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Minnesota can wipe out what is now a multibillion-dollar black market on sports betting and transform it into legal, regulated industry that would benefit tribes — including poorer ones — and protect consumers while also generating funds for youth sports in disadvantaged areas. While there are many details to be worked out, the positives outweigh the negatives enough that the state should take this opportunity. Much has happened to upend the gambling landscape in recent years. In 2018 the U.S. Supreme Court, in a landmark ruling, struck down a federal law that had long prohibited ...

Tax collectors: Cut some late filers a little slack

Filing your Illinois taxes online is generally a good way to go. It’s pretty easy, it’s quick, and -- if you use the Department of Revenue’s “MyTax Illinois” program -- it’s free. But there’s a little bug in the system right now that could cause filers new to MyTax Illinois to wind up filing late. And it behooves the Department of Revenue to make an effort to find a remedy. Until this year, taxpayers could file form IL-1040 on MyTax Illinois without creating their own account. This year, registration is required and it’s for a good reason: Maura Kownacki, IDOR ...

Good riddance to sandhill crane hunting — at least for now

Sandhill cranes, beautiful birds that mate for life, return to Wisconsin this month after wintering in Florida. Their summer home might not be safe for much longer. Hunters want state lawmakers to add sandhill cranes to Wisconsin’s list of game animals. The last time it was open season on sandhill cranes a century ago, humans drove the birds nearly to extinction in the eastern half of the United States. Let’s not make the same mistake again. Too much hunting and destruction of habitat in the 18th and 19th centuries almost wiped out sandhill cranes. By 1936, only about a dozen ...

Inflation solution won’t come easy

President Joe Biden announced Thursday he is going to start releasing a million barrels of oil per day from the nation’s strategic petroleum preserve for the next six months to control spiking energy costs. The addition to the nation’s fuel supply should impact the price at the pump, which is contributing mightily to the nation’s inflation problem. This is a good first step on the way to taming inflation, but it isn’t a fix-it. Inflation is a complex problem with a multitude of factors and it is not going to be solved easily. Republicans have their own ideas about gas prices, ...

‘Yes men’ won’t tell you what you need to know

According to an Associated Press report Wednesday, U.S. intelligence officials believe Russian President Vladimir Putin is getting bad information from his advisors about how things are going for his troops in Ukraine, and how economic sanctions are hurting the country. According to the intelligence, Putin’s advisors are afraid to tell him the truth. Who wants a trip to Siberia, or a poke with a poison-tipped umbrella? If the report is true, it makes one wonder about the intelligence Putin received before the invasion of Ukraine. Did his advisors truly underestimate the ability ...

Vaccination still best COVID protection

The Food and Drug Administration and the Center for Disease Control are recommending that people aged 50 and older could get a second booster immunization against COVID-19, if it has been at least four months since they got their third immunization. People 65 and older and younger people with high risk factors are especially encouraged to get the fourth shot. That’s a good idea, but what is an even better idea is for people who are unvaccinated to get their shots, and for those who have not yet gotten their boosters to get their third. Vaccinations may not be perfect — people ...