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Ask a Trooper

Local Columns

Question: I heard about a thing called “Vanessa’s Law” the other day and I wasn’t quite sure what it was all about. I know it has to do with new or young drivers. Answer: Vanessa Weiss was killed just days before her 16th birthday in May 2003. In her memory, Vanessa’s Law was passed a year later. She was a passenger in a vehicle driven by an unlicensed 15-year-old. Vanessa’s Law applies to all teens who commit an impaired driving crime or crash-related moving violation but applies differently whether you have a provisional license or are unlicensed. If you are ...

Don’t blabber

Local Columns

Have you ever blabbered? If you are like any of the rest of us, you have probably, at some point, overly chattered about something. Maybe that speech pattern is part of your personality, or perhaps, you were so excited about the subject that you just couldn’t stop talking about it. Whatever! Palavering is part of all of us...even quiet little old me. For instance... At a recent library committee meeting, we were discussing our recently read books. I began to gibber on about the book I had just read. I told the story of a jilted countess and couldn’t stop. Suddenly, the entire ...

Safeguard fishing by strengthening laws

Letters to the Editor

To the editor: In response to Rep. Chris Swedzinski’s Feb 7, 2026 fishing regulation proposal article: The best way to improve the quality of fishing in our local lakes is to improve the quality of our water. This will have a much greater effect than increasing the number of lines we can put in the water or changing the species limits. Almost every summer our local prairie lakes have heavy blue-green algae blooms. These algae blooms are ugly, they stink, and they can be toxic to fish, dogs, and humans. These algae blooms dramatically reduce the number of days we can spend on the ...

SAVE Act ensures voting integrity

Letters to the Editor

To the editor: Democrats, what are you afraid of? The SAVE act all ready passed in the House of Representatives and is heading for the Senate. The SAVE act is a move to ensure voting integrity and requires a valid I.D. Chuck Schumer says all his fellow sheep will vote no. That would include our esteemed senatorial delegation; Amy (Klobuchar) and Tina Smith). Ironically, Somalia; requires voter I.D. Think about that for a minute. As a country, shouldn’t we have higher standards than we currently have? Next time you buy alcohol, get a driver’s license, fishing license, airline ...

School officials lose trust over reductions

Community Voices

If a person were to attend, or watch on local TV the Marshall School District board meetings, one of the first items every time is an open forum. While the board specifically states that no action will be taken, they are there to “listen to what is brought up” during this open forum time. After watching the last two meetings, I am wondering why this item is even on the agenda? Indeed, they allow community members, staff, and others to present ideas, suggestions or maybe even dialog that they have had with the schools. Specifically in watching the last two meetings there have been ...

Changes for the better

Local Columns

Last week’s warm up has me optimistic, foremost that the old groundhog was wrong in his prediction of six more weeks of winter, but also just from the fact that temperatures soaring into the 40s and even 50s on some of those days following Phil’s prognostication, suggest at least an easier trudge is at hand through February and the start of the next season. Along with the hope of open water, news across the conservation community in the upper Midwest brought a more auspicious outlook to the young year, with the release of a new habitat program in North Dakota and more options for ...