The Prairie Spy Alan “Lindy” Linda When our oldest child was 15, and we were wrestling constantly with the freedom vs. safety issue, she came home from a night out with her friends with a tale that nearly drove us to lock her in her room until she was 30. She had been out the night before with… Read More

Publisher’s Perspective Chad Koenen Have you ever made a joke you thought was hilarious, but completely fell flat?  That is pretty much a daily occurrence for me at the Koenen household. However, a joke that I told a TSA agent last Thursday morning was followed by an awkward silence that made me wish I could get… Read More

Garver’s Movie Review Bob Garver I’ll start off this review with a compliment: the people tasked with advertising the new horror movie “Smile” did a really good job. For months, I had been successfully unnerved by the various posters, commercials, and trailers for this movie that conditioned me to avert my eyes to the slightest hint… Read More

Ask A Trooper Sgt. Jesse Grabow Question: I have recently noticed several semi-trucks with lug nuts on their front tires that are pointed and stick out beyond the edge of the cab. I’m concerned that they could cause damage to other vehicles. Is there a law about this?     Answer:  I believe you are referring to the… Read More

By Al Cross Special to the Forum I love social media. They keep me in touch with dozens of friends, whom I might otherwise have contact with just every few years, or every few decades. They let me share articles that I think bring greater understanding of a subject, usually with a comment of my own, and enjoy similar… Read More

The Prairie Spy Alan “Lindy” Linda Some of you know that I’ve spent the last few winters in a small mobile home in a small trailer court in Ft. Myers, Florida. I own the home, pay rent on the lot, like everyone else in this situation. You also know at this point that the hurricane that just hit… Read More

By Ryan Stockstrom Harvest Fellowship Church Do you remember what it was like when you were a kid and it was recess time?  A group of friends gather to play a game; you know kickball or maybe some basketball.  And two kids would start the process by saying, “I’m captain!” And then they started to do the… Read More

To the Editor, Decades of failed mental health policies have placed law enforcement on the front line of mental health crisis response and turned jails and prisons into the new asylums. Deinstitutionalization, treatment laws demanding a person become violent before intervention, discriminatory Federal Medicaid funding policies and the prolonged failure by states to fund their mental… Read More

Ask A Trooper Sgt. Jesse Grabow Question 1: I have noticed cars that have a high-mounted center brake light that flashes about 4 times before becoming steadily lit (like other brake lights). I’m seeing car dealers are installing them on some cars. Are these flashing lights legal?  Answer 1: These types of devices and alterations to the brake… Read More

Thanks to everyone that attended the Snellman Days celebration., It was an enjoyable time for all of us to visit with neighbors and friends that we grew up with and don’t always get time to get together.