On Wednesday, the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) reported two more Minnesotans died in September as a result of vaping-related injuries. This brings the number of vaping related deaths to three. To date, according to the MDH, Minnesota has 73 patients classified as confirmed or ...
Conventional wisdom — even its more intuitive cousin, common sense — sometimes needs to be tested scientifically. This year’s winners of the Nobel Prize in economics are living proof of that. Michael Kremer of Harvard University and Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo of the Massachusetts ...
President Donald Trump’s decision to pull U.S. troops out of an area of northern Syria controlled by Kurdish military forces is being criticized widely, by both Republicans and Democrats. It is being portrayed as a betrayal of a staunch ally in the war against Islamic terrorists. It is all ...
Not all whistleblowers are involved in the attempt to impeach President Donald Trump. Some are worried about a more critical matter — the safety of airline passengers. Ethiopian Airlines former chief engineer, Yonas Yeshanew, is seeking asylum in the United States after resigning from his ...
Oktoberfest weather THUMBS UP: The organizers of New Ulm’s Oktoberfest were probably hoping to have just one more weekend of nice weather for the final weekend of festivities, but Mother Nature is not inclined to comply. Forecasts call for temperatures in the mid to upper 30s, with rain and ...
Minnesota’s First District Rep. Jim Hagedorn borrowed a phrase from former Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart when he said at his Madelia town hall meeting Wednesday his definition of an impeachable offense is, “you know it when you see it.” Stewart said of pornography in a Supreme ...
What happened in a Dallas, Texas, courtroom last week ought to be celebrated as an unexpected triumph of compassion — not slammed as an alleged case of misbehavior by a judge. If you have not heard about the trial of ex-Dallas police officer Amber Guyger, you should. And you should look at ...
It seems few days have gone by recently without some new revelation regarding the House of Representatives impeachment inquiry that targets President Donald Trump. Clearly, the president and some of his allies used their positions in efforts to advance Trump’s political prospects. Whether ...
It has been suggested by some that the current scare over e-cigarettes is overblown. Though hundreds of Americans have been hospitalized with respiratory ailments linked to “vaping” and a few have died, calls to ban the products are not realistic, critics say. But there is a valid, ...
Are leaders in Congress unable to walk and chew gum at the same time? That is, are they capable of multitasking on major issues? Some are speculating they are not. Recall that just a few weeks ago, in the wake of more mass murders, lawmakers vowed to debate steps to reduce the likelihood of ...
Oktoberfest fun THUMBS UP: Oktoberfest is proof that if you aren’t having a good time in New Ulm, you are deliberately trying not to. These two weekends are so full of music, activities, parades, food and ethnic beverages that it’s hard to avoid having fun. Oktoberfest is spread out all ...
Apparently, President Donald Trump believed he could score some political points by releasing the transcript of a July telephone call between himself and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. Whether that is true remains to be seen. But one thing is obvious: Partisan politics has become ...
“We found that DEA was slow to respond to the significant increase in the use and diversion of opioids since 2000.” This week the Inspector General for the U.S. Department of Justice released a summary of its look at the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s pathetic response to the ...
So-called “red flag” laws are being debated both in Congress and state legislatures in attempts to curb mass murders in the United States. Red flag laws would enable law enforcement authorities to take guns owned by people deemed by the courts to be clear threats to public safety. But the ...
California now has a law that allows college student-athletes to make money — legally —through endoresement deals, selling autographs and so on. It allows them to do a lot of things that would normally bring down NCAA punishment on themselves and their colleges. The law points to the ...
What is the most serious respiratory illness threat facing Americans today? If you answered “e-cigarettes,” we commend you for keeping up with current events. But that is the wrong answer. The correct one is influenza. On average, about 8% of Americans contract the flu each year, ...
Walk for Diabetes THUMBS UP: The New Ulm and Lafayette Lions Clubs are holding their annual Diabetes Walk this morning. It is a worthy effort to raise funds to seek a cure for this widely spreading disease. It is also an occasion to call attention to the Minnesota Legislature’s lack of ...
For months, House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi has resisted the full-throated cries of some members of her caucus to impeach President Donald Trump. Pelosi saw the futility of launching an impeachment investigation for strictly partisan reasons. Such a move might make it through ...
New Ulm clearly has an emotional attachment to George’s Ballroom, the iconic building on Center and German Streets that was the site for many a dance, concert, wedding celebration and other events for decades. People will tell you about the good times they had, how they met the love of their ...
Curious, is it not, that the major industrial power doing the most to battle climate change is the target of the bulk of criticism regarding that concern? With a new general session of the United Nations underway, multiple world leaders are citing worry about a range of issues. In fairness to ...