Rhonda Silence starnews@boreal.org | December 25, 2010
My husband Chuck and I were among some of the thousands of people who visited Duluth this holiday season to walk through the wonderful waterfront light display “Bentleyville.” It truly is a delightful addition to a beautiful city. I really like Duluth—if I had to live in a city, I wouldn’t mind living there. I like Duluth’s funky mix of... READ MORE >
Rhonda Silence starnews@boreal.org | December 18, 2010
It probably won’t surprise readers of Unorganized Territory that I subscribe to a word-of-the-day e-mail list. There are a lot of such Internet services available. The one that I signed up for is MyWordaDay. I don’t remember when I signed up for the daily messages from VocabVitamins.com. But I’m glad I did. Each day I receive an entertaining message “to... READ MORE >
Rhonda Silence starnews@boreal.org | December 11, 2010
It is a newspaper’s job to keep an eye on government. The people in government— city, county, state, or national— may not always appreciate a reporter playing watchdog—asking for clarification on ambiguous discussion after a meeting, insisting on copies of financial information, or reporting an unwise political move. However, it is a newsperson’s duty to carefully observe and share what... READ MORE >
Rhonda Silence starnews@boreal.org | November 20, 2010
I was going to write another political themed column this week, but then I thought again. Maybe I should think about thanksgiving and all I have to be thankful for instead. I decided to take a moment to truly be thankful that the election is over. I mentioned last week that I was glad that the bitter campaign battles were... READ MORE >
Rhonda Silence starnews@boreal.org | November 13, 2010
I think that everyone, regardless of his or her political affiliation, breathed a sigh of relief as election 2010 drew to a close. We may or may not be happy about the results, but it is nice to know that the fearmongering, mud-slinging, irritating election ads have come to an end for at least a little while. However, I am... READ MORE >
Rhonda Silence starnews@boreal.org | November 06, 2010
I keep saying I’m going to give up my role as a Minnesota Associated Press (AP) election stringer, something I’ve done for three or four years now. It almost seems like an unnecessary job. With the fast posting of election results on the Cook County website, it seems silly to be standing by at the courthouse to call in election... READ MORE >
Rhonda Silence starnews@boreal.org | October 30, 2010
I’ve always found it interesting that Election Day and Halloween are so close together on the calendar. A lot of scariness bundled up in a time span of a few weeks. At least Halloween doesn’t insult our intelligence. As adults we know that there is just an average, ordinary, person under the costumes and behind the masks. It’s a rite-of-passage... READ MORE >
Rhonda Silence starnews@boreal.org | October 23, 2010
There is evidence of a dead deer near the end of my driveway on County Road 7 in Grand Marais. I fortunately can’t see the deer carcass, but there is a black smudge left behind by the tires of someone braking really hard. There are splintered pieces of plastic, white and red, scattered about on the pavement. There is a... READ MORE >
Rhonda Silence starnews@boreal.org | October 16, 2010
Tomorrow I am going up to Cook County Middle School to take a picture of the bright young people who just took first place in the regional Knowledge Bowl contest. I don’t recall how many years I’ve had the honor of chatting with the Knowledge Bowl students, but I know it has been a few. It is really fun to... READ MORE >
Rhonda Silence starnews@boreal.org | October 09, 2010
Sometimes the Internet is wonderful. When my daughter-in-law Sara learned that she was pregnant, she happened across a website (www.babycenter.com) that sends out weekly e-mails detailing “Your Pregnancy ThisWeek.” She forwarded one such message to me when she was very newly pregnant and I learned that my future grandchild was the size of a grape. I also learned that my... READ MORE >
