September 2024

Elections are a dialogue: Let candidates hear you

We’ve just passed Labor Day and what is traditionally considered the heart of election season. It’s the moment, according to political lore, when most Americans start paying attention to electoral contests. This may or may not be true, but here’s one thing I think we can count on: This is when politicians seeking office are most eager to understand the mood and concerns of the electorate.

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Dragons see spike in numbers, experience

Litchfield looks to build on lessons from last season With lessons learned from a rocky 5-22 season a year ago, and a roster boasting 19 juniors and seniors, the Litchfield volleyball team is ready for a fresh start. And while the Dragons’ 2023 record would indicate struggles, Coach Darin Swenson says it also presents reason for optimism.

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Ridgewater joins voter effort

Ridgewater College has joined more than 625 college presidents and chancellors across the nation in committing to encourage and support student voter registration and participation in elections at every level through the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge.

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Caring enough to do what’s right

Two elementary schoolaged boys were talking on the playground during recess one of the first days of the new school year.The first boy complained, “If I forget to say‘Thank you’to my mom for supper, my dad sends me to my room. If I don’t do my chores when I am supposed to do them, my dad sends me to my room. If I am mean to my little sister, my dad sends me to my room. If I bring home a bad report card from school, my dad sends me to my room. If I am sassy to my grandma, my dad sends me to my room. It seems like all my dad ever does is send me to my room!”

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2004: Irish eyes smiling as LHS grad takes field

20 YEARS AGO: NEWS FROM THE ISSUE OF SEPT. 9, 2004 Nancy Piepenburg said she felt like she might get sick. Shirley Loch said the past few days had been filled with “lots of anxiety.” Meanwhile, riding a coach bus on Minnesota Highway 71 headed for Redwood Falls National Guard Armory where their mothers waited, Specialist Justin Piepenburg and Specialist Patrick Loch shared some of the same nervousness. But it was a good kind of nerves. After 11 months of preparation for and service in a security detail in Kosovo, 95 members of the 682nd Engineer Battalion — including 30 from CompanyA out of Litchfield — returned home Saturday. The 30 Litchfield Guard members were the first large-scale deployment from the local unit in 2003. They were attached to Company C and spent about five months training in the United States, then six months in Kosovo before returning to the States.

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