Do you think it’s worth spending a lot of money to hang Christmas garlands over Minnesota Street?

How are you staying warm in this cold weather?

A few times during our oddly moderate winter, I noticed Pam’s Toyota had a slight sluggishness when I started it. If you are a northerner, you notice those things. I was suspicious of the six-year-old battery. Our winter is no longer “moderate.” Sure enough, after the car sat in ...

Why are you outside on a day like today? (Asked at the Sleepy Eye Sportsmen’s Club Fishing Derby)

One of the roles of Brown County Human Services is to support the health and safety needs of seniors and individuals living with disabilities. We do that through comprehensive assessments, providing case management services to authorize and manage long-term services and supports and the ...

Who do you think will win the Super Bowl on Sunday?

Time goes by. Sometimes it flies by. I decided I would grab it as it went past. I mean a minute of it. 4:48 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 24, 2021 to be exact. I don’t mean stopping time. It’s silly to imagine I could do that. But I wanted to take a moment and put it in my mind. Like pickling it in ...

My thanks go out to all of our paraprofessionals! It is paraprofessional recognition week and we are so grateful for the work they do in our buildings for our students. Patience, adaptability, understanding and compassion are the traits they exhibit – constantly encouraging our students to ...

I have noticed listening to music and praying occupy the same space in my head. Use of either is a good sign, meaning my life has balance and harmony to it. Less time in prayer and music means I am caught up in the world and it’s immediate concerns, of which there are many. I thought about ...

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.)