Year: 2025

A woman with blonde-brown hair reads a picture book to a child with red hair pulled back in a partial pony tail.

The READ Act: New Teaching Methods for Reading in Minnesota

Alison Leathers checks in on local schools as they implement a new comprehensive reading program through Minnesota’s READ Act.

A young child wearing a blue sweatshirt stand next to the trunk of a large maple tree. On the side of the tree is a silver metal bar holding a blue clear plastic bag that is half filled with clear maple sap. The sunshine peeks behind the tree and across the brown woods in early spring.

Essay | Maple Syrup–A Homesteading Tradition

An impulse-buy at a local farm store leads to a sweet new family tradition.

Root River Restoration Project: Major Milestone Achieved

An amazing feat is making progress. Colleen Froehrenbacher has a video update on moving a stretch of the Root River’s main channel back to an earlier bed near the Eagle Bluff Environmental Learning Center.

Profile | Joan Finnegan’s Dream Was Always to Be a Painter

Steve Harris interviews nationally known local artist, Joan Finnegan.

upper mississippi river backwaters photo

SE Minnesota’s Mississippi River Fisheries to Benefit from Proposed Legislation

Upper Mississippi fisheries and environmental quality could benefit from the proposed Mississippi River Basin Fishery Commission Act of 2025, reports the Mississippi River Basin Ag & Water Desk.

A black and white photo of women wearing long skirts marching in a parade under various Scandinavian flags.

Women Who Shaped Southeastern Minnesota History

On the occasion of Women’s History Month, Jane Skinner Peck reminds us of the rich history of the women’s civil rights movement in southern Minnesota.

Women in a canoe holds a large brown trout with both hands.

Artist Creating New Life in Southeastern Minnesota

David Phillips visits with Michelle de la Vega, nationally known artist and transplant to a small farm in southeast Minnesota.

Essay | Plowabunga! My Salute to Snowplow Drivers

John Gaddo salutes snowplow drivers – Plowabunga!

Your Leadership Can Make a Difference in Root River Current’s Third Year

Root River Current seeks Board of Directors candidates to support 2025 growth—can you help?

Two adult women stand on either side of three high school students wearing medals around their necks. The boy in the middle is holding a crystal plaque.

Stand Up, Speak Up

Now in her 25th year of coaching, Rachel Schieffelbein shares what it takes to compete in high school speech.

Visitors to Peterson, Minn., will appreciate gnome murals added to the Peterson post office building for years to come! The project was coordinated by Friends of Peterson and supported by a 2022 Paint the Town Grant from the Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation (SMIF). (Photo courtesy of SMIF)

Time Again to ‘Paint The Town’

Learn how your community can benefit — and beautify — from a 2025 Paint the Town Grant from the Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation (applications accepted through March 31), and tour some of the recent projects in southeast Minnesota.

Black and white photo of an old two-story rectangular building with windows wrapping around the building.

Before Social Security, Fillmore County Poor Farm Helped The Poor And Aging

With Congressional conversations underway regarding Social Security, Amy Jo Hahn takes us back in history to the “poor farms” that helped address poverty and aging prior to when Social Security was enacted in 1935.

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