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Building Community Through Storytelling

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Recent Posts >
Essay | 1911 Handprint Holds a Fillmore County Mystery
American Composers Celebrated During 2026 Chamber Music Festival
Keeping Southeast Minnesota in Tune
Culture & Community

Essay | 1911 Handprint Holds a Fillmore County Mystery

Regional Arts

American Composers Celebrated During 2026 Chamber Music Festival

Business & Work / Regional Arts

Keeping Southeast Minnesota in Tune

Land & Water​ / Policy & Government

State Grant Funds Mower County Flood Reduction Projects

Root River Current is a nonprofit digital magazine providing paywall-free local news and storytelling from Southeast Minnesota's greater Root River Valley.

ABOUT US

Culture & Community

  • A cement wall with words and a handprint chalked with blue chalk.

    Essay | 1911 Handprint Holds a Fillmore County Mystery

  • A black and white photograph of a man with a full beard wearing a dark overcoat and tall top hat. He stands in profile on an elevated overlook, facing left, with a town of buildings, streets, and trees spread out below him in the background.

    The Doctor Who Loved Birds: The Legacy of Dr. Johan Christian Hvoslef

  • A person kneels in tall grass inside a small wrought iron fenced cemetery enclosure, using a brush to clean the surface of a weathered white gravestone. A white bucket and backpack sit nearby, and wild vegetation surrounds the fence.

    Recent Area Flooding Recalls the Deadly 1866 Wisel Creek Flood

See all stories in Culture & Community

Business & Work

  • A person wearing a gray polo shirt and baseball cap sits on a bench at an upright piano with the front panel removed, smiling toward the camera. The piano's hammers, strings and tuning pins are exposed. A living room with a large window, couch and side table is visible in the background.

    Keeping Southeast Minnesota in Tune

  • A large group of adults and children stand inside a livestock show arena with wood shavings on the ground. One child at the center holds a framed certificate. Two people stand to the left near a microphone, and metal livestock pens and wooden support posts are visible in the background.

    Jim and Janet Kappers Family Honored as Farm Family of the Year

  • Rural Assembly Everywhere livecast logo

    Rural Assembly Everywhere 2026 Explores Connecting Communities

See all stories in Business & Work

Policy & Government

  • Aerial view of a restored wetland and floodwater storage area surrounded by green farm fields. Floodwater fills the wetland and spreads across low lying areas, with trees, winding channels and a gravel road visible in the foreground beneath a cloudy sky.

    State Grant Funds Mower County Flood Reduction Projects

  • A water safety instructor wearing a life jacket kneels on a blue tarp outdoors while demonstrating rescue equipment to a group of elementary age students seated in a circle. Bright orange rescue ropes are spread across the tarp as children in hooded sweatshirts and jackets watch closely. The hands on activity teaches water safety and emergency response skills during a youth education program sponsored by the Winona County Soil and Water Conservation District.

    Winona SWCD Education Outreach Programs Reach More Than 575 Local Students

  • photo of a lab researcher working on equipment

    Inside Fight Against CWD, Scientists Confront Changing Politics

See all stories in Policy & Government

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Regional Arts

  • music ensemble performing in a church setting

    American Composers Celebrated During 2026 Chamber Music Festival

  • A person wearing a gray polo shirt and baseball cap sits on a bench at an upright piano with the front panel removed, smiling toward the camera. The piano's hammers, strings and tuning pins are exposed. A living room with a large window, couch and side table is visible in the background.

    Keeping Southeast Minnesota in Tune

  • A man wearing a canvas shop apron stands in a workshop between a large unfinished instrument back plate and a bent wooden instrument body. Multiple violins hang on the wall behind him, with several partially assembled cellos standing against the wall.

    Harmony Luthier Handcrafts Cellos and Violins

See all stories in Regional Arts

Land & Water

  • Aerial view of a restored wetland and floodwater storage area surrounded by green farm fields. Floodwater fills the wetland and spreads across low lying areas, with trees, winding channels and a gravel road visible in the foreground beneath a cloudy sky.

    State Grant Funds Mower County Flood Reduction Projects

  • A large group of adults and children stand inside a livestock show arena with wood shavings on the ground. One child at the center holds a framed certificate. Two people stand to the left near a microphone, and metal livestock pens and wooden support posts are visible in the background.

    Jim and Janet Kappers Family Honored as Farm Family of the Year

  • A person kneels in tall grass inside a small wrought iron fenced cemetery enclosure, using a brush to clean the surface of a weathered white gravestone. A white bucket and backpack sit nearby, and wild vegetation surrounds the fence.

    Recent Area Flooding Recalls the Deadly 1866 Wisel Creek Flood

See all stories in Land & Water

Community Voices

  • Close-up of a bumblebee hovering beside a cluster of small pink milkweed flowers surrounded by broad green leaves.

    Step Into Summer on the Prairie

  • A large Saint Bernard puppy splashes through a shallow creek on a leash while a barefoot child wearing a purple football jersey stands in the water. Another child is partially visible at the edge of the frame, with dense green trees and brush surrounding the creek.

    Essay | In Pursuit Of The Perfect Farm Dog

  • Color guard members stand at attention holding American, state and veterans organization flags during an outdoor flag retirement ceremony, with wooded bluffs in the background.

    Photo Essay | Southeast Minnesota Celebrates America’s 250th Birthday

See all in Community Voices

Inside Root River Current

Root River Current tells stories about the people, communities, land and life in Southeast Minnesota.

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Find your next adventure or promote your next event on our Local Events Calendar—FREE.

Have a story idea? Contact us!

  • collage of arts photos

    Inside Root River Current | Know Your Neighbors Arts Initiative

  • two men in front of audience

    Inside Root River Current | Folks Behind Our Stories

See all stories in Inside Root River Current

Health

  • A group of healthcare workers gather around a table in a care facility.

    Public Health Delivers Vital Services for All

  • A close-up, highly detailed image of a fuzzy black-and-yellow bumblebee collecting nectar from the center of a bright purple flower. The bee’s body is covered in fine hairs and dusted with pollen, especially around its legs and underside. The flower has long, thin purple petals radiating outward from a dense yellow center. The background is softly blurred green, making the bee and flower stand out sharply in focus.

    Saying No to Neonicotinoids

  • Woman with brown hair and blue eyes leans on her right hand. Behind her in the background is an enlarged photo of her book cover.

    Local Story of Surviving Abuse Premieres Nationally on PBS

See all stories in Health

Education

  • Two high school girls leap into the air while competing for a football during a flag football game. Players in colorful uniforms watch the contested catch from the field.

    Photo Essay | Spring High School Sports

  • Wide view inside the Chatfield Public Library showing three clear plastic STEAM activity bins displayed on a long bookshelf table. One bin contains colorful craft and sensory materials, another holds wooden blocks, and a third contains building toys and supplies. A bright yellow sign in the center promotes Yoto Players available at the library for children’s educational audio stories and music. Rows of children’s books fill the shelves below and behind the display. Large windows along the left side bring natural light into the modern library space while a patron browses books in the background.

    Unique Library Programs Show Evolution of Borrowing

  • A woman stands in the middle of a wide field filled with bright yellow sunflowers stretching to the horizon. Only her upper body is visible above the flowers. She wears a dark visor and smiles, surrounded by dense blooms under a hazy sky. The landscape is flat and expansive, emphasizing the vast sea of yellow flowers.

    Citizen Scientist MJ Hatfield Fights Insect Decline

See all stories in Education

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Root River Current is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit digital magazine serving the greater Root River Valley in Southeast Minnesota.

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