Nine years in the Minnesota Senate teaches you plenty. You see good ideas rise, bad ones fall and a whole lot in between. But lately, the thing that keeps jumping out at me is that more and more laws from the last few years aren’t surviving in court. The pattern is hard to miss. A ...

“Your everlasting summer you can see it fading fast / So you grab a piece of something that you think is gonna last.” — Steely Dan, “Reeling in the Years”, 1972 My wife and I have been doing a bit of salsa recently. I mean the sauce, not the dance. Her new titanium knee is much ...

I’ve had conversations with farmers this summer that include, “This is the best crop I’ve ever seen.” Then we quickly remind each other that nothing is in the bin yet. Farmers can never appear to be exuberant. Restraint must be shown. Being a farmer means you are an odd mix of ...

This weekend we embark on the last big weekend of the summer, the three-day Labor Day weekend with all of its normally nice weather and fun times. Many of us will spend at least part of the holiday outdoors. We’ll camp, hike, swim, go boating or fishing, or have a picnic. We’ll connect ...

Life close to the river: this was among the first and most enduring impressions I had of Ulm — how much life, activity, and relaxation happens around — and on — the Danube River. Below is my second of three articles about my time participating in the Hans Joohs Exchange in Ulm, Germany. ...

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Our hearts are heavy as we grieve with Annunciation School as well as the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis following the tragedy that took place this morning. We extend heartfelt prayers for the victims, their families, the school community, and ...