The Mille Lacs County Times

Location defines what to call those violent storms •Dear Mr. Know-It-All: What’s the difference between a hurricane and a typhoon? Curious Chris •Dear Chris: The answer is location, location, location! Typhoons and hurricanes are the same kind of storms but they happen in different parts of the world. Hurricanes happen in the Caribbean and parts [...]

•Dear Mr. Know-It-All: Who invented 24-hour days, seven day weeks, and years with 12 months and 365 days? Your friend, Ima Curious •Dear Ima: The concept of a 24-hour day started four or five thousand years ago in Egypt. Egyptian insomniacs noticed 12 star formations that consistently rose over the horizon one at a time [...]

What qualifies food as ‘organic’ •Dear Mr. Know-It-All: Some grocery stores have a section for “Organic Foods.” I thought things like rocks were inorganic and all food was organic. I don’t want to ask the grocery store people because I don’t want to look dumb. Puzzled in Pease (not my real name and not really [...]

Reader Questions if Mr. K really needed •Hey, Mr. Know-It-All: I don’t believe that you really know it all. And even if you do, why would I need you to find an answer to a question? It’s easy enough to look up anything I need to know on the Internet. Skeptical Sammy •Dear Sammy: I [...]

•Dear Mr. Know-It-All: There was a hail storm the other day and it got me wondering how hail is formed and why it comes with some storms and not others? Thanks, Leona D. •Dear Leona: Hail comes from a big ice machine in the sky. If lightening from a storm hits the ice machine just [...]

Dinosaurs are to blame for those jarring potholes •Dear Mr. Know-It-All: What causes potholes? Why are there more in the spring? Ben T. Axel •Dear Ben: When my kids were small, they asked me what caused potholes. I said, “Millions of years ago, dinosaurs laid eggs and buried them under the roads. Some of them [...]

What to do with old baby cribs? Dear Mr. Know-It-All, I’ve been told that the old baby crib I saved for my grandkids to use isn’t safe anymore. Why? And what can I do with a crib that isn’t baby-safe? Granny S. Dear Granny S, The Consumer Product Safety Commission says cribs are the most [...]

Dear Mr. Know-It-All, Why is Easter in March some years and the end of April other years? I never know if I’ll need new Easter shoes or new Easter galoshes. Bunny Ray Bitt Dear Bunny, It is odd, isn’t it? Christmas is always Dec. 25 and Thanksgiving is always the fourth Thursday of November, but [...]

Dear Mr. Know-It-All, What do you know about Saint Patrick? Why drive all the snakes out of Ireland? Don’t snakes eat mice and rats? And why do people wear green and claim to be Irish on St. Patrick’s Day? Warren O’Green Dear Warren, I know plenty about Saint Patrick and it’s all good. He was [...]

What do women want? Dear Mr. Know-It-All, Here’s a question I bet even you can’t answer. What do women want? Mystified in Milaca. Dear Mystified, I bet I can answer your question because I have been researching it my entire married life! My research has consisted of learning what women (at least the one I [...]