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Give thanks for the food on community tables

Thanksgiving dinner will cost less this year compared to the last two years, according to the Minnesota Farm Bureau. The bureau’s shared its Thanksgiving meal survey in a Monday release. “The American Farm Bureau Federation’s 40th annual Thanksgiving dinner survey provides a snapshot of the average cost of Thanksgiving staples that make up a classic holiday feast for 10, which is $55.18 or about $5.52 per person,” the Bureau stated. “This is a 5% decrease from 2024. Three years of declines don’t fully erase dramatic increases that led to a record-high cost of $64.05 in ...

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THUMBS DOWN The loss of Denny Warta The death of Denny Warta Wednesday is a monumental loss for the New Ulm community. Few other people were as heavily involved in the community as Warta or could claim a greater influence. Warta‘s greatest strength was collecting people. He knew how to forge and maintain relationships with a wide range of individuals. Warta could turn complete strangers into a friend after a short conversation. He was great at connecting with people because Warta was genuinely curious about them. He always wanted to know more. He was also more than willing to share ...

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Thumbs up Northern lights unite the country Nearly all of North America was treated to a rare display of the northern lights this week. The lights were visible as far south as Florida. As a result, social media was saturated with photos of the northern lights from everyone with a camera. It was a rare example of everyone coming together to appreciate the beauty of the natural world. The reason the northern lights were so intense on Tuesday is that energy from two solar flares hit the atmosphere at the same time. The overlapping energy resulted in the extremely vibrant green and red ...

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THUMBS DOWN Tragedy in Hanska  The community of Hanska was hit by unspeakable tragedy last week following the double homicide of Justin Reinarts and Tabitha Trescott. There are no words to describe the depth of this loss. Reinarts and Trescott were valuable and cherished members of Brown County and to lose them so suddenly is difficult to understand and raises questions as to why it was not prevented. The alleged suspect in this crime had previously been convicted of multiple assaults and was currently facing charges for stalking. This suspects’ criminal record is one red flag ...

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THUMBS DOWN Daylight savings still a thing This Sunday at 2 a.m. daylight saving time goes into effect and clocks will fall back to 1 a.m. This means everyone gets an extra hour this Sunday. While it is great to get another hour back after losing one in the spring, it is still annoying to go through this clock upkeep every six months; especially since it is widely unpopular. Both political parties have pushed legislation to stop daylight savings, and have seen overwhelming public support for the bipartisan efforts. But it never goes anywhere and after this federal government ...

Olsen’s concertina put smiles on many faces for decades

“Is everybody happy.” Larry Olsen yelled out that more than once when he played his concertina with his brother Leon, who was also working his magic on the musical instrument well known in polka circles. While Larry hails from the Lake Benton area, his brother resided in New Ulm. But the two brothers often got together to share their love for polka. Leon Olsen died on Oct. 22 after a brief battle with cancer at the age of 72. When it comes to polka music, Leon Olsen’s resume is extraordinary. He definitely leaves a musical legacy that rates among the great ones. He ...