When I was young, diversity meant that I knew some Lutheran kids. Around here, we were mostly German descended with a scattered few Irish and British. Norwegians lived by Hanska. Native Americans lived on the reservation. The Sleepy Eye of my youth is gone. Hispanic families started coming ...

Early November is a time to look ahead; to the holidays, the upcoming new year and the first snowfall of the season. People were talking about the first snowfall a week ago. It looked like the Marshall area might get at least one or two inches. It wasn’t supposed to be a snowstorm, just a ...

November is recognized as National Homelessness Awareness Month—As the weather turns colder and the season of giving begins, this month serves as an important reminder of the power of compassion, community, and advocacy. It’s an opportunity for all of us to learn more, challenge ...

I have found that it’s difficult to clean out an ancestral farmhouse when history keeps getting in the way. Especially when it’s my family’s history. After delaying the chore for far too long, I have thrown myself into clearing out the home where my seven siblings and I grew up. A house ...

There’s something special about landmark anniversaries and the media coverage that they attract. We’ll have one such event on Monday. It’s the 50th anniversary of the wreck of the Great Lakes freighter Edmund Fitzgerald. It sank to the bottom of Lake Superior in a fierce storm that ...

Editor’s Note: Because of the federal holiday and no mail delivery on Tuesday the Independent will not be publishing a printed paper on Tuesday. U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar’s column is running in the weekend edition ahead of the Veterans Day holiday. On this and every Veterans Day, our nation ...