The Prairie Spy Alan “Lindy” Linda I serviced and installed heating, air conditioning, and refrigeration products while doing business as Lindy’s Hardware in New York Mills. Then I designed an HVAC (heating, ventilating, air conditioning) program for the tech school at Wadena, which I taught for 15 years, up to retirement a couple of years ago. That’s my… Read More

Publisher’s Perspective Chad Koenen Christmas. It’s the time of year for yuletide carols, egg nog, ugly sweaters, Christmas concerts, holiday traditions and getting together with family that all-too-quickly remind us as to why we only see them once a year.  Christmas is also a time for maniac shoppers trying to find a cheap deal on a… Read More

Ask A Trooper Sgt. Jesse Grabow Question: I just saw something about a Minnesota traffic safety program that’s been around for 20 years. Can you talk more about that?   Answer: Yes, here is some information we shared on our DPS blog: “Minnesota has seen a 32 percent reduction in traffic fatalities between 2003 and 2022, in part… Read More

The Prairie Spy Alan “Lindy” Linda A man, a miss, A car a curve. He kissed the miss, And missed the curve. (I know. You’ve seen this before. I was six or seven and can remember seeing one of these close to home in Iowa, from the back seat of the family 1949 Chevrolet. Each time I “rediscover” it in my… Read More

Tucker’s Telegram Tucker Henderson I want to take a moment out of your day to talk about a woman near and dear to a lot of Dispatch reader’s hearts. Lois Wiirre, creator of the ‘Everything Old is New Again’ recipe column has been sharing her family recipes and the stories behind them for over a… Read More

Ask A Trooper Sgt. Jesse Grabow Question: Does the Minnesota State Patrol have K9s? In what purpose do they serve? Answer: The Minnesota State Patrol K-9 unit is currently staffed with 15 K-9 teams trained to detect the odor of narcotics, and one team trained to detect explosives. The State Patrol’s dogs are not trained in other typical… Read More

The Prairie Spy Alan “Lindy” Linda The Yurho brothers were sitting in Smut’s Bar and Butcher Shoppe Emporium, all four of them: Stinky, Coffee, Pinball, and Belkula. They were tightfistedly nursing  tap beers and watching through the big plate glass window over the bar as several men butchered their way through an assortment of deer. Only in Boatville… Read More

By Bev Johnson Master Gardener Now that gardening has come to a halt, it’s time to think about feeding the birds. Birds are messy eaters. They chuck the seed hulls all over the place. They are really picky and often will pull what seems to be a perfectly good seed out of the feeder and throw it… Read More

The Prairie Spy Alan “Lindy” Linda Every few years, a new device that is a “guaranteed unbelievable breakthrough in energy savings” comes along. Back in the 60s, a “new breakthrough in the dynamic viscosity of hydraulics” was the latest heating “discovery.” This device, which as I remember weighed quite a bit, like around 30 or 40 pounds, bragged… Read More

Ask A Trooper Sgt. Jesse Grabow Question: What is the deal with the Minnesota State Patrol and the maroon colored squad cars? I’ve traveled all over the United States and don’t know if I’ve ever seen this color used before. Is there a reason for this? Answer: Good observation and yes, there is a reason deep within the… Read More