices, global economy and other aspects. The temptation, then, can be to focus so much on the…
- February 11, 2020Nearly 22 percent of Rock County driver’s license or ID cardholders are REAL ID ready, according to the Minnesota Department of Public Safety Driver and Vehicle Services division. As of Jan. 30, 1,652 Rock County residents or 21.80 percent of the total license and ID cardholders have completed the necessary steps for the enhanced driver’s license or ID card. Pope County is ranked last out of the…
- February 04, 2020Rock County’s social calendar 20 years ago amounted to summer town celebrations, Tri-State Band Festival and, of course, Hot Dog Night. These were a lot of fun and offered great photo opportunities for news people. Today there’s a major event on the calendar nearly every other weekend, illustrated by the Chamber’s quarterly report during the Jan. 28 Luverne City Council meeting. For anyone taking…
- January 28, 2020The Star Herald editorial staff from time to time publishes a list of what we call “Thumb Up and Thumbs Down” to call attention to matters in the community that could use improving and deserve some praise. We set out to compose one for this week but we found that we were pleasantly short on Thumbs Down entries for the article. Either we’re eternal optimists here at the paper, or we really do live…
- January 07, 2020The Minnesota Department of Public Safety recently released its 2019 traffic data, and it appears there are many ways we can improve our driving habits and resolve to be safer in 2020. Preliminary reports show there were 364 traffic deaths on Minnesota roads in 2019, compared with 381 in 2018. Recent fatalities in 2019 include: •A 17-year-old passenger killed when the vehicle he was riding in…
- December 17, 2019As families across Rock County prepare for the holidays, they will join 16 million families and friends who are also caring for someone living with Alzheimer’s disease or other types of dementia. Though holiday celebrations are often happy occasions, they can be challenging and stressful for those impacted by Alzheimer’s. This doesn’t mean our loved ones with Alzheimer’s shouldn’t be included in…
- December 10, 2019Winterfest weekend was another proud moment for Luverne residents to showcase holiday spirit and a respect for the meaning of Christmas. In particular, the “Love the Light” Christmas at the city park was a grand finale to the already great Winterfest weekend. If you haven’t had a chance to take in the lighted displays, they’ll be up through Jan. 5 and are definitely worth a slow drive through the…
- December 03, 2019We’re closing in on the end of another decade, and the Star Herald is looking back on the highlights of the years between 2010 and 2020. The first 10 years of the new millennium in Rock County were marked by the Ken Burns world premiere of his documentary series, “The War,” at the Palace Theatre. The decade also saw a regeneration of what we now know as the Courthouse Square with the stately…
- November 25, 2019Thanksgiving and the holidays are a perfect time to talk with your friends and family about what matters most in life. When people are together for Thanksgiving and the holidays, there’s no better time to have meaningful conversations and heartfelt sharing about matters truly important to each of us. Minnesota Public Radio’s Cathy Wurzer opened discussions two years ago about living and dying…
- November 12, 2019We’re closing in the end of another decade, and the Star Herald is looking back on the highlights of the years between 2010 and 2020. The first 10 years of the new millennium in Rock County were marked by the Ken Burns world premiere of his documentary series, “The War,” at the Palace Theatre. The decade also saw a regeneration of what we now know as the Courthouse Square with the stately…
- October 08, 2019This week is National Fire Prevention week, National Domestic Violence Awareness Week and Homecoming Week in Luverne and H-BC schools, in addition to Pork Month, Sexual Assault Awareness Month and other important observances. Amid all these causes vying for ink in the Star Herald is National Newspaper Week, which typically gets little mention, because news organizations typically aren’t the…
September 03, 2019This is the time of year we hear from school and traffic safety folks about school bus safety and student pedestrian safety. And yes, motorists, please watch for the big yellow school bus flashing lights and stop arms, and slow down at intersections to watch for little students on foot. Lives depend on it. This year in Luverne, however, we have a bigger traffic safety issue on the school campus…- August 27, 2019A story in the Wednesday, Aug. 21, edition of the Brandon Valley News caught our attention this week as a precautionary tale for all communities to be aware of. A Facebook post reporting over-the-limit radium levels in Brandon’s drinking water sent residents into a tailspin and prompted city administration to call a press conference to set the record straight. On July 28, the anonymous Facebook…
- August 06, 2019On June 30, 2014, 33-year-old Andrea Boeve was enjoying a bike ride along the shoulder of Highway 270 near Steen with her two daughters, 4 and 1, in a child bike trailer. It was around 11:30 a.m. on a Monday. About that same time, Chris Weber was also traveling eastbound on 270 in a flatbed truck when he picked up his cell phone to complete a bank transaction. His eyes left the road for a second…
- July 30, 2019This week the Hills Crescent put out its final edition after 126 years of serving the readers of Hills, Beaver Creek and Steen. (See the related story on page 1.) Since 1997, it’s been publishing under the same ownership as the Rock County Star Herald but with its own news writer and its own community identity. As has been the way of many small-town newspapers, subscriptions have dwindled with…
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