During his successful election campaign, President-elect Joe Biden insisted he did not favor a “green new deal” approach to energy. Now, however, it appears he may be poised to deliver a one-two punch in that very direction. First, Biden said he will name former secretary of state John ...

Considering last May’s state revenue forecast, the new projections announced Tuesday are absolutely rosy. From a $2.4 billion shortfall in the current budget to a $641 million surplus is good news indeed. Even a projected $1.3 billion shortfall in the next budget is a welcome figure, compared ...

COVID-19 has been an enormous challenge to the nation’s public school system. It has forced tens of millions of students to stay at home, often for months at a time, rather than go to class. Give educators credit for doing what they could with “remote learning.” Thrown suddenly into a ...

Unless members of Congress find some way to compromise and give Americans an early Christmas through a new round of COVID-19 relief funding, the holiday season will be grim for tens of millions of people. President Donald Trump can do little about that — but he can do something. Among many ...

Wreaths look nice THUMBS UP: The Christmas wreaths lining Minnesota Street are a nice substitution for the traditional garlands that have graced downtown New Ulm during the Christmas season for decades. In truth, the number of garlands had dwindled over the past several years, becoming ...

President-elect Joe Biden is being urged by some to include a Native American in his Cabinet, possibly as secretary of the Interior Department. If he does that, the person named would be the first Native American ever to serve in the Cabinet. Proponent of such action have a person in mind: ...

What a year in which to have an opportunity to purposefully gather our thoughts and be thankful. We need this day, which like so much else this year is different. We need this reminder to look toward what is good, and that for which we can, still, be grateful. Some have been blissfully ...

Federal CARES Act assistance has been invaluable for many American families and businesses. Without it, what appears to be a record-setting recovery from the financial crisis caused by COVID-19 would not be occurring. Millions of families with laid-off breadwinners would be in desperate ...

U.S. Food and Drug Administration officials and scientists are in a raee against death. It is one they must undertake in a cautious sprint. Two COVID-19 vaccines appear nearly ready to go. Before doses already on the production line can be distributed, the FDA has to approve ...

Dealing with COVID THUMBS DOWN: No one is happy about the new restrictions ordered in by Gov. Tim Walz this week, not even the governor. But neither is anyone happy about the rise in COVID-19 cases that precipitated these restrictions. The chart of the cases per month prepared by Brown ...

We have learned — at the cost of tens of thousands of possibly preventable deaths — that COVID-19 finds nursing homes to be good hunting grounds. At one time earlier in the epidemic, more than half the nation’s deaths from the disease in many state were among residents of long-term care ...

To the editor: I was puzzled by a reference in a recent letter to the editor of “ordinary Americans.” Aren’t we just ALL Americans? May we never forget our connection to each other and always treat each other with kindness and respect. Marcella Bode New Ulm

More than a few people who voted for Joe Biden as our next president were not unhappy with one aspect of incumbent President Donald Trump, we suspect. It was his pledge to battle the federal bureaucracy on behalf of the American people. Trump calls it “the swamp” — and there is ample ...

The steep spike in COVID-19 cases in Minnesota, including Brown County, are callling for more serious measures to help stop the spread. Gov. Tim Walz is expected to announce new measures today, which could impact bars, restaurants, gyms and health clubs, youth sports and other ...

With the coronavirus coming back strong, a number of governors have already ordered new — or rather, renewed — steps to combat the disease. Many are reluctant to mandate widespread business closings, however. There are very good reasons for that. Our economy may not be able to withstand ...

American presidents need to hit the ground running, especially when it comes to national security. We have too many enemies in the world to let our guard down for even a few hours. President Donald Trump continues to challenge results of the Nov. 3 election through court challenges. That is ...

COVID’s rise THUMBS DOWN: The numbers just keep going up, here, across the state and across the country. More and more people are becoming infected with the COVID-19 virus, and more people are dying. This is a serious threat, but people can help slow the spread. We have urged our readers ...

At least the Russian and Iranian operatives who were attempting to influence public opinion in advance of the election have ideological goals. Not so with a more dangerous class of hackers — freelancers willing to kill for money. Federal officials warned recently of a new wave of online ...

The day after Gov. Tim Walz announced new measures to try to contain the spread of COVID-19 in the state, we got new evidence of why that is necessary. The state recorded a record 56 COVID-related deaths on Wednesday, 20 more than the previous record. There are other signs of the growing ...

We call them “citizen soldiers” because for most of the year, they are not in uniform but instead, among us at our workplaces, schools and elsewhere in our society. But this year, many are on the front lines of a war being fought not with firearms and other implements of combat, but with ...