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Trump prefers Kim over Carney

Two guys in the news lately are Kim Jong Un and Mark Carney. President Trump takes pains to be polite and respectful to Kim while he tries to bulldoze Carney into dust. Kim Jong Un is the supreme leader of North Korea. When his father died in 2011, State television identified him as “the great successor to the revolutionary cause.” Since then he has become marshal of the Korean National Party, secretary of the Workers Party of Korea, president of the State Affairs Commission, commander-in-chief of the Korean Armed Forces and chairman of the Central Military Commission. Whatever ...

Protect southern Minnesota history

I recently visited Fort Ridgely because I wanted to learn more about the history of this important place in southern Minnesota. Instead, I left feeling very sad and disappointed. What I found was heartbreaking. An estimated 75 to 80 percent of the historical plaques and signs at the site have been destroyed or are no longer there. Without those plaques, visitors have very little information to explain what happened at Fort Ridgely or why this place is important to Minnesota’s history. I also understand that the site is maintained by the Minnesota Historical Society. If that is the ...

Putting up sign is shameful

Representing half the population is an almost impossible job, but brave men and women try. I am ashamed of the people who put up a sullied picture of First District Congressman Brad Finstad on the billboard out by Hy Vee. I was shocked that anyone could be this mean. Nobody deserves to be so publicly and blatantly dishonored for making decisions that they believe are in the best interest of their constituents. Our country is divided with differing opinions on almost every issue, and we owe kindness to those who are trying to represent their side of the population. Germaine Rysdahl ...

Fritz showed passion as a reporter

I worked in the Journal newsroom for 24 years, about 20 of which beside Fritz Busch. During that time, I met many writers from whom I learned many, many different tricks of the trade. Some wrote with enviable flair, others with concise clarity. Longtime Journal editor Kevin Sweeney, with both. But almost never, or perhaps simply never, did I meet a reporter with a more brightly burning passion for news. Fritz is a news hound. No news is uninteresting to him. He simply sniffs out the quirky, the clever, the silly, the sublime... Or perhaps news finds him. Fritz would tread through a ...

Thanks to Fritz for dedicated service

I want to congratulate our good friend Fritz Busch on his retirement from full-time reporting at The Journal, and to thank him for his tireless service in New Ulm, Sleepy Eye, Brown County, and the surrounding communities. If you were like me, you raced to the end of the article and, thankfully, together we learned Fritz plans to continue being a part-time correspondent. His experience, institutional knowledge, fairness, and steady presence will remain available to the communities he covers. Thank you, Fritz, for your dedication to local journalism and for helping ensure that the ...

Because of my Catholic faith, I’m voting for Jake Johnson

Every Sunday morning growing up, my mom, my dad, and my nine siblings would tumble out of our Ford Club Wagon and cram into the same front pew in our small town church. On this particular morning in early Fall of 1996, my 10-year-old heart swelled with pride as my pastor stood behind the pulpit and praised our California State Senator, Dick Mountjoy, seated just a few pews back, for being “so vocally pro-life.” Later at home, my dad paused as he flipped through political mailers in our kitchen. “I think it’s really great that Dick Mountjoy is pro-life, but I won’t be voting ...