Tag Archives: nobles county

Stress farm survives election night

Posted on by
Reply

There’s no denying a reporter’s job is stressful. We have daily deadlines – sometimes multiple daily deadlines – and are under constant pressure to gather all of the facts, write concise, detailed, well-balanced and informative stories and make sure, in the end, that every word is spelled correctly and the story is written in such a way that someone with an eighth-grade education can understand it.

Can we manage to meet all of those criteria with every story? Well, let’s just say we try. I learned long ago to stop stressing out about writing the perfect story – I just tend to forget to remind myself of that life lesson sometimes.

There’s all sorts of things reporters can do to ease the stress of the work day. Some will take a walk to the water cooler or catch some fresh air outside, the sports guys usually toss a ball of some sort in the air, and others – namely me – will reach for a victim from my stress farm.

My stress farm, complete with the latest addition, a stress peanut I picked up at Bertie County Peanuts in North Carolina.

I think I’ve mentioned my stress farm in a previous blog post, but I’ve had at least a couple of new additions to it in the last year. Neither one is a farm animal, although they are still very much tied to agriculture.

My stress farm includes two chickens, a dairy cow, a pig that doubles as a cell phone holder and a green tractor. A year ago, while at the Iowa State Fair, I picked up a stress can of vegetables; and on my visit last month to a peanut farm in Bertie County, N.C., I traded $2 for a stress peanut. It’s the first stress farm addition I actually had to pay for, but I just had to have it!

There are two things about my stress farm that you should know – the first is that I’m always looking for new additions to it; and the second is that I keep it on a shelf behind my desk. That probably isn’t the most ideal location for when I’m under stress, but I keep it there for a reason. If I had to look at it every day, I’d undoubtedly squeeze the chicken until its eyes popped out (don’t worry, it’s made to do that!) or take my stress cow and crush it until it looked like a soccer ball.

Now, I should be the last to complain about stress, having just taken that wonderful, two-week vacation, but the reality is – like other jobs, I’m sure – there’s a period of time where one must play “catch-up.”

Just as I was almost finished “catching up,” along came election night. And there I was, without my stress peanut. (I finally remembered to take it to the office on Wednesday.)

To be honest, election night wasn’t too bad this year. Aside from a few glitches and an incredibly slow-loading Secretary of State website, we were able to gather all of the information and deliver it to you, our readers, in a timely fashion.

Many kudos to the Nobles County Auditor-Treasurer’s office for getting us up-to-the-minute election results, and to Christy Riley in Murray County for emailing us the complete results so we didn’t have to search through various pages on the SOS site. We are grateful for all of the help you provided the media to help ease our election night workload. (My stress farm thanks you too, especially since all of my stress animals are still intact!)

A near catastrophe on a country road

Posted on by
Reply

You know how they say curiosity killed the cat? How about those parents who always tell us we must learn from our mistakes?

Well, I’m kind of thinking both rang a little true in my life this afternoon.

It all started with a simple drive out to the middle of Nobles County – to the aptly named Midway Park – to take a picture to accompany a story in Wednesday’s edition of the Daily Globe. The route was easy enough to follow: Drive to Reading, turn left on County Road 14 and go west to just beyond Durfee Avenue. No problem!

I made it there just fine. I pulled off to the side of the road, snapped my photos, and then drove up a little ways to the entrance of the park. It was a bit muddy at the entrance, but I was able to get by – I wanted to see what this park had to offer.

Now, I consider myself a life-long resident of Nobles County, but this was all new territory for me. I can direct most people anywhere south of Worthington, but not so much on the north side of town. So, for obvious reasons, I spent more time looking at the surroundings than I did watching the pavement in front of me.

That wasn’t the problem … and neither was the visit to the park. Despite an uneven surface for a driveway, the park was easy enough to maneuver my car through. I drove back a good distance before I started to get that creepy feeling … the one a single woman gets when she’s out in the middle of a strange, abandoned area with nothing but tall grass, trees and solitude. Yeah, that tends to freak me out a bit.

So, I turned my car around and headed back toward the main road.

Then, looking at the county map strewn across my passenger seat, something caught my eye – a designated Bluebird Prairie not too far away. Certainly, a visit could be justified as “on the way back to the office.”

I turned south on County Road 13, then took a left onto 220th Street, drove up a hill and down a hill and … oh, would you look at that! There’s water on both sides of the road – and ducks, pretty mallards, in fact.

