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The danger of lead poisoning

In the Fall of 2024, some households were notified that there either may be, or are, lead water pipes supplying water to their homes. The notification is appreciated. The problem is supposed to be fixed in the Spring of 2025. Whether you received a notice or not, understanding the danger that lead represents is beneficial for all of us. A complicating factor in lead poisoning is that you cannot see, taste, or smell the lead to which you are being exposed. There is absolutely no safe level of lead in the blood or the body. Even if lead is in the blood for only a few weeks, during those ...

Earth action day: Unleashing our power for our planet

April 22nd will mark the fifty-fifth anniversary of Earth Day.  The power of those 20 million voices that came out on the streets that first Earth Day led the U.S. to create the EPA and the first generation of environmental laws addressing clean air, clean water and toxics.   Fast forward to today. Under the banner of, “Our Power. Our Planet”, EARTHDAY.ORG, the global organizer of Earth Day, is calling on people from all walks of life to join in “Earth Action Day” — an effort to once again mobilize people power to tackle the current generation of environmental ...

Sharing Easter memories through greeting cards

Easter is a strange holiday in that it’s constantly moving around on the calendar like a hyperactive mouse who has just consumed its body weight in caffeine. If you were born on the Fourth of July, you would know that your birthday always falls on the fourth. Its day of the week varies from year to year, which means that you are given a three-day weekend every few years to celebrate or recover from your birthday. Not so if you were born on Easter. The formula that determines the dates for Easter involves tracking the phase of the moon and checking to see if Jupiter has aligned with ...

Make difference against sexual assault

For the month of April, WoMen’s Rural Advocacy Programs, Inc., (WRAP) would like to discuss sexual assault, awareness, and prevention. Since 2001, the month of April has been coined as the National Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM) and has helped to make huge strides to bring awareness and a voice to survivors of sexual assault. Statistically, every 68 seconds someone in the United States is sexually assaulted, which is a total number of 531,810 people that were sexually assaulted in the year 2022 alone. The state of Minnesota reported at least 8% of 8th graders experienced ...

Adventures in babysitting

Babysitting a 4-year-old boy is not for the faint of heart nor for anyone who hasn’t spent at least six months training for a triathlon. Toddlers are perpetual motion machines. In addition to constantly being on the move — a toddler never walks when he or she can either skip or run — preschoolers seem to think that they should always be humming or singing or simply making some sort of noise. Just watching a toddler is exhausting; keeping up with one should be classified as an Olympic event. My wife and I babysat our grandson while our son and daughter-in-law were away on a ...

The consequences of lack of empathy

This might be the best time of the year. Believe me when I say I’d like to write about spring or planting or baseball. Then I saw a picture. There was Kristi Noem, Homeland Security Secretary, standing in front of a prison in El Salvador. Behind her, behind bars, were a few dozen men, shirtless with their heads shaved. They are dark-skinned. It was news for a minute on March 27. Nothing lasts in the spotlight as we are barraged by efforts to redo the government and turn our nation into something different than it was. Sometimes it’s hourly, sometimes it’s minutely. The ...