As the sun has set on another harvest season in Minnesota, perhaps one of the state’s oldest farmers reaped another bountiful crop, though not a record one.

I was writing sports and feature stories for the daily Globe Gazette in Mason City, Iowa. Came home late one late autumn night and edcided at the last minute to take a walk around the block, even though it was blustery cold and raining. Was only about four houses from my own when I heard a plaintive “meow!” from the darkness across the street.

When any team plays a pair of games in two consecutive nights, it’s a process that has even the best of athletes trying to prepare themselves for that situation. For high school athletes, the process becomes even more complex as they learn how to manage that scenario and how to play at their best.

Hayfield High School authorities learned early Dec. 6 that band instructor Dennis Conroy had died overnight, hours after leading the school’s pep band during a girls basketball game.
By noon, at least 15 area band directors had reached out to assist with music lessons and the winter holiday band concert, scheduled for this past Monday.

Owatonna wide receiver Noah Budach was on the receiving end of some good ole razzle dazzle that helped the South defeat the North, 28-14, in the 45th annual Minnesota Football Coaches Association Tackle Cancer All-Star Football Game at U.S. Bank Stadium on Sunday.
The South scored the first touchdown of the game when Budach caught a 40-yard double pass.

The sound of Christmas music stirred the air, the tree was decorated, and the lights were all there, the bells were jingling and Santa, in his best red coat, was a seat in his chair. 
The Owatonna Art Center held its annual Cocoa with Santa event on Saturday. It is an event, which brings together holiday cheer and a little bit of extra magic for all the children attending.

Camp can be fun if you go with the right people.
I’ve never been to a camp. No summer music camps or Girl Scout camps, or anything of that sort. We didn’t sing Kumbaya and cook S’mores, although I wouldn’t hate that. 
No, this was purely educational for me. 

A 1996 photo of Resident Bill Clinnton tells the story of winter in our region. He is stepping off Air Force One on a February day at the Mason City (Iowa) Airport, wearing a jacket fit for fall weather.
The look on his face plainly says:
“WHOOOO!”

The grisly case of a man burned up in a vehicle and left for dead in a soybean field in a remote area of Steele County more than a year ago has finally come to a conclusion with an unusual twist.
A few weeks ago, Peter Escobar, 25, of Albert Lea received an interesting sentence for the death of Herman Hernandez, 64, also of Albert Lea, from October 2016.