Columns
By Nicole RonchettiOctober 28, 2026Like any good theater, the Hibbing High School auditorium has generated its share of ghost stories. It’s a fitting location: ornate and overwhelming, with history and embellishments more suited to a grand theater in New York than to a small school on the Iron Range. I grew up in that auditorium, attending concerts with my parents, helping my mother carry boxes backstage, and spending quiet…
By Calla Jarvie, Rock County Library DirectorOctober 28, 2026Not to brag (okay, yes, I am bragging) but we have so many incredible services at the library. The service I’m going to highlight today is called Dial-A-Story. Dial-A-Story is a free service we offer where you can call a phone number at any time of day or night and have a story read to you, hear some jokes, or even a famous speech. We’ve got books like “Dragons Love Tacos,” “Chicka Chicka Boom…
By Scott Rall, Outdoors columnistOctober 28, 2026Opening weekend was a hot one. I was writing this on the Friday before the big Minnesota Pheasant Opener. The governor was spending his weekend in Northfield, Minn., and it was one of the few events of this kind that he did not attend. I planned to spend my opening weekend doing what my friends had referred to as the Pheasants Forever Welcome Wagon. The forecast called for temperatures in the…
By Lori SorensonOctober 21, 2026Matt and I enjoyed some quiet time on the front porch Sunday evening. The moon was bright and the stars were twinkling overhead. I was reminded of my former bedtime ritual telling Carson good night as I closed our curtains on the starry sky. Many people think of stars as their loved ones gazing down from heaven. It makes sense, in a way. They’re out there, possibly as celestial beings.…
By Brenda WinterOctober 14, 2026And so, the Summer of '75 comes to an end. There is a small contingency of Luverne residents who will be a bit saddened by the re-opening of Highway 75 through town. Oh sure, like everyone else, they've spent a lot of time looking for the way home, making U-turns and driving aimlessly through neighborhoods they didn't even know Luverne had. Like everyone else they've eyed those "road closed"…
By Scott Rall, Outdoors columnistOctober 14, 2026I just read a very interesting article that was published in the Outdoor News and was written by a guest editor by the name of Mark Norquist. I know this guy and hold him in high regard. He has a podcast and has been active in the conservation world for at least the past 20 years or more. He was quoting the number of hunters nationwide. We peaked at 16.7 million hunters back in 1982 and those…
By Nicole RonchettiOctober 07, 2026When I was 5 years old, standing outside of the elementary school and nervous for my first day of kindergarten, my mother did what so many parents do and gave me a hug. Then, she kissed my hand and said that if I ever became scared or overwhelmed that her kiss was still there – all I had to do was think about it and she’d be with me. That was the ritual for the first several months of…
By Tom Brakke, president, Tollefson EnterprisesSeptember 30, 2026Unlike other church buildings that are sold or demolished or left to decay once a congregation disbands, Blue Mound Lutheran Church has been lovingly maintained by former parishioners and their families. Every fall they celebrate together, inviting the public to join them for worship. A half-century after the doors closed, the spirit lives on. Dennis Olson, an emeritus professor at…
By Scott Rall, Outdoors columnistSeptember 30, 2026I had a group of folks rally up with me this past weekend to do a little practice shooting with their shotguns. I have a variety of shooting stations equipped with different clay pigeon throwers. It totally blows me away at just how many bird hunters will hunt their favorite season and then just stow the gun in the closet until opening day the following year. They hit the field on opening…- By Lori SorensonSeptember 23, 2026It’s not often that reporters and photographers find themselves part of a story — being interviewed and recorded. And when it happens, it can cloud perspective. I’d been following Jason Lennox and his Recovery Road walk around the periphery of Minnesota. I read the Star Tribune story about him, along with compelling coverage by community newspapers on the state’s border about his 1,776-…
By Calla Jarvie, Rock County Library DirectorSeptember 23, 2026One of the many fun things I get to do as a library director is attend conferences. I just got back from my favorite conference of the year, the Association for Rural and Small Libraries conference. This year it was in Montgomery, Alabama. As you probably guessed from the title, this conference is geared toward small and rural libraries. ARSL defines “small and rural” as those with service…
By Scott Rall, Outdoors columnistSeptember 23, 2026I spent some time over the past week preparing for my Pheasants Forever Chapter Veterans Appreciation Pheasant Hunt. There is lots to do and emails are flying in and out at a pretty fast clip. This event is taking place over the same period as the special Youth Firearm Deer Season in Minnesota. The youth deer hunt takes place over the much-anticipated MEA weekend. It is a four-day season and…
By Scott RallSeptember 16, 2026It was one of the first Labor Days that I can remember over the past years that was actually a rainout. Nobles County received about 3.5 inches of rain over the long weekend. This is the first significant rain we have had in about three months. It killed a lot of plans but part of my weekend plan went off despite of the rain. A few years back I enrolled about 75 acres in a conservation…
By Brenda WinterSeptember 16, 2026Grapevines connect a family’s generations. Six Concord grape vines grew on the garden fence between the garage and rhubarb when Grandpa Winter bought the farm in the 1920s. His bride, fresh off the boat from Germany after World War I, made tending them part of her responsibilities as a dedicated hausfrau. Every September, Grandma dutifully lined the canning room shelves with sparkling jars of…
By Sgt. Troy ChristiansonSeptember 16, 2026Question: I saw in one of your recent articles talking about stopping for a school bus. In the article you stated, “Motorists are not required to stop for a bus if the bus is on the opposite side of a separated roadway (median, etc.) — but they should remain alert for children.” Can you explain the “etc.” as I still have questions. Answer: Excellent question and yes, I can. Minnesota state…
September 09, 2026Some of my favorite high school memories start with me getting up at 6 a.m. to go with my dad to his Rotary Club meetings. Every Tuesday, we would get in the car before the sun had come up and drive to what used to be the Hibbing Park Hotel. Other Rotarians would already be there, setting up, and we’d say ‘hi’ and then order breakfast. A few minutes later, I would be sitting in front of a…
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