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Local Columns

Celebrating success as countdown to Sept. 1 begins

As we enter the final month of the 2025-26 school year, I want to extend my heartfelt gratitude to our Marshall community. Even though we’ve faced challenges this year, our students, staff, and families have shown remarkable resilience, collaboration, and joy. We are closing out a very ...

Ask a Trooper

Question: Did I hear something about a new law about stopping for school buses? Answer: In March 2026, Minnesota law changed to require drivers to stop at least 20 feet away from a school bus whenever the red lights are flashing. The stop arm does not need to be fully extended. This new ...

Going Dutch

You might think that a town with a name like Orange City would have vast orchards of citrus trees, but you would be mistaken. So much for truth in advertising. This isn’t terribly surprising given that Orange City is in northwestern Iowa, far from the citrus-growing region. But Orange City ...

Time to plant

Since moving to the bluff area, I've not had too many opportunities to plant flowers. Coming from an agrarian background, planting season was a welcome time of the year. It made no difference if I planted various grains in the farm fields or if I got to plant the vegetable garden or the ...

Great white surprise

This spring has afforded us blissful moments of calm weather, sunny skies, and ideal conditions. Unfortunately, it’s usually been only for about four hours on perhaps one or two days out of the week, and usually not on the weekend. With that brief and beautiful window magically opening on ...

God fills our world with color

If our worth is to be measured by our lawns, I am in trouble. You’ve seen those perfectly manicured lawns in the nice parts of town. Then there are farmyards that look like the cover of Country Living magazine. Our lawn is there because something needs to grow between the buildings and the ...