Stay off closed roads

THUMBS DOWN: What is it about rules that make some people think they apply to everyone else, but not them? Apparently there are a lot of people with that mindset traveling between New Ulm and Hanska on County Road 13. Rather than obey the “Road Closed” sign and the yellow vested workers hard at work replacing shoulders on the freshly repaved road, they are just driving right on the fresh pavement, which hasn’t had a chance to cure completely. It got to the point where the Brown County had to issue a public reminder this week to stay off the road. Motorists who violate the order can be fined up to $1,000 and/or serve up to 90 days in jail.

A couple of citations and penalties might help get the word across.

Farm Families

THUMBS UP: We know that farming has changed a lot over the years, and family farms look a lot different than they did a generation or two ago, but farm families continue to thrive and prosper. The University of Minnesota Extension Service selects farm families in every county to honor each year, and lauds them at Farmfest.

This year the Brown County Farm Family of the Year is the Dan and Lynn Hacker family from Sleepy Eye. The family does a lot of traditional farming, raising corn and soybeans along with hogs, but they also started raising Christmas trees in the 1980s, and that’s what makes them special today.

Congratulations to the Hacker family.

Revisit park plans

THUMBS UP: The New Ulm City Council has OKed the donation of a Vietnam Veterans memorial, honoring the six New Ulm men who los their lives in that war, to be placed in German Park.

It should be a beautiful addition to the park, but the discussion about the proposal raised the question of the German Park plan and whether this monument fits in with it.

It would not be a bad idea for the city to revisit the plan for German Park, which was developed some 30 years ago, see where we are at with the park, and what future development should be.

There should be an overarching plan for parks in New Ulm. We have a lot of them, suitable for different uses, and some new discussion on how they should be developed would be useful.