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Tornado tragedy

The terrible storms that struck Kentucky Friday in Illinois, Arkansas, Tennessee and Missouri cut an incredible swath of tornado damage, especially in Kentucky. The death toll is expected to exceed 100, and hundreds of thousands are suffering, their homes destroyed and communities ravaged. This tragedy is compounded as the tornadoes struck in the middle of the Christmas holiday season. We in southern Minnesota know well the kind of devastation that tornadoes can cause. We have lived through the tornadoes that swept through Comfrey and St. Peter in 1998. We also know the kindness and ...

Local governments work on keeping taxes low

What is the difference between local levels of government and more distant levels — state and federal? It seems the closer the unit of government comes to the people, the more they try to hold down taxes. We are just finishing the local government Truth in Taxation hearing time of year, when local governments prepare to finalize their budgets. For the most part, they try to set their tax levies for no more than they need to cover services and government activities. A five percent increase is about the most you see in a city council or school board budget, as the council or board ...

Jury’s supposed to make ‘right’ decision

Once again, Minnesota is the focus of the police vs. minorities struggle, when former Brooklyn Park police officer Kim Potter, a white woman, on trial for the shooting of Daunte Wright, a Black man. Potter shot Wright during a traffic stop after pulling her firearm instead of the Taser she says she intended to use. As in the trial of Derek Chauvin, and in the trial of Kyle Rittenhouse, who was acquitted in the killing of two men and the wounding of another during the protests in Kenosha, Wis., after the killing of another Black man by police, crowds are gathering and watching the trial ...

A whopping big surplus

Minnesota’s government officials must feel like the people who get a bank statement with a few more zeroes than they were expecting. They should be asking, “Is this a mistake? How did this happen?” On Tuesday the Minnesota Management and Budget office projected the state will have a $7.7 billion surplus over the next biennium. After pulling their eyeballs back in, officials should be asking what is the best way to get this extra money back to the people they took it from. With that extra cash, legislators will naturally want to use it. There are many good things that could and ...

Who gets to host Olympics?

The International Olympics Committee (IOC) is tasked with picking the host countries for the games. We wonder how their decisions are made? Apparently, concern for human rights is not on their agenda. The upcoming Winter Olympics in Beijing are a case in point. For years, the Chinese government has been violating the rights of people within its border and without. It has suppressed dissent and freedom of speech, imprisoned political opposition, and has acted with aggression toward countries like Nepal and Taiwan. It’s response when other countries call it out has been to express ...

Signs weren’t missed, they were ignored

As has been the case with so many other school shootings over several years, last week’s murder spree at Oakland High School in suburban Detroit might have been avoided if actions had been taken in the face of several obvious warning signs. Ethan Crumbley, 15, is charged with murdering four of his fellow students and wounding with intent to kill seven others. He has also been charged with terrorism. There were a series of signs leading up to this tragedy — as there usually are — that should have alerted people that Crumbley was a serious threat. He had displayed disciplinary ...