To The Crookston Times readers,

It is with regret that CherryRoad Media announces the closing of The Crookston Times

Our company is dedicated to the preservation of community journalism. Since the purchase of our 1st paper in late-2020 to today, we have prided ourselves on our ability to fight the difficult battle that newspapers face in today’s digital society. Unfortunately, that battle cannot always be won.

The Crookston Times has struggled in recent years to find its footing in this community. Since purchasing The Crookston Times, CherryRoad Media has been unable to avoid financial losses every month. The paper was losing money when we bought it, and it continued to do so. We must now come to terms with the fact that we do not have a path forward to sustainability.

And we thank those who have supported us.

Opinion

Trick or Treat

October 26, 2022

The evening is coming when children, and I use that term “children” loosely, will come to my door, dressed in costumes that range from cute to the macabre to the barely there. These little people will hold their bag of candy/loot in front of me, and utter the phrase “Trick or Treat”.

“ASK A TROOPER”

October 26, 2022

by Sgt. Jesse Grabow of the Minnesota State Patrol Hello, can a person who is working for a farmer during harvest driving a semi (no CDL) cross a state line (North Dakota and Minnesota)? Answer: Yes, as long as they stay within 150 air miles of the farm.

October 24, 2022

Colossians 3:17 “And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” Normally, articles do not begin with an excerpt from another’s writing but in this case it seems appropriate. The following comes from the Andrew Carnegie book, “How to Win Friends and Influence People,” published in 1936.

October 24, 2022

“Ellis Island: From Immigrant to Migrant” From its earliest days “America” was founded and populated by immigrants—a nation of immigrants. Whether you begin the conversation with “native” Americans (13,000 years ago) or Norseman Leif Erickson’s exploration of Vinland (around 996 to 1,000 A.D.), the point remains the same genetically speaking: no one here is from here! From that angle we were/are a land and nation of immigrants.

Everything we purchase these days

October 24, 2022

Everything we purchase these days, from groceries to gasoline, are taking larger bites out of our incomes. The same is true when buying birdseed. A 40-pound bag of black oil sunflower seed, though coming down in price, finally, remain obscenely high in cost. At the highest last winter/ early spring, I was paying almost $30 for just one bag.

October 24, 2022

This October marks my 10-year anniversary as Minnesota’s State Court Administrator. Over the past decade, I have been privileged to be part of a historic transformation in our state court system that has increased access to justice, enhanced efficiency in our justice system, and improved how we serve the people of Minnesota. When the COVID-19 pandemic challenged our judiciary in unprecedented ways, our courts kept an open door to justice through innovation and the dedication of our judges and staff.

Minnesota’s Economy Isn’t Doing Well

October 19, 2022

On October 9, Gov. Walz tweeted “Our small businesses and working families are driving our state’s economic expansion.” But Minnesota’s economy isn’t expanding. Indeed, data released by the Bureau of Economic Statistics on September 30 showed that, in the second quarter of 2022, our state’s economy actually shrank, in real terms, at an annualized rate of 1.3%. The economy of the United States generally also shrank, but at a slower rate, 0.6a%, and Minnesota’s decline was faster than 29 other states and the District of Columbia. For both our state and the United States generally, this was the second successive quarter in which the economy shrank in real terms.

Fear Not

October 19, 2022

October is the month where everyone tries to scare me. They plant ghosts and goblins and witches and skeletons in their front yard.

October 19, 2022

“From Indian Affairs to Business and Industrial Development” In many ways the brutal conflict between the 1st Americans and the invading Europeans is a black mark on “United States” history. At the same time, except for the sophisticated arms brought in by the latter, those encounters were no more treacherous than the ongoing conflicts between the varying tribes all across the continent in the preceding 13,000 years before the “white” man came.

Red-Breasted Nuthatch

October 17, 2022

Still barely awake while pouring myself a cup of coffee on Thursday morning Oct. 13, I glanced through the kitchen window. Snow! The deck and its chairs, the birdfeeder, and lawn was thinly veiled by a coating of unwelcome snow. Struck by the juxtaposition of sparce white snow and beautiful gold-yellow leaves clinging to aspen, the snow and autumn colors seemed to clash.