Officials in some environmental groups were not at all happy last week when President Donald Trump signed into law the John D. Dingell Jr Conservation, Management and Recreation Act. But, you say, the act is a major step in protecting the environment. What gives? Indeed, the law, named for ...
In the immortal words of Capt. Louis Renault in “Casablanca,” we are “shocked —SHOCKED” to hear that wealthy and famous parents have been using their money and influence to get their undeserving children admission to prestigious colleges and univerities. We had assumed this practice ...
The death toll from the mosque shootings in Christchurch, New Zealand, reached 50, it was reported Saturday. The 50 are Muslims, all slaughtered as they prayed at their place of worship. The suspected attacker, Brenton Harrison Tarrant, an Australian man, issued a manifesto of hatred toward ...
Clean up state’s child care program THUMBS DOWN: A Legislative Auditor’s report contains some good news, but mostly bad news on the Minnesota Child Care Assistance Program. The good news — there is no evidence that $100 million or so of the program’s funding has been funneled to ...
Technology can be built on several foundations. These include existing technology, necessity and even luck. Regardless of how new technology comes into existence, its initial cost may well be out of reach for the ordinary person. What occurs then, over time, is a buildup in supply and demand, ...
House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi appears to have recognized that the monster she helped create — an ultra-leftist fringe —is a threat to her Democratic Party’s prospects for the presidency in 2020. The question she may be asking herself is whether she retains enough political ...
We Americans have been very lucky in many ways. One of them involves the truly horrific disease Ebola. Few people in this country have given Ebola much thought since the severe outbreak in Africa during 2014-16. It killed more than 11,300 people, primarily in Guinea and Sierra Leone. Before ...
President Donald Trump is not the first politician to be the target of nitpicking by those who just can’t stand him, and he will not be the last. Still, the most recent episode — let us call it Biblegate — reaches new heights of desperation to find something, anything, to criticize about ...
His heart felt as if it would pound out of his chest, the 15-year-old boy told a resource officer at a high school in Ohio last week. The deputy called for an ambulance to take the student to a hospital. Two other boys, one 14 and the other 15, experienced similar distress. They saw the ...
Many of us have heard the phone ring, glanced down at the caller ID and seen the name and number of someone we know, answered the phone — and found ourselves talking to someone with a sales pitch or worse, a scam. It is called “spoofing,” and it enables the unscrupulous to get to us ...
Oh, no! Snow! THUMBS DOWN: We’re not sure what’s going to happen today with the weather, but the people who get paid to guess are saying Minnesota is going to get hammered with another winter storm. Wet, heavy snow is anticipated, maybe up to 8 inches by Sunday in this area. The ...
Arizona Sen. Martha McSally spent 26 years in the military, becoming the first female Air Force pilot to fly in combat. She went on to a successful career in politics, leading her to the U.S. Senate. Clearly, she is a strong woman. Yet she was shaken deeply on Wednesday, as she participated ...
Good news seems rare enough these days that when “an absolute miracle” occurs, it ought to be noticed. That is how Humboldt County, California, Sheriff William Honsal summed up the conclusion of a frantic search during the weekend. It seems that on Friday afternoon, Leia Carrico, 8, and ...
It was refreshing to see the quick action — and bipartisan action — taken in the Minnesota Legislature this week on the funding for the Minnesota License and Registration System (MNLARS). MNLARS is the 9-year, $100 million boondoggle that was supposed to update and modernize the state’s ...
By Walter E. Williams Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez claims that “the world is going to end in 12 years if we don’t address climate change.” The people at the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change agree, saying that to avoid some of the most devastating impacts of climate change, the ...
President Donald Trump continues to insist the United States needs an entirely new branch of the military, a Space Force. It is worth asking what on earth — or off it — would that accomplish? Trump seems to have watered his proposal down a bit. Now, he is willing to have the Space Force ...
It may be time for North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un to try Plan B. His initial strategy in dealing with President Donald Trump —trying to get something for nothing — flopped badly. Trump and Kim held their second face-to-face meeting last week in Hanoi, Vietnam. But Trump departed ...
On Friday, March 8, members of the Minnesota House of Representatives Transportation Finance and Policy Division will hold a field hearing from noon to 3 p.m. in the Mankato City Hall, 10 Civic Center Plaza, Mankato. The meeting is being held to gather public input on the Highway 14 expansion ...
Happy Festing THUMBS UP: With Bock Fest and Fasching coinciding on the same weekend this year, it should be a great weekend for festing. We salute organizers and for the businesses holding special events for the celebrants for their expanded shuttle service this year. Those who want to get ...
Minnesota’s $1.5 billion budget surplus, predicted back in November, is fading fast. The state’s latest economic forecast is now saying the surplus in the state budget will be just $1 billion at the end of the biennium. A slowing economy and lower than expected tax revenues are draining the ...