Lately, southwest Minnesota has cropped up a lot in a variety of online locales. Here are a few instances:

• An article from the Pioneer Press featuring Gary Crippen, a retired appellate judge, who happens to be the brother of former Daily Globe editor and current columnist Ray Crippen. Said Ray: "Gary was born and reared at Worthington, was a partner in the Mork law firm and then was appointed to the Court of Appeals. He lives in St. Paul."
• Here’s a blog allegedly written by Worthington native Tim O’Brien, a pretty famous author. I can’t say for certain it’s really O’Brien writing it.
• Staff Sgt. Devon Bruns and his daughter Madison were snapped by the Mankato Free Press before he shipped out to Iraq. Cute photo!
• And of course, everything written about Matt Entenza mentions that he’s from Worthington.
• A Strib columnist wrote about Daily Globe columnist Scott Rall recently. It’s about pheasants, conservation and hunting.
• Former Worthington resident Dave Grimmius was featured in an article by the St. Peter Herald, about the mixed emotions of Packers/Favre fans regarding the Vikings controversy.
• Here’s a story from the Jackson County Pilot about housing in southwest Minnesota, with a focus on Jackson.
• The Minnesota Independent mentioned the Elizabeth House in Worthington.
• The Minnesota Immigrant Freedom Network posted a piece about its executive director, Mariano Espinoza, who is an elected member of the board of the Worthington Area Language Academy.
• MPR had a really great article about the Karen people (from Burma), and mentioned that quite a few of them have come to work in Worthington.

Finally, I definitely recommend you check out the Flickr stream of Debora Drower, who has photographed buildings throughout southwest Minnesota, showing architectural detail, old, fascinating signs and a little bit of urban-rural decay. It’ll make you give your community a second look.