I was so busy enjoying the scenery (and looking for some sign declaring a bluebird prairie) that I wasn’t aware of the quickly changing road conditions before me. By the time I hit the sloppy gravel it was too late – there was no turning back.

Little did I know it would get worse … much worse!

The road suddenly seemed to turn into one of those minimum maintenance varieties – rutted by some adventurous truck driver, no doubt – and I began to panic.

My palms began to sweat, my heart began to pound and the voice inside my head wouldn’t shut up: “Boy, you’re stupid … Please, please don’t get stuck … At least you have a cell phone … How are you going to explain this to the boss? … What’s Dad going to say … and, finally … how the heck is anyone going to find me out here in the middle of nowhere!”

Believe me, the quest for the bluebird prairie was the furthest from my mind at this point. (Although I did discover Pheasant Run 13 and … drum roll please … the Nobles County landfill.)

Of course, by the time I’d reached the landfill, I was ready to get out of the car and kiss the ground – it was a nice gravel surface there. A quarter-of-a-mile before that, however, I was gripping the steering wheel and praying I wouldn’t bottom out, slide into the ditch or just plain get stuck.

When my car finally hit payment, oh how the mud was flying – probably enough to fill a five-gallon bucket, I’m guessing.

By the time I pulled up in front of the Daily Globe, my hands were still a bit shaky, but my heart had stopped its pounding.

Then I stepped out of my car to survey the damage. All I could do was laugh – and make a mental note to go through the car wash after work. (I wouldn’t have needed to make the mental note – it was fairly obvious when I returned to my once pretty Pontiac a few hours later that, yes, I’d experienced quite the afternoon adventure!)

I was still smiling proudly when I stepped into the newsroom – catching the attention of several of my coworkers. I gave them all a word of advice: Yeah, so those country roads out there, they’re not in very good condition … just take my word for it!

A reporter’s conundrum

Posted on by
Reply

As you read this blog, I am either on my way — or in the midst of — another U-Lead Advisory Academy meeting. This time, I’m spending about 26 hours in the metro — that’s if my trusty Greta Garmin can get me to the University of Minnesota’s St. Paul campus this morning.

I’m a little nervous about the drive, and it isn’t just because of the snow forecast. This country chick just doesn’t do a whole lot of metro driving, and when I do, I usually have a co-pilot.

Greta Garmin, my yet-to-be-utilized Christmas present, is taking the place of a Mapquest map reader. Placing all of my trust in technology is, well, perhaps not the best thing. If it directs me to turn on the wrong street, I can’t exactly get any satisfaction out of yelling at it. (At least my Mom will say ‘I’m Sorry’!)

This session marks the nearly half-way point in the 11-month leadership-building program I embarked on last fall with about 25 other individuals from across the state.

So far, the experience has been great. I’ve visited a dairy farm near St. Cloud, toured a U of M swine research facility at Waseca, and — during my visit to Willmar in January — I was impressed by the economic development efforts that have helped transform the former state mental hospital into the MinnWest Technology Campus (not to be confused with Minnesota West Community and Technical College.)

The campus has attracted several agricultural and bioscience-based businesses, from Nova-Tech to Epitopix. In one building, employees manufacture equipment that emits a laser on poult (baby turkey) beaks so the beaks can’t be used as weapons when they’re growing up in turkey barns. Ag Forte at Jackson is just one of the companies that uses the equipment. (I saw it in action during a tour of Ag Forte a few years ago.)

During this U-Lead session, we will be prepping for our trip to Washington, D.C., with a crash course in government leadership. Our group will tour the State Capitol tonight, and follow it up with a visit with our legislators Thursday morning. Fellow U-Lead cohort Jan Fransen, Jackson County Coordinator, graciously lined up appointments for the two of us to meet with Rep. Rod Hamilton and Sen. Doug Magnus.

While I’m sure Jan has spoken with both of them on specific legislative issues in the past, I find myself in an interesting situation. I’ve talked to Rod and Doug numerous times, but nearly all of them were interviews for the newspaper. Certainly, I’ve never bent their ears to discuss a pressing issue.

Prior to this session, U-Lead participants were required to create a 30-second message to deliver to our local legislators on this visit. After much thought, I settled on a message about the state of our Nobles County bridges. As the county beat reporter for the past half-a-dozen years, this issue has received more ink lately — and for good reason. We need funding to replace timber bridges that are quickly decaying. Restricted weight limits are causing farmers in our region to drive miles out of their way to do simple tasks like haul their grain to market. The problem will only get worse once the spring planting season begins.

That’s the message I hope to deliver to our men at the Capitol … although it feels really weird for me to be lobbying for an issue. It’s like I’m breaking a cardinal rule of journalism … the one that tells me to shut up and listen!

Join in the fight

Posted on by
Reply

Do you know someone who has died of cancer? Do you know a cancer survivor, or someone going through cancer treatments now?

If you answered yes to any of those questions, we could sure use your help in the fight against cancer.

The Nobles County Relay for Life hosted its kick-off event Tuesday night in Worthington. Team packets were distributed, ideas were discussed and the date was announced for this year’s Relay for Life event at the Nobles County Fairgrounds in Worthington.

Several new changes are planned for this year’s Relay – changes we hope will encourage more people to come out and help the hundreds of survivors and team members Celebrate, Remember and Fight Back.

For starters, the Survivor’s Supper will not be the same night as the Relay this year. A special banquet is planned in their honor on June 15, at the American Reformed Church in Worthington. The evening event will recognize all who won the fight against cancer. Survivor T-shirts will also be distributed at this event.

Hosting the Survivor’s Supper a few days prior to the Nobles County Relay for Life on June 18 is hoped to give organizers an opportunity to be more involved in the actual events on the night of the Relay.

In the past, Relay volunteers have been so busy cleaning up and putting things away after the meal is served that they miss important Relay events like the butterfly release, the survivor recognition and the speakers.

This year, the Relay’s opening ceremony will begin at 7 p.m. on June 18, with closing ceremony planned for 7 a.m. June 19.

In 2009, Nobles County’s 21 Relay for Life teams raised nearly $93,200 for research and advocacy for the American Cancer Society. It was the highest fundraising year for Nobles County, and we’d sure like to surpass it this year.

We are still looking for more teams to get involved. Families, church groups, youth groups, small businesses, large businesses, friends … the team opportunities are endless.

If you would like more information on forming a team, contact Nobles County Relay for Life Chairperson Kim Lambert at 372-5305.

This year’s Relay for Life theme is “A World with more Birthdays.”

As the American Cancer Society’s slogan states, “We save lives and create more birthdays by helping you stay well, helping you get well, by finding cures and by fighting back.”

The Monday morning torture

Posted on by
2

For the past two Mondays, the county commissioners have decided to have 7 a.m. meetings with the city. Last week, the school board was also involved … and the subject was law enforcement.

Fellow newsroom reporter Justine Wettschreck graciously offered to cover last Monday’s meeting, which was fine with City/School beat reporter Laura Grevas and myself.

This morning, however, I drew the short end of the stick.

Well, not really. I’d like to say Laura and I played Rock, Paper, Scissors to hash out the 7 a.m. meeting detail … but, I volunteered.

What was I thinking?

To make matters worse, there was a little switcheroo with night duty and, well, I’m still at the office at 10 p.m. I did manage a bit of a break this afternoon, so I’m not actually working a 15-hour day … although it seems like it!

Alarm clocks should not be allowed to go off at 5:20 a.m.

I looked out my kitchen window around 6 a.m. to see the rest of the homes on my block completely in the dark … as they should be! The only movement was from the Schaap Sanitation garbage trucks a block away.

I left so early this morning that my newspaper hadn’t even arrived … that’s early!

Now, I realize there are people who have to be at work by 5 a.m., and I feel sorry for them. I know I could never do it.

I’m not a morning person. Come to think of it, I’m not a night owl either. I think I’m more of an afternoon person! Fifteen years as a newspaper reporter has pushed me into a routine where I’d rather get to work by 9 or 9:30 a.m. and work until 6 or 6:30 p.m. In this business, the day I’d decide to get to work by 8 a.m. is the day that all heck breaks loose in the afternoon and I end up working long after I had intended.

Anyway, getting back to the early morning meeting … we in the newsroom like to complain about them because we have to cover them.

Tonight, while chatting with Laura after her night City Council meeting (the City Council members had a long day today too!), I came to the conclusion that those early morning meetings aren’t so bad. The discussion is swift because council and board members have things to do … like go back home and take a nap! (Just kidding! I would have liked to go home and take a nap, but I had work to do too.)

As Mayor Al put it, today’s 7 a.m. meeting was a productive brainstorming session.

I’m quite excited about a new library-senior center combination, and if it takes more 7 a.m. meetings between the two entities to wrangle out the details, you can count on the Daily Globe being there to report on it. Just look for Laura’s byline on the next one!