Cycles of the moon and the girls

(This is an old column. I was much younger. There were four Girls in the house. Three were teenagers. I was married to the fourth. Those were interesting times.)

NFL owners, players need agreement

Owners and players in the National Football League seem determined to kill the golden goose.

Someday they’ll put me in that chicken shack

Do you see that beautiful, blue chicken shack right there? Do you? Some day they’re going to put me in that chicken shack. You mark my words.

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Stamping out heat loss in your home

This will be of interest to homeowners. Let’s try to keep this as simple as possible.

The 16-gauge chimney cleaning solution

I just heard on the radio about a guy who up and decided one day to clean his fireplace chimney with a 16-gauge shotgun.

Your Letters: Save time: register to vote by Oct. 12

Approximately 10-20 percent of all Minnesota voters register on election day.

Your Letters: The Social Security safety net

While Republicans and Democrats spar over extending Bush-era tax breaks for the super-wealthy, another argument is under way in Washington — and this one has the power to devastate middle-income Americans, particularly those in states like Minnesota.

Your Letters: Here comes Christmas in October

Will it soon be Christmas in October? It comes every two years. Most of the time it’s not the big one that comes every four years with the presidential race. But this may be the most important ever.

Our hazardous bailout nation

It’s everywhere you look. “You deserve a bailout.” The thing is, you don’t. No one deserves a bailout.

Your Letters: Time is right for U.S. 10 expansion

I live out of town, and commute in for church and work, so have witnessed the destruction of so much of this town from the June tornado. I also have lived in the area since the 70s so have heard many of the rumors about the state rebuilding or rerouting U.S. Highway 10 through or around town.

For 15-year-olds, this is The Summer

(This column, more or less, first ran 20 years ago. Not much has changed.) Across the United States, for thousands of 15-year-olds, this is The Summer, The Summer of driver’s education.

An incredible fair

It was, in a word, incredible. Just a few days after the June 17 tornado hit Wadena and decimated the Wadena County Fairgrounds, the Ag Society was already confirming they planned to hold a fair anyway.

Your Letters: Build ‘developmental assets’ in kids

You can make a difference for kids!

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10 ways to spot junk journalism

Those of us who have been in the news business a long time can spot junk journalism a mile away. But we’ve done a horrible job explaining the warning signs to the public, which has been thrust into the role not just of news consumer but news interpreter after the rapid rise of bloggers and all-day talk TV.

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Tick creates dilemma for churchgoer

I sat in church last Sunday and marveled as I usually do at how one’s mind tends to ramble past thoughts much more freely there. Is it the austere tones of the interior decorating? The largeness of spirit? The communion with fellow human beings?

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