Minnewaska Musings By Paul Gremmels Hinckley, Minnesota September, 1st 1894: A burning train coasts into the Hinckley train station. The station manager, sitting at his bay window, sends the last telegram of his life to Duluth. It reads simply, “I believe that I have stayed too long.”    I enjoy visiting the Apostle Islands area of… Read More

Stoneage Ramblings By John R. Stone When it comes to electoral college votes in a U.S. presidential race, 48 of the 50 states have a “winner take all” contest, whomever polls the best statewide gets all the state’s electoral college votes. Two states, Nebraska and Maine, have distributed the electoral votes attributed to the congressional districts… Read More

View From The Cab By David Tollefson, Columnist My column of Sept. 9, 2024 titled “Making Hay Through the Years,” generated several comments from readers. First of all, my cousin Paul Olson, who worked for my dad on this farm during his high school years, commented, “It brought back memories of exploring areas of the hay mow… Read More

Growing Green By Robin Trott, Extension Educator Why would anybody go to the trouble of saving seeds? Sometimes seeds are in short supply, or maybe there is one particular variety you like, but you have trouble finding it each year. Saving seed is easy and you will always have a supply of your favorite flower and… Read More

Collaborative Corner By Jeannie Pederson, Pope County Family Collaborative Coordinator Even if you aren’t expecting a newborn or have a 3-year-old in your household, it’s good to know just some of their services provided throughout the year. The EC (Early Childhood)/THRIVE Initiative partners with two programs by sharing developmental and community resources, books and other… Read More

View From a Prairie Home by Hege Hernfindahl, Columnist Finally, finally, finally…fall is here. The air is crisp and has a smell of something faintly overly-mature. The garden  is becoming a place of such a  total wilderness that I have given up and let myself feel satisfied by what I have already harvested and frozen. After all… Read More

From Where I Sit By Pat Spilseth, Columnist Thanks for your response to my last column’s question of whether you’d enjoy more columns about my growing up in jail. Diane and Janet, who also grew up in Glenwood, remember Nicotine Nelly and Marty remembers the innocence of yesterday and said that jailbirds are so different nowadays. It’s… Read More

Publisher’s Perspective By Tim Douglass, Publisher Minnewaska Area Schools Superintendent Chip Rankin hosted a meeting last Wednesday evening that attracted community leaders from the school district, the county, and the cities of Glenwood and Starbuck.  The reason for the meeting was to jump start discussion on Child Care in the Pope County Community. “We are currently looking… Read More

Stoneage Ramblings By John R. Stone Modern cellular phones are pretty amazing devices. Most of us use a fraction of the capability of these phones while some take advantage of more of the features. One of the more unique things in my mind are the GPS (global positioning system) capabilities. Our family has an app on… Read More

The Outdoors By Scott Rall, Outdoors Columnist Every morning, I get up about 5:30-6 a.m. and open my garage door and share my morning coffee with three Labradors that keep watch for anything and everything that might walk by. Seems like only in the last week or so when I open the door it is no… Read More