Conservation districts need dedicated funding A bill introduced recently in the Minnesota House of Representatives would provide “stable and consistent” funding for Minnsota’s soil and water conservation districts. We’re hopeful it gets out of committee this session and moves forward into law.  The bill would use General Fund money to establish a new $22 million… Read More

The Outdoors By Scott Rall, Outdoors Columnist The 2023 legislative session in Minnesota is underway. They have many items on their plate this session and the one that will get the most attention is what to do with the many billion-dollar surplus the state has from the Recovering America Act that sent billions to the states…. Read More

Minnewaska Musings by Paul Gremmels I hadn’t been ice fishing for a few decades, so I called on an old friend of mine who is an avid ice angler. Before I could invite myself out to his fish-house he already had our trip planned for a Tuesday afternoon. He told me a time and which access… Read More

View From a Prairie Home by Hege Hernfindahl, Columnist As I started my studies at the University of Oslo, I was lost and intimidated. The University is huge, more than 20,000 students at a campus on the outskirts of town, an area called Blindern. Most of the buildings are tall and people rush back and forth avoiding… Read More

From Where I Sit By Pat Spilseth, Columnist 22 inches! Holy Moley! That’s too much snow on top of what we already have! Our house’s flat roof will be overloaded and probably collapse. Icicles, ice dams and slippery walkways and roads follow all the falling snow. There’s bound to be accidents, falls and broken hips and wrists…but… Read More

Publisher’s Perspective By Tim Douglass, Publisher of the Pope County Tribune Minnewaska Vocal Music Instructor Gordy Moeller directed the  Minnewaska Area High School Concert Choir  last Thursday at the Minnesota Music Educators Association (MMEA) Annual State Convention. Just being invited to perform at such an event speaks volumes about the quality of the Minnewaska Music program. Being… Read More

Stoneage Ramblings By John R. Stone A reader recently wondered what kind of research led to a column from August,  2021 about the Jan. 6 events at the U.S. Capitol that said that “five people’s deaths, two of them police officers  have been attributed to the event.” Actually the deaths were recorded by Capitol Police and connected… Read More

Unhappy with governor’s joy… From Inga Mae B. Urke, Starbuck I have been extremely unhappy with seeing the joy and hearing expressions of glee by Governor Walz recently concerning the outcome of the vote on abortion!   Are we not supposed to be a Christian nation?  How can the people on the left express such… Read More

Shine more light on those paying for political advertising A major elections reform bill now moving through the Minnesota Legislature would protect the freedom to vote and make it harder to run political advertisements without saying who is paying for them. Who would not want to know who is actually funding the political ads most… Read More

Growing Green By Robin Trott, Extension Educator University of Minnesota Extension is offering a series of apple tree pruning workshops across the state. These free workshops will take place throughout the winter months, the time of year when apple trees are dormant and pruning is recommended. Whether you have two trees or 20, you can get… Read More