Publisher’s Perspective Chad Koenen The little things in life can oftentimes leave the biggest impression. Take for example the impact left by Donna Geiser when the longtime volunteer visits elementary school students in East Otter Tail County to share about the importance of recycling. Both of my daughters have had the opportunity to learn about… Read More

The Prairie Spy Alan “Lindy” Linda We’ve spent the past below-zero days sitting around St. Paul the Parlor Stove, which I dug out of the far dark corner of the pole shed this past fall. There it had sat, ever since the pole shed collapsed on it from snow load four years ago in another shed. It broke… Read More

Bobbi Adams  Chief Medical Officer  Tri-County Health Care I love the holidays and the gleeful excitement that comes with the approaching winter. However, all too often, illness comes with it. As a healthcare provider, I’ve grown used to the sniffles and the sore throats, but this year things are different. Hospitals and clinics around the state are… Read More

Ask A Trooper Sgt. Jesse Grabow With winter upon us I felt the need to share some insight from our Department of Public Safety blog in reference to winter driving when the weather and road conditions deteriorate.  “When the National Weather Service starts using words like “life-threatening,” our Homeland Security and Emergency Management division sits up and pays… Read More

The Prairie Spy Alan “Lindy” Linda There are several seasonal subjects about which I have written. Wood ticks. Fishing opener. Deer hunting. Those are just a few. Perhaps it is ego; perhaps it is lack of faith; whatever it is, first columns about those subjects are columns which I don’t think I can improve. Here is another:… Read More

By Bev Johnson Master Gardener This is kind of a cruddy time of year for gardeners.  It’s too early to start seeds, and you have “debugged” all your houseplants. The seed orders are all sent so now what? If you have been thinking about starting a new garden or have a lot of winter-kill on your present… Read More

Ask A Trooper Sgt. Jesse Grabow Question: Last week, I noticed a truck with a snow plow blade on it, it took up the whole traffic lane, it was not a Minnesota Department of Transportation truck.  What is the legal length allowed for a snow blade? Answer:  The maximum legal width is 8 feet 6 inches in Minnesota. … Read More

Lard the Size of an Egg is a series based on stories collected from New York Mills community members by historian and writer Chris Marcotte. Marcotte spent six weeks in September and October at the Cultural Center Retreat House working on her 1897 murder mystery. Most of the stories Marcotte compiled while there focus on… Read More

The Prairie Spy Alan “Lindy” Linda As memories go, some of my best ones revolve around electricity. One thing about electricity always fascinated me–it was available in so many different forms. Back in 1949, when I was five years old and our telephone was one of the first–not the first, which was before I was born–of the better… Read More

Lard the Size of an Egg is a series based on stories collected from New York Mills community members by historian and writer Chris Marcotte.  Marcotte spent six weeks in September and October at the Cultural Center Retreat House working on her 1897 murder mystery. Most of the stories Marcotte compiled while there focus on… Read More