Getting to know the candidates

THUMBS UP: New Ulm is fortunate to have an organization like the League of Women Voters of New Ulm, which is continuing its mission this election year of bringing information to the voters.

Every election season the league sponsors candidate forums, which highlight the local races. Candidates for school board, city council and county offices get to sit side by side and take questions from the League’s moderators, and from the audiences. It is a simple, non-partisan format that gives all candidates equal chance to make themselves known to the voters.

The League featured school board and legislative candidates this past week, and on Monday will give New Ulm City Council and Brown County Attorney candidates an opportunity to be heard.

Thanks again to the League of Women Voters.

No Polar Vortex

THUMBS UP: Some of the best news to come out of Washington in a long time came this week when the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) predicted there would not be a repeat of last winter’s polar vortexes that shoved all that frigid weather down our throats last year.

Of course, the bad news is that NOAA?is predicting a normal, average winter. And in Minnesota, an average winter can be pretty miserable.

Oh well, take comfort where you may.

Historic settlement

THUMBS UP: Catholic Church officials and abuse victims were brought together during a news conference Monday announcing the historical legal settlement that will require the Archdiocese of St. Paul to overhaul its reporting of clergy sex abuse, how reports are investigated and how it responds to abuse victims.

No decision will ever wipe the victims’ slate clean and make them forget about their past, but what happened earlier this week at least allows them to move on with their lives. One highlight of the settlement is a 17-point “child protection plan” that will go a long way to helping abuse victims heal.

We hope it also puts an end to the past practice of covering up past abuses and shuffling predatory pastors around to other communities, where they were free to offend again.