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It’s a pain, however...

Local Columns

Yes, lately all the smoke in the air is a royal pain. However, there are times when a taste of smoke is pleasing. Back in the day, a number of my family members smoked. There were those times when the family gathered for a meal, and then sat around the kitchen table talking. It was then when the smokers lit up and smoke began to fill the room. After a bit of time, there was so much cigarette smoke in the room that the ceiling began to become lower. Good time together, but awful time for our health. Bringing the theme to current times, the environmental smoke we are all encountering ...

What’s the future of natural gas? 

Community Voices

We all expect the lights to turn on when we flip the switch. But today, many of us also expect to video call into a work meeting or check in with friends and family, cook dinner on electric stoves, and charge our cars, tools and devices. Electricity powers nearly every part of our lives, shaping how we live, learn, work, and travel. And demand for it is growing faster than ever. Across the Upper Midwest, forecasts show that electricity use could nearly double by 2050, as homes, businesses, and entire industries adopt more electric technologies in our everyday lives. Meeting that ...

Same casts, different fish

Local Columns

As I go along life’s path, which frequently winds in and out of the grasslands, woods, and along my favorite waters, I begin to realize that the very basics are what I need to get my fix of time out hunting and fishing. For the former, its becoming simply seeing birds break cover ahead of my dog’s pursuit or a deer wander close to my stand as I’m on it; and for the latter, it’s the take of a fly, that subtle tap on a jig, or the sudden strike on a spoon that grabs my attention and holds it. Those are the thrills that keep me coming back. While casting out over the calm waters ...

Support Flanagan’s vision for the future

Letters to the Editor

To the editor: I am writing to express my strong support for Peggy Flanagan and her continued leadership in Minnesota. I had the opportunity to hear her at a town hall in Marshall on Saturday. As a lifelong advocate for children, families, and Indigenous communities, Peggy has consistently demonstrated what true public service looks like—compassionate, principled, and courageous. Under her tenure as lieutenant governor, she has championed policies that promote equity in education, access to healthcare, and support for working families. Her dedication to ensuring that all voices ...

Enjoying summertime celebrations

Community Voices

Call us wild and crazy, but my wife and I enjoy attending small-town summertime celebrations. The most recent such event was Arlington Days, held — brace yourself! — in Arlington. There are approximately a hundred municipalities and locales named Arlington in the United States, so we chose the Arlington that’s located about 15 miles from our house. We might be wild and crazy, but not to extent that we would travel the nearly 1,500 miles to the hamlet of Arlington, Oregon (population: 620.) No small-town celebration is complete without a bevy of booths where vendors can promote ...

On the Porch

Local Columns

The official organization of Grandview township took place in August of 1873 at the first town meeting in the home of Jacob Thomas. The village of Grandview was founded in the spring of 1878 and the town site was plotted by the railroad on July 5, 1878. Grandview was the name chosen for the town site by the early settlers to describe the expansive rolling prairies along with the sun rises and sun sets. John Ireland, bishop of the St. Paul Diocese, arranged with the Winona and St. Peter Railroad (later the Chicago and Northwestern) to have large tracts of land opened to Catholics in ...