The first rule of road trips is to never embark upon a road trip. At least not one like ours: 10 days and 2,500 miles of tent camping in the n…
Tonight we’re a party of five: Dad and daughters and our husbands. Dad’s been eager to try the fish fry at Irvine, the bar where he ate every …
On Sunday, June 23, Shopko’s two Chippewa Valley locations closed after almost three months of “everything must go” prices. In mid-January, Sh…
To the left of the stainless-steel elevator in Eau Claire’s Christ Church Cathedral hangs a plaque which reads: “The Frank and Miriam Carr Car…
I’m no stranger to the country life. I grew up on a dairy farm near Northfield in Jackson County, where neighbors helped each other out withou…
We are deluding ourselves if we think that exports alone will forge a viable future for America’s dairy farm families. We’ve had 25 years of s…
More than half of the U.S. population works for a small business, according to a recent news release from WalletHub, a personal-finance website.
Every Memorial Day, my long-time friend David would honor both his family and fellow Vietnam War veterans with a visit to his hometown cemeter…
A New York Times article on May 14, 2020, noted that Iowa hog farmers are estimated to euthanize 600,000 hogs in the following six weeks while…
As if 20 percent unemployment, wretchedly weak commodity markets, shuttered ethanol and meatpacking plants, and a coronavirus pandemic aren’t …
What’s happening right now in the dairy sector is the equivalent of the Titanic slamming into an iceberg. The problem is, instead of trying to…
While Tyson Foods says it’s “feeding you like family,” we recently learned that it and the rest of America’s Big Meat members sometimes need a…
Wisconsin’s 3rd Congressional District is home to over 18,000 farms, and as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak, most of them are in a crisis. N…
I have been told nearly all of my life that I shouldn’t talk politics. It’s ugly business, this political talk. It’s impolite, distasteful, ar…
This column is dedicated to all the Chippewa Valley’s graduating high school seniors. Congratulations and best of luck.
I click on the article “Want to Fall in Love with Your Partner Again? Science Says to Ask Them These 36 Questions” for the same reason I’m wea…
When life gives you a pandemic, buy a trampoline.
Almost a month ago, the singer-songwriter Bill Withers passed away. His death was no doubt overshadowed by the COVID-19 quarantine, President …
I stumbled upon the Facebook group “Our Old Town Chippewa Falls” just after its January launch. I wasn’t hooked until Deb Stone posted a pictu…
An hour before her death, I reached for the skillet, then prepared for Cici — our 12-pound mixed breed — the best fried egg this side of Heave…
Ten years ago, I was a new graduate student at the University of Iowa’s Writer’s Workshop. Part of my responsibilities included teaching one o…
I want to draw attention to distress in the rural economy across the Grain Belt. States like Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio and Iowa are experienci…
As large corporate meatpacking plants close across the nation, the pandemic exposes deep cracks in the nation’s monopolistic meat supply. Allo…
To the editor:
To the editor:
To the editor:
To the editor:
To the editor: