Fishing opener

THUMBS UP: Whether the walleyes are ready or not, it’s fishing opener weekend. The late, cold, wet spring doesn’t bode well for fishing up north, so Gov. Tim Walz took his Fishing Opener about as far south as you can get, in the Albert Lea area, barely ten miles north of the Iowa border.

While he’s wetting the line with his legislative buddies, we hope they’re talking a little bit about the state’s budget. A week from Monday is the end of the legislative session, and there has been no movement by Democrats or Republicans on a budget compromise.

If they can come up with a handshake on the budget while they’re fishing, we won’t care if the walleyes are biting or not.

Honoring Moms

THUMBS UP: If its Minnesota Fishing Opener Weekend, that must mean it’s also Mothers Day. Those two events being on the same weekend makes as much sense as all the New Ulm proms being on the same Saturday. Yes, there are a lot of mothers who enjoy fishing, but there are many who don’t.

So whether Mom likes to fish or not, be sure to let her know you appreciate her this Sunday.

RENU progress

THUMBS UP: Things are starting to happen with the RENU program. The New Ulm City Council this week approved a contract for improvements for Johnson Park. This is one of the projects being financed by the extension of the New Ulm municipal sales tax. The $1.375 million in improvements are expected to be ready by the time New Ulm hosts the Minnesota State Amateur Baseball tournament in the next couple of years.

We’ve heard that surveyors from the Bolton & Menck engineering firm will be doing topographical surveying around the New Ulm Recreation Center next week, the start of the design portion of that part of the project.

Good things are coming for New Ulm’s parks and recreation facilities.