It’s hard to beat this time of year. The cool days, the colorful trees and pumpkins. Ya, that’s right, pumpkins. I find pumpkins fascinating. Especially the history of pumpkins. You might agree after reading about this amazing vine.
As I meet with stakeholders throughout our community, one little-known fact many are not aware of is that public schools must undergo annual audits conducted by independent accounting firms. Prior Lake-Savage Area Schools is no different, and last Monday the school board received a detailed …
On Tuesday, Sept. 21 the Scott County Board of Commissioners approved a maximum levy increase of 3.99% for property taxes payable in 2022. While all five commissioners voted to approve this maximum levy amount, in watching the board meeting it was obvious that commissioners were looking for …
About two-and-a-half years ago, our family made the gigantic decision to bring an itty-bitty puppy into our home. This decision was years in the making and was not taken lightly.
October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month and an important time to recognize and stand up for victims and survivors.
When it comes to confusing common names for animals, I think the American elk has got to be near the top of the confusing list. This came to light last week when I was in northern Montana to film and photograph elk. I ran into a guy from Europe who was also looking to capture images of elk, …
Chuck Marohn is a University of Minnesota-trained civil engineer with a master’s degree in city and urban planning. He grew up on a farm near Baxter, Minnesota and now lives near Brainerd. He’s also a gadfly — so much so that colleagues in the profession (he calls it “the infrastructure cult…
Prior Lake-Savage Area Schools officials have stated they do not teach critical race theory. However, it appears tenets of CRT do frame the curriculum being used. Teachers may not be teaching CRT, but it appears they are being trained to use a CRT lens to frame lesson plans.
Hindsight gives insight into the merits and wisdom of past decisions and actions. Such appears the case with Afghanistan. By ending the war in Afghanistan after only months in office, President Biden becomes the scapegoat of those who choose to ignore the following decisions made over the pa…
The most egregious situation of the 20-year involvement with Afghanistan is happening now. Some very large number of people who supported the allies in Afghanistan are now left high and dry to suffer and many to be killed no doubt. That has already started. The U.S. is betraying all the prom…
Twenty years ago, some ten months after a bitterly contested presidential election, a terrorist attack caused the tragic loss of American lives. In the days that followed, the minority party set aside partisan politics while we united — as a nation — in support of our Commander-in-Chief. U.S…
As if 2020 wasn’t enough, 2021 has left a walloping punch. With the pandemic still on the rise, the conflict in Afghanistan and climate change increasingly becoming greater issues, philanthropic efforts are needed now more than ever.
For as long as I can remember, I have enjoyed taking pictures. Long before cameras were part of our phones, even before we could immediately see whether our pictures were blurry or if someone’s eyes were closed, way back when we used film and had to wait a week to find out if our photos were…
Standing in a small clearing, deep in the northwoods of Minnesota, I was telling the participants in my black bear photo workshop some of the more interesting natural history facts about the American black bear.
Many have asked what is it exactly that the Prior Lake Rotary Club does? Why do they exist? As the 2021-22 president I’d like to share the answer to these questions and tell you some of the things we are planning on for the next year.
Next weekend is the fourth anniversary of the Pleasant Street Art Walk. This year’s event, on Saturday, Sept. 25, will feature local and regional artists including potters and sculptors, painters, woodworkers, jewelry makers, metal workers and more; some from the Pleasant Street neighborhood.
By the time you read this column, our students will have been back in school for only a few days. Words cannot fully capture how excited we are to have them back!
As we complete the first week of the school year, I think back to when my kids started kindergarten ten years ago.
Every now and then I get an opportunity to work with a species that I don’t have much hands-on experience with. These are often rare or endangered species or a species that is difficult to access and lives in areas that makes it hard to get close to.
So, I just got home from the dedication of the Iwo Jima mural at Carlson’s Ace Hardware and I must say, it was a great event! Many of the conversations I heard and participated in revolved around “small town” things and the “old guard.” Some of these memories brought laughter and some brough…
I am writing in response to the Aug. 14 article “Critical race theory not taught at Prior Lake Savage Area Schools, officials say”. The article did interview PLSAS Superintendent Teri Staloch, who stated the following:
The spectacle in Kabul, Afghanistan is painful to watch from either side of the political aisle. In spite of President Biden’s effort to shift some responsibility to former President Trump, and Trump’s pronouncement that it wouldn’t have happened if he were still president, the simple fact i…
I am no stranger to traveling hundreds or even thousands of miles to see, study and document some of nature's most wonderful events. For over 35 years I have traveled to see the epic migration of sandhill cranes in Nebraska, stunning flocks of snow geese in North Dakota and remarkable monarc…
My husband and I just returned from a trip to Las Vegas. It capped off an unusually busy summer of travel for our family. Over the past three months we’ve had three very different getaways: a bucket-list vacation in Hawaii, our annual week at a cabin in my hometown and the Vegas trip to cele…
Every now and then I meet a true wildlife superhero. You know, the kind of person who has dedicated their life to understand and protecting wildlife.
The Prior Lake Lions started the 2021-22 Lions year by being able to meet in person again — we meet the first Tuesday of the month at Fong’s Restaurant in Prior Lake. We welcome Lion Sheila Stahler as club president for the 2021-22 year, and we look forward to her leadership during this year.
Most of us have heard, or read, the phrase, “One thing leads to another.” There’s even a song with that theme. It’s about history and connections and how seemingly disconnected inventions and events, years apart, come together with unintended and unforeseen, consequences.
Now more than ever our community needs us — our neighbors need us, our family and friends need us. We are in the middle of exhausting times. However, we can’t let this situation bog us down. We have to face reality with intellect.
The Aug. 9 Star Tribune story, "Minnesota legislators aim to spur creation of more entry-level housing," was a classic example of using armchair statistics which suggest an association-correlation (city zoning and population demographics) to leap to a causation-correlation.
If you were to ask for a description of Renee Winick, you’d likely receive the standard bits of information: wife, mother of 15-year-old twins, former corporate trainer, current manager of the Winick household, family shutterbug and lover of words.
When I started getting interested in photography six years ago, the first thing I was taking pictures of was sunsets. So, the first photo I ever took in a “photographer” mindset was of a sunset.
After receiving the July 17 Prior Lake American and the flier enclosed with the paper I attended the July 27 information meeting at city hall to learn more.
No matter where you live in the seven-county metro area, if you drive a car, you will eventually get stuck in traffic on Interstate 494. It is one of the region’s most vibrant, growing areas with the Mall of America, the airport, hotels, businesses — even IKEA. Trucking and freight associati…
On Wednesday, June 30, rotarians from Rotary District 5960, which covers southeast and east metro Minnesota and western Wisconsin, met virtually for the 2020-21 District Awards Happy Hour. Clubs were recognized for their efforts in various categories and based on the size of the club — large…
As a reader of the New York Times, its Sunday edition and Maureen Dowd’s column — I seldom recommend columns, or columnists, but Sunday, July 25 is an exception. It’s a wakeup call. It’s why I’m writing this.
Blackbirds always seem to get a bad rap. As the late Rodney Dangerfield was fond of saying, they “get no respect” in the bird world.
On behalf of the Prior Lake Rotary Club, my Lakefront Music Fest tri-chairs Frank Boyles, Michelle Jirik and I want to thank the citizens of Prior Lake for helping to make Lakefront Music Fest 2021 our most successful festival to date. The combination of perfect weather and a strong line-up …
The wide diversity of birds on earth should be a reminder to us all that the natural world is a place where life takes all shapes, colors and forms.
“The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.”
Today’s paper includes an insert about the city’s proposed use of franchise fees to fund street maintenance and replacement. As your city, we are responsible for clean water, sanitary sewer and safe streets. The initial cost for this infrastructure was born largely by development. Developers…
Here’s something to think about: You could spend two, or even three, decades in retirement. To meet your income needs for all those years, you’ll generally need a sizable amount of retirement assets. How will Social Security fit into the picture?
When it comes to home, local leaders have been stepping up. But there isn’t enough investment from the state back into our communities — and that’s a problem in the long run.
In the June 19 letter to editor “Minnesota Needs Safe and Honest Elections,” writer Owen Riess, attempting to legitimize questioning the integrity of voting equipment, states “the 2020 election was a fiasco sowing distrust in half the voting population.”
The complexity of nature is sometimes hard to understand and even harder to justify or feel good about, especially when seen through the human lens. I was reminded of this the other day while filming a family of American redstarts (Setophaga ruticilla) that is nesting on my property.
Promise yourself to think well of yourself and to proclaim this fact to the world, not in loud word, but in great deeds.
The COVID-19 Pandemic has taken more of an upbeat turn over the past several months due to the successful vaccination rates and some areas even here in Minnesota are approaching 70% with shot and 60% are fully vaccinated. As a result, most restrictions have been lifted including statewide ma…
The Prior Lake Savage Area School Board is preparing for a tax levy vote later this year for the establishment of a new $3.5 million, 10-year technology fund ($35 million total). This tax increase is estimated to cost a residential property owner $204 per year (using the district’s average r…
The summer of 1990 found my wife and I staying in Rockland, Maine at a hotel overlooking Penobscot Bay. We’d been at a conference in Boston and decided to take a few extra days to explore the Maine coast and Acadia and Mount Desert Island National Parks.
