Columns

The summer is quickly fading into what looks to be a great fall hunting season.  Even though it is several months away I still spend more time than I should wondering just how successful the pheasant hatch was. In the meantime I continue my efforts to attack invasive trees in our public lands grassland habitats. It would take very little time, if left unattended for those same grasslands to…

We said goodbye last month to our beloved Chance, who was such a good boy — the best of all good boys among dogs. And he made us better human beings after showing what true love, loyalty and devotion look like.  He lived to be nearly 15 years old, and we were lucky enough to become his adoptive family through Tracy Area Animal Rescue when he was 3 years old.  We were told he was a well-behaved…

Question: I saw your last article was about stopping. With school just around the corner, can you talk about stopping for the school bus?  Answer: I certainly can and with last year’s law change it’s a good reminder. Previously, the law required drivers to stop for a bus’s red flashing lights and extended stop arm. Alarmingly, this could create a situation where some drivers might pass the bus…

I’m going to teach the Life Skills class at E q u i p t Christian School in Luverne this fall so I’ve spent a lot of time lately pondering which life skills are most important to students in grades K-6. Big Picture skills come to mind such as “how to maintain committed relationships” or “how to manage money.”  Last year the students studied carpentry, farming, sewing, cooking, party planning…

Question: With summer being upon us, can you get some information out in regards to motorcycle safety?  Answer: Operating a motorcycle requires different skills than driving a car, so there are some additional requirements for motorcycle riders:  •Motorcyclists are entitled to the full use of their lanes and have all the rights and duties of other drivers.  •Operators must have a valid license…

It does not happen very often in my neck of the woods, but when you are making a trip of any distance you can see from time to time a batch of elk or deer behind some pretty tall fences. Deer farms are more common than elk farms but their futures in Minnesota have been dramatically changed over the past few years. With the spread of Chronic Wasting Disease these operations have been put under a…

It all began at the pre-trip meeting.  As chaperone for a church youth trip to Colorado, I was given a waiver to sign.  The waiver released the owners of the ranch from any responsibility if a planned horseback trail ride in the mountains ended poorly.  Horseback ride? No way.  Guys my size with limited animal experience are not meant to ride horses on flat ground, let alone on hillsides. …

Question: I’m seeing more and more vehicles in Minnesota with dark tinted windows. I thought there was a law prohibiting dark tinted windows on both the driver and passenger windows but back windows can be dark. Unless the laws changed and I didn’t know. Thank you.  Answer: In Minnesota, you can have your windows tinted to a light transmittance of 50 percent, but not less. Light transmittance is…

My column countdown is at the end of the road. This will be the last one. For over 20 years every other week I hunted and pecked out a column.  At the top of each of those columns was the heading “For What It’s Worth,” but I’m not sure what the “worth” was of most of the columns.  I was more interested in them being entertaining or humorous, often times poking fun of myself and sometimes Mary…

Want to know what one of the keys to having a successful library is? I know you do: it’s partnerships! Here at the Rock County Community Library, we are incredibly fortunate to have amazing partners all across the county, state and even the country.  The partnership I want to talk about today is a new one: it’s with Rock County Extension and 4-H. We have teamed up to do four incredible programs…

Congress recently voted to overturn a 20-year ban on mining in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area in northern Minnesota that was initiated by the Joe Biden administration. They used a law called the congressional review act.  The Congressional Review act is a law passed in 1996 and was signed by Bill Clinton.  It was designed to allow the congress to review and overturn laws and regulations passed…

There’s no place like home, except maybe Camp RYLA.  It’s a youth leadership camp for high school juniors and seniors sponsored by local Rotary clubs. While our regional Rotary District 5610 sponsors a camp held in Nebraska, the RYLA that’s closest to my heart is in my home district of 5580 and is held in Crookston.  Each year nearly a hundred teens from North Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin and…

Question: Hello, I live in “cabin country” and it never fails, during the summer months with the influx of traffic, there are always arguments regarding traffic “laws” or “it’s just being Minnesota nice”.  There’s been several near misses and I can see both sides of the argument and wondering if you can help clear up an ongoing discussion.  At a single-lane intersection, the roadway is…

Over the past month or so I have been busy dealing with food plots for wildlife and trying to keep the volunteer trees from taking over our public lands. I have traveled many miles across several different counties and am seeing  other very undesirable plant species. The first of those is wild parsnips. This is a plant that can very easily take over just about any un-disturbed area. It can…

Jeane Leslie stopped in last week to deliver some columns she had clipped from the Star Herald through the years. There were some for Brenda, Mavis, Rick and me, each small stack organized by our bylines and neatly paperclipped under handwritten notes from Jeane. Some from 20 years ago I’d long forgotten, but it pleased me that she thought enough of them to clip and keep them. I’m guessing the…

My column countdown continues with just one more remaining after this one. I know you’re probably thinking enough already. As I think back about my newspaper career I can’t help but remember how it all started. It all started with Scott Rall. Yeah, that Scott Rall. He was working at the Worthington Daily Globe way back then and he knew I was looking for work and he called me and told me about…