March 2025

Live Well, Age Wisely: How do you handle stress?

What caught my attention most during the Medicare Open Enrollment last fall didn’t have anything to do with insurance coverage options. During the nearly two-month period, I met with hundreds of people and almost all expressed concerns or anxiety about the current state of affairs, the direction in which the country was headed, and what the future might hold. It didn’t matter which side of the political aisle, just about everyone seemed to feel similarly and share in a larger sense of unease.

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Beyond Reason: A cold day…

It’s been cold. An engaged audience might ask: How cold was it? A type of punchline: It was so cold the ice was complaining about the temperature! The reality is more mundane. It was so cold they cancelled school. This has happened before. I grew up in Texas, a geography not known for cold temperatures. One winter day was so cold that they cancelled schools. They were concerned the HVAC wasn’t up to the job. No school administrator wants to take in warm bodied children and spit them out blue. It was 29 degrees Fahrenheit.

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News from WRAP: March is Women’s History Month

Technology plays a huge part in our society today. We rely on it for work, online schooling, entertainment, communication with people near and far, and local and worldwide information and news. Our culture has integrated the internet and its platforms to connect us with people we know and ways to engage with new individuals. Some of the most widely used platforms by youth and teens are Snapchat, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and gaming platforms such as Xbox and PlayStation. Although these platforms are beneficial, there are also dangers involved with the open nature of social media and online gaming. One of the most rapidly growing forms of abuse involving youth and teens is sextortion.

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Strategic Farming: Let’s talk crops! focused on corn insect pest challenges

On February 26, Dr. Fei Yang, UMN Corn Extension Entomologist, joined UMN Extension Crops Educator Dr. Anthony Hanson for a discussion on corn insect pests. Dr. Yang provided an update on the current challenges Minnesota faces with these pests and shared insights from his research on corn insect pest management. This was the eighth episode of the 2025 Strategic Farming: Let’s Talk Crops! webinar series, which will continue through March.

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This Happened Here: A few good lines…

Last week in this space, I may have jumped the gun: the first guest columnist – my Creative Nonfiction Workshop student – has asked me to hold off on printing her piece until later in the month. Not to worry, though; coming up next week, a thrilling tale of living on a farm from the poet and performer Johanna Luetmer, who grew up in Morris and has stories to share.

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