Breaking News

Opinion

Country School Kids – Lois Paine Widmark – Pine Ridge District 92 School

Local Columns

Ivanhoe resident Lois Paine Widmark’s story began in Meade County, South Dakota. Her life journey brought her to Lincoln County and a career teaching kindergarten at Lake Benton Public School. Lois and her younger siblings who grew up on their ranch in Meade County attended the same country school. “We attended Pine Ridge School, District 92. I couldn’t go to school until my younger sister (Verna) was old enough to start. That’s why we were always together. I’m 21 months older, but we graduated together.” She and Verna usually walked to their country school. “We ...

The importance of emotional self regulation in kids

Community Voices

All of us need to keep our emotions under control. Basing our actions on our feelings, to the neglect of thinking before doing or saying something, can have bad consequences. When something is said or done, it is too late to undo the impact. Those words or actions will not be forgotten. It is important that children learn how to control their emotions. Learning emotional self-regulation is an important part of healthy child development. Learning emotional self-regulation develops at a fast rate in a child’s younger years. The pace slows along the way to adulthood. The extent of ...

How home care and hospice benefits people and communities

Community Voices

All the varied levels of health care help ensure that patients are in the best setting for their condition and recovery. In many cases, that setting is home — which is exactly where the majority of patients want to be. Did you know that the average length of stay in a hospital has decreased from 21 days in the 1960s to around five today? Medical advancements, like minimally invasive surgery, and the transition of more services from inpatient to outpatient are key reasons behind that shift. Inpatient hospital care is the most expensive setting. Also, home health has benefits that ...

Unhappy taxpayer

Letters to the Editor

To the editor: “News you might have missed” For those of you who rely on the mainstream media for your news, you probably have been missing what is going on in Minnesota. However, Newsmax is all over it, most nights there is at least one new item regarding the incompetence of the Walz administration. First there was the millions in fraud in the Feeding our Future scam, then millions more in Housing Development fraud, millions more in autism fraud, over a billion was diverted to Al-Shabaab-an East African terrorist group and who knows what else. Then today at Trump’s ...

Early ice gear check

Local Columns

With a sudden chill, first ice is fast upon us, but as local lakes and waters freeze up and anglers eagerly await the initial inches to form, now is an important time to take stock of those safety items that are as necessary at the beginning of the hardwater season as they are at the end of it. So, before your sonar is charged and you’ve test run your auger a few times alongside your snowblower after the recent seasonal shift, take stock of these important pieces of on-ice gear that will keep you safer all season long. Get a grip There’s an adage that no ice is safe ice. The ...

‘Tis the season

Local Columns

I want you to think about your favorite Christmas memory. We probably want to think our favorite Christmas memory is warm and pleasant, however, that is not always the way it is. Maybe there was a time when a cherished holiday tradition was dropped. Perhaps there was that time when someone was no longer with you to celebrate. Memories are a mixed bag. While serving in the Navy, I experienced my first Christmas away from my family. Not only was I in a foreign country, but everyone around me was a stranger. I constantly thought/felt something was missing. And it was. The people, places ...