Breaking News

Columns

Thanksgiving day to unite to give thanks

This week, families across our state are gathering to spend quality time together, give thanks, and, of course, eat some delicious Minnesota-raised turkey. We all know we live in divided times. But this Thanksgiving, I’m thankful for the fact that what unites us as Minnesotans is far greater than what divides us:  We respect the dignity of work and the simple idea that our family members, friends, and neighbors should be able to afford a house or apartment, health care, and for our seniors, a quality place to live out their lives.   We want our kids to succeed. We want them to ...

A day at the sale barn

It had been many years since I’d sat down and watched a livestock auction in person. I was pleased to learn that most things about sale barns hadn’t changed. My wife and I raise a few Jersey steers. We normally sell them as halves and quarters of hanging beef to friends and relatives. For some reason, I didn’t have the gumption this fall to get after that process. My recent cancer treatment might have had something to do with this. In any case, we had four steers that had grown quite large and were living large on our grain. I shared this issue with our neighbors, and they ...

Am I the problem?

Dear Annie: I work at a school as a teacher and have struggled over the years with how cliquey the other teachers have been. Shortly after I started there, the pandemic happened, and many people friended each other on Facebook. Because that was the only source for a sense of community as we went through those first few dark months, I accepted many of the friend requests, and that felt good. However, a couple of years later I couldn’t help but notice how people commented on each other’s posts and tagged each other like they were friends in real life but never with me. I had gone ...

Fixing scuffed shoes

Dear Heloise: I have a pair of dressy flats in a sort of silvery-black color. I noticed that they had become scuffed and looked worn, with some of the color getting muted. It occurred to me to try putting some petroleum jelly on them. I was astounded at the difference! They were almost as good as new -- no black polish needed! -- K.G., in California HIDDEN DRAWER PANELS Dear Heloise: I had an important document that I needed to keep handy, so I put it on top of a pile of papers in my long desktop drawer. Minutes later, I went to retrieve it, but it was missing -- simply gone! It ...

Steady by jerks

“How’s it going?” is a common conversation starter. I use the reply that Grandpa Nelson favored. “Steady by jerks,” I’ll say. This has never been truer than during my recovery from treatment for tonsil cancer. There are going to be repercussions whenever they slightly kill you with toxic chemicals and blast you with ionizing radiation. Think of Superman soaked in kryptonite. More than two months have passed since my last radiation. I was told that things would continue to get worse for the first two weeks. They weren’t kidding. My mouth and throat became so sore ...

Social media: the greatest oxymoron of the 21st century

Social media has changed lives, often for the better but at times for the worse. It’s transformed how people communicate. It used to be that the phone, the postal mail and face to face were the only options. Now people have online resources and social networking sites to talk to relatives, classmates and friends. Many times it facilitates good interaction. Sometimes it’s caused confusion or even animosity. Social media is basically an oxymoron, which means that the title of the concept does not reflect its true role in society. Media is not a social outlet. Social situations ...