The Prairie Spy Alan “Lindy” Linda I serviced and installed heating, air conditioning, and refrigeration products while doing business as Lindy’s Hardware in New York Mills. Then I designed an HVAC (heating, ventilating, air conditioning) program for the tech school at Wadena, which I taught for 15 years, up to retirement a couple of years ago. That’s my… Read More

By Jesse Grabow Ask a Trooper Question: I read your recent article about winter travel safety. I also heard you were a Boy Scout, which would apply to this also. Can you talk more in depth about what a person should have in their vehicle? Answer: Great topic to expand on. Yes, I serve as the scoutmaster for… Read More

Garver’s Movie Review Bob Garver I’ve been referring to this movie as “Hunger Game of Thrones.” It’s a prequel to “The Hunger Games,” but the influence of a certain HBO fantasy series is pretty apparent with the casting of Peter Dinklage and the “Song of Ice and Fire”-like subheading. I’ve seen it as little more than… Read More

Publisher’s Perspective Chad Koenen Christmas. It’s the time of year for yuletide carols, egg nog, ugly sweaters, Christmas concerts, holiday traditions and getting together with family that all-too-quickly remind us as to why we only see them once a year.  Christmas is also a time for maniac shoppers trying to find a cheap deal on a… Read More

Ask A Trooper Sgt. Jesse Grabow Question: I just saw something about a Minnesota traffic safety program that’s been around for 20 years. Can you talk more about that?   Answer: Yes, here is some information we shared on our DPS blog: “Minnesota has seen a 32 percent reduction in traffic fatalities between 2003 and 2022, in part… Read More

The Prairie Spy Alan “Lindy” Linda A man, a miss, A car a curve. He kissed the miss, And missed the curve. (I know. You’ve seen this before. I was six or seven and can remember seeing one of these close to home in Iowa, from the back seat of the family 1949 Chevrolet. Each time I “rediscover” it in my… Read More

Garver’s Movie Review Bob Garver Last month, I wrote about “The Exorcist: Believer” actually working pretty well as a taut kidnapping thriller until the requisite demon possession stuff kicked in. Now comes “Five Nights at Freddy’s,” which has the opposite problem: the kidnapping-thriller elements get in the way of the supernatural stuff. I think the difference… Read More

The Prairie Spy Alan “Lindy” Linda The Yurho brothers were sitting in Smut’s Bar and Butcher Shoppe Emporium, all four of them: Stinky, Coffee, Pinball, and Belkula. They were tightfistedly nursing  tap beers and watching through the big plate glass window over the bar as several men butchered their way through an assortment of deer. Only in Boatville… Read More

Ask A Trooper Sgt. Jesse Grabow Question: Does the Minnesota State Patrol have K9s? In what purpose do they serve? Answer: The Minnesota State Patrol K-9 unit is currently staffed with 15 K-9 teams trained to detect the odor of narcotics, and one team trained to detect explosives. The State Patrol’s dogs are not trained in other typical… Read More

To the Editor, I hope you will join me this Veterans Day in a quiet moment of thanks and remembrance for the men and women who make it possible for us to live in the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave. These servicemen, women, and their families are heroes and are deserving… Read More