By Sandra Vatthauer                 It was the morning of Jello Fest, a bright sunny day, When what to our wondering eyes should appear, But 12  hearty WIN students and staff volunteers, to tidy up our ground as a gesture of kindness In the Fron Church basement da ladies did… Read More

Stoneage Ramblings By John R. Stone All of this fuss about the debt ceiling, and the political games that are being played because of it, are just stupid. Over the years Republicans and Democrats have taken actions that have increased the amount of money the Federal government has borrowed to stay in business. What is alarming… Read More

Josh Owen family writes to community ‘No words can express our gratitude’ From Josh’s father Dan Owen, “bonus mom” Debra Belshaw and the Owen family Communities are by definition a “group of people who share a certain set of norms, beliefs or culture.”  Every society has at least one thing that the people are very… Read More

The Outdoors By Scott Rall, Outdoors Columnist There is a country super star whose name is Jason Aldean. He sings a song call “Fly Over States.” Many folks who are not familiar with the Midwest just plain and simply call our great part of North America flyover states. When it comes to wildlife and waterfowl this… Read More

Growing Green By Robin Trott, Extension Educator Pollinators like native bees, moths and butterflies, birds, bats and other animals are hard at work providing vital but often unnoticed services. In order to set seed and reproduce, many plant species rely on animal pollinators to move pollen from flower to flower. There are thousands of insect pollinator… Read More

View From a Prairie Home by Hege Hernfindahl, Columnist In our amazing Bible study group last week, we talked about being grateful and content. Contentment maybe comes from being grateful and not “covet.” Being grateful for what we have. Not wanting what we can’t have…that, in my mind, is living a contented life. Contentment also comes from… Read More

From Where I Sit By Pat Spilseth, Columnist A north wind is blowing whitecaps to our shore on Carman’s Bay. It’s a blustery day, cold in the 40s but sunny, quite a change from the gray, rainy days we’ve had for weeks. I’m anticipating a yearly May basket delivered by my neighbor Suzy. She’s so good about… Read More

Publisher’s Perspective By Tim Douglass, Publisher of the Pope County Tribune Central Square rightfully postponed a popular concert last week because of the funeral service for Pope County Deputy Josh Owen. As we all know, tragedy struck the weekend before when Josh Owen was killed while responding with two other officers to a domestic dispute in… Read More

Notes From The Capitol By Paul Anderson, State House Representative District 12B After two weeks of marathon floor sessions, all of this year’s major spending bills have been passed out of the Minnesota House. We had a string of seven nights in that span when debate ended at midnight, which is the most late-night sessions during my… Read More

Stoneage Ramblings By John R. Stone Like many others, I took time Saturday to attend services for Pope County Deputy Joshua Owen at Minnewaska Area High school. It was a solemn service and it became pretty clear to me, as a person who had never spent any time personally with Deputy Owen, that he was loved… Read More