Since the restrictions on dine-in services were lifted on Jan. 11, how often have you gone out to eat?

Early Childhood Family Education (ECFE) and Eagles Preschool are Community Education programs that offer programming for children and their families from birth to kindergarten. Our ECFE program held both in-person and virtual parent-child classes for families this fall. We offered four ...

(I completed this Wednesday morning. The events of that afternoon give everything a “before and after” quality, so we delayed running it. Pictures from the Capitol were the type we have seen of places far away or long ago, places where society has broken down. To see them here is beyond ...

Mayor Robert Beussman is interested in hearing from New Ulm citizens who wish to be considered for volunteer appointment to a variety of boards and commissions. The appointments are for the following board and commissions that assist the New Ulm City Council in conducting normal day-to-day ...

Do you have a New Year’s resolution?

We look forward to 2021 with the optimism that we can rebound from the chaos of 2020. Every one of us has experienced difficulties and hardships that were not known a year ago. With all of the challenges and unknowns, New Ulm Public Schools continues to provide great educational experiences ...

What do you wish for 2021? (Asked at the Schell’s Brewery mansion Christmas Day.)

It’s a long list of things that COVID has taken from us, many of them distressing. Seed shopping isn’t on top of the list. But I’m going to miss it. After harvest, I sit down with Dan Steffl in his pole barn office with a Grain Belt to talk farming and consider Pioneer Seed choices for ...

To residents of Brown County: As you think about your winter plans and upcoming holiday season, please consider fostering a local child in need. This pandemic has hit struggling families harder than anyone else and the demand for new foster and resource families has surged. Brown County is ...

Do you think we’ll have snow for Christmas?

What do you want for Christmas? (Asked at the New Ulm Sertoma Club Santa’s Closet preparation at the New Ulm National Guard Armory Dec. 11.)

To make coffee in our kitchen on one foot and using a walker, you need to shuttle things to intermediary spots along the way. Between the sink and the coffee maker is a table and a cupboard. You shift the pot with water from one to the other to the other while hopping on your lone leg. You need ...

We often get asked how do I use your service? Where do you operate? Who can use Heartland Express? I am going to try to answer these questions plus many more. First of all we are fare free until Jan. 1 2021, and possibly longer depending on the wishes of the county board. The reason we are ...

What is your favorite Christmas song?

I’ve spent a lot of my time on Earth alone. Farming has meant many hours alone on a tractor or working in the yard. A part-time job in the summer has me walking fields, just me, the crops, and the fenceline. Going back, my older siblings were leaving home when I showed up. Close brother Dean ...

What did you do on Thanksgiving?

I was talking to Dale, a former farm kid. I was telling him how harvest was going. Dale tolerated me a while, and then said, “You corn and bean farmers. You’ve got about as much to do as me mowing my lawn. You get your machinery out a few times a year like I get my lawn mower out.” My ...

New Ulm Public Schools has over 2,500 staff and students spread out in four buildings every day, 7- 8 hours per day. Based on the numbers involved, we have been extremely fortunate with the lack of COVID transmission in our buildings. The issue we have experienced for the past month is one ...

How are you keeping entertained as pandemic shutdowns increase?

The Welcoming Communities Project of New Ulm, Sleepy Eye, and Springfield is continuing to meet via ZOOM. In our last article for The Journal, we discussed the definition of racism, types of racism, and how our understanding of racism affects community relationships and interactions. Now ...