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Understanding the Permanent School Fund question on November ballot

As Minnesotans begin voting in the Nov. 3 general election, there is one question on every ballot that directly relates to public schools across our state. It concerns Minnesota’s Permanent School Fund — a resource that has been supporting public education for generations. The Permanent School Fund is not a new program or a new source of taxation. Its roots go back to Minnesota’s earliest days as a state, when land was set aside for the benefit of public education. Today, Minnesota maintains approximately 2.5 million acres of school trust land and mineral rights on ...

Gone antiquing

Our old neighbor Al Warnes had a knack for malapropisms that were unintentionally amusing. For instance, “transplant” always came out as “replant” as in, “She got a kidney replant.” And “rummage sale” was unfailingly pronounced as “rubbish sale.” That last turn of phrase ...

Two journalists with passion for news

I am a big fan of newspapers in general and local journalism in particular. My reading world took a blow when two friends announced their retirement in the same week. Fritz Busch is stepping down to a part-time role as staff writer at The Journal in New Ulm. Deb Moldaschel is leaving the Sleepy Eye Herald Dispatch where she has been helping out after a stint as editor. Fritz and Deb are my age and I’ve known them as far back as I can see. The age we are is made interesting by seeing how all of us boomers wrangle with this thing called “retirement.” Many of my friends are ...

Straight facts about history

When I started reading the latest (9/5/26) column by Randy Krzmarzick, I was thinking back to our own vacation in Europe this spring, and the beautiful city of Prague. However, unlike Mr. Krzmarzick, I do not recall thinking about past wars there, for the simple reason that wars have been a part of history since the Biblical times, through ancient, medieval, and modern history, and everywhere in the world, be it Europe, Asia, Africa, or the Americas. And let’s remember that murdering Jews during the Holocaust had nothing to do with God (even though thousands of people were murdered ...

Can’t control vanishment powers

I was about 6 years old when I discovered that I have an extraordinary talent for making things disappear. I owned a Barlow jackknife that had both a long blade and a short blade. This meant that I was prepared for anything from fending off a ferocious tiger to cleaning my fingernails. That pocketknife was my constant companion. One day I decided to try my hand at whittling, having found a funky stick that looked as though it could be carved into a likeness of the Statue of Liberty. I reached into my jeans pocket and found… nothing! Well, not exactly nothing. There were a few old ...

Getting history straight during trip to Europe

When I write one of these, it’s like sewing a rug. I take a bunch of ideas and stitch them together till I have a column that I can shake outside and put on the floor. Today, I have a lot of loose ends. These are remnants from our trip to Europe in June. Instead of rug, it might come out looking like a bunch of rags. We spent a week in the Czech Republic and a week in Poland with two daughters, a son-in-law, and a 10-year-old grandson. Part of that was seeking ancestral places. Part of it was touristing. Both those countries were behind the Iron Curtain 50 years ago when I ...