Madelia aid

THUMBS UP: On Friday, Gov. Mark Dayton signed into law the bill that includes the aid package for Madelia business affected by last year’s fire. The aid bill, with the assent of legislative leaders and the governor, was attached to a wetlands bill instead of waiting around for another omnibus tax bill. The aid bill provides $1.4 million to Madelia and $296,000 to Watonwan County to offset property tax increases for rebuilt businesses in downtown and help with essential public infrastructure repairs.

This was all, of course, legislation that should have passed in the last session, but got caught up in the last minute trampling of the bonding bill and the governor’s tax bill veto. The fast tracking of the aid now assures that it won’t get waylaid again.

We’re glad the aid has passed, at last, but we still have to shake our head at the mess that our legislative process has become.

Eagle girls

THUMBS UP: The New Ulm High School girls’ basketball team, after years of struggle, finally had the kind of season you can put in a scrapbook and be proud of. Unfortunately, the season ended a bit earlier than the Eagles would have liked Thursday when they fell to Waseca in the Section 2AAA title game, one win away from a state tournament trip.

We can only say congratulations to a team that has been working and building toward this for a long time. A record of 23-6 is a great accomplishment. New Ulm