Karen Tolkkinen
Columnist
Greater MinnesotaKaren Tolkkinen is the Minnesota Star Tribune's greater Minnesota columnist. She has more than three decades of experience in local journalism, most recently serving as a reporter, copy editor, and columnist at the Echo Press in Alexandria, Minn. She lives with her husband and son in Otter Tail County, in a farmhouse built by her husband's great-great grandparents in the early 1920s.
Latest from Karen Tolkkinen
Tolkkinen: No shrubs, no native grasses. Was I really driving through southern Minnesota?
Intensive agriculture has eliminated much habitat.
July 12, 2025
Tolkkinen: Did I like public radio? It felt like a trick question.
The antipathy toward public media among some in rural Minnesota may soon pay off.
July 7, 2025
Tolkkinen: America is still great, awesome, beautiful and friendly
That’s the view from a road trip through the western United States. Just don’t run out of gas in eastern Oregon.
July 4, 2025
Tolkkinen: When a natural disaster strikes, why would anybody want their governor to stay away?
Gov. Tim Walz’s visit to Bemidji draws online criticism and even threats.
June 28, 2025
Tolkkinen: Bemidji will go on, but dang we’ll miss all those trees
The city and Beltrami County have declared a state of emergency while they recover from hurricane-force winds.
June 24, 2025
Tolkkinen: Rochester bishop joins Trump’s Religious Liberty Commission
Bishop Robert Barron is a well-known advocate for the role of religion in public life.
June 21, 2025
Tolkkinen: Requiem for Minnesota innocence
The violence against our political leaders is a blow to our Minnesota myths.
June 17, 2025
Tolkkinen: Farm dogs are so cute, except for all their disgusting habits
Ours makes me wonder if I truly belong in the country.
June 2, 2025
Tolkkinen: Bemidji will go on, but dang we’ll miss all those trees
The city and Beltrami County have declared a state of emergency while they recover from hurricane-force winds.
June 24, 2025
Tolkkinen: Rochester bishop joins Trump’s Religious Liberty Commission
Bishop Robert Barron is a well-known advocate for the role of religion in public life.
June 21, 2025
Tolkkinen: Requiem for Minnesota innocence
The violence against our political leaders is a blow to our Minnesota myths.
June 17, 2025
Tolkkinen: Farm dogs are so cute, except for all their disgusting habits
Ours makes me wonder if I truly belong in the country.
June 2, 2025