Policy & Government

Paul Wotzka, hydrologist and co-founder of the Minnesota Well Owners Organization, speaks about the challenges karst geology presents to water quality in Fillmore County during a Water Quality Forum at Eagle Bluff Environmental Learning Center, Lanesboro, on November 16. (Photo by John Torgrimson)

Local Forums, EPA Raise Questions About SE Minnesota Water Quality | State Agencies Respond

John Torgrimson reports on local, state, and federal action on water quality in karst country.

The Historic Forestville bridge, built in 1899, before it was hoisted off its abutments and placed on the south side of the Root River. (Photo by John Torgrimson)

Moving Day for a 19th Century Bridge at Historic Forestville

Dave Shaffer and John Torgrimson chronicle the first phase in the restoration of the Historic Forestville bridge.

A family explores Cave of the Mounds, located in Dane County Wisconsin (link in article below). Cave of the Mounds takes its name from the Blue Mounds, two large hill landmarks. The main cavern began forming over a million years ago as water dissolved the limestone bedrock below the surface. (Photo courtesy of DARK Trail)

Explore the Driftless Area Via the DARK Trail

John Torgrimson looks into the DARK Trail connecting 69 dramatic landscape and discovery sites in the Driftless Area.

Minnesota Office of Broadband Development Executive Director, Bree Maki, attends a White House celebration of funding for nationwide broadband. (Photo courtesy of Bree Maki.)

Internet for All

Julie Fryer interviews the state’s leader on broadband development in rural Minnesota.

Sterling Drug currently owns what originally had been the family-owned Slindee Pharmacy in Harmony; prior to its purchase by Sterling, the pharmacy was owned by Witt Pharmacy, a community chain based in Rushford. (All photos courtesy of Luke Slindee)

Essay: Pharmacies in the Root River Valley | A Recent History

Luke Slindee documents the disappearance of small town drug stores.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is restoring floodplain forest habitat on Mississippi River islands throughout the Reno Bottoms area, east of Houston County, with trees such as river birch, hackberry, cottonwood, silver maple and swamp white oak. Above, Corps forester Sara Rother drives a boat full of trees to be planted on an island south of La Crosse. (Photo by Mark Hoffman, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

The Mississippi River’s Floodplain Forests are Dying | The Race is on to Bring Them Back

Madeline Heim reports on efforts at restoring forests along the Mississippi at Reno Bottoms, south of LaCrosse, Wisconsin

Some of the trout and other fish electroshocked this spring as part of the DNR’s annual trout stream analysis (Photo by John Weiss)

DNR Shocks Trout to Check Health of Area Streams

Nature writer John Weiss observes annual health check of area trout streams

This image is an artist rendering of what a manure digester plant planned for Benson, Minnesota may look like. (Graphic: Nature Energy)

Manure Digester Proposed in Lewiston

Julie Little and Loni Kemp explore the impact manure digesters may have on local communities.

Walker’s route through Fillmore County took him from Pleasant Grove in Olmsted County to Jordan, Fillmore Village, Carimona, Waukokee, Big Springs, Greenfield, and Eliotta, before crossing into Iowa at Burr Oak. Waukokee was a swing station and post office south of Preston and Eliotta was located on the Minnesota – Iowa border in present-day Canton Township. (Map courtesy of Fillmore County Historical Society)

Dubuque-St. Paul Territorial Road Opened Up Area to White Settlement

The Dubuque – St. Paul trail opened up the Minnesota Territory to white settlement. John Torgrimson writes about the role the stagecoach played in that development.

The Fillmore County Board recently expanded the animal unit cap for livestock from 2,000 to 4,000, sparking debate over the balance between farming and the environment. (Submitted photo)

What Happens When Feedlots Get Bigger in Karst Country?

Fillmore County changed its Feedlot Ordinance in 2023 to allow for up to 4,000 animal units despite concerns about sinkholes, porous bedrock, and water quality. John Torgrimson follows the story.

Rural Renewal | Placemaking in Small Towns Through Good Design

Spring Grove receives development support from Citizen’s Institute on Rural Design.

Minnesota law requires that all slow-moving vehicles display a fluorescent orange-red triangular sign. This law was challenged on religious grounds by a group of Amish men in 1988 before the Minnesota Supreme Court. The Supreme Court ruled that the Amish could use white bars on the back of their buggies instead of the “too worldly” triangular sign. (Photo by Renee Bergstrom)

A Slow Moving Vehicle

Henry Hershberger, a 15-year-old Amish boy, was killed on a summer night in 2021 when his buggy was rear-ended by a pickup truck near Preston. Legal proceedings carried into 2023. This is what happened.

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