To the Editor: As a concerned citizen of the community and a member of the New York Mills Public Library board, I wanted to pass on some disturbing information. Our local library along with libraries throughout Minnesota have been notified that, by executive order issued on March 31, 2025, the Trump administration has essentially shuttered the… Read More

By Adam Johnson Special to the Dispatch On behalf of everyone at New York Mills Schools, I want to wish everyone a Happy Easter. Congratulations to all of our new Hall of Fame members: Howard Legried, Richard Ericksrud, the 1973 Girls Basketball team, Terry Weller, and Joel Kumpala. Thank you for what each of you have meant to… Read More

By Bev Johnson Master Gardener This is the time of year the growers introduce their new plants. If it is a brand-new perennial, let it hang around for 2 or 3 years to be sure it stands up to its promise. It may not be as winter hardy or as unusual or as attractive as advertised… Read More

By Congresswoman Michelle Fischbach I recently held a telephone town hall, and nearly 14,000 people tuned in for an update on what I have been working on and what’s been happening in D.C. I also answered some great questions about things concerning the people of the 7th District. It was great to learn from those who… Read More

The Prairie Spy Alan “Lindy” Linda I know some stuff about apple trees. Fifty years of stuff, to be exact. Just the last few days, people have been asking me: “What do I do with my apple trees, because….” They’re three or four or, or, or years old, and have never been pruned. They’ve never had apples, and they’re… Read More

The Prairie Spy Alan “Lindy” Linda Although many years have passed since my brother and I were grade school students in the one-room country school in Iowa we knew as Douglas # 8, he and I quite often talk about it. One  topic always concerned how cold it was in that building in the winter. No insulation, of… Read More

By Bev Johnson Master Gardener Bunkey is checking his flower garden every morning to see if any of the tulips he planted last fall are up yet. He had had bad luck with tulips. They just didn’t want to come back each spring. Last summer he had it, so he called the Extension office to see… Read More

By Bob Garver Special to the Dispatch Jason Statham has a new movie out. He plays with a guy who used to work in a violent profession, but he’s sworn to leave that life behind. But now some bad people have messed with his employer (the only people to help him out when he was at a… Read More

The Prairie Spy Alan “Lindy” Linda Peter P. Bogden, bless his departed soul, was a strong old bachelor who lived next farm over when we first moved up here fifty-some winters ago. He taught me a lot of things, some medical, some more practical. Medically, what I learned from Peter P. was that, if you didn’t feel good,… Read More

By Bev Johnson Master Gardener Peat lands only cover about 3% of the Earth’s land area but they hold up to one third of the world’s earth carbon. When peat is harvested the carbon dioxide is released into the air adding to the greenhouse effect. Here in Minnesota, we have Minnesota’s Big Bog State Recreation Area… Read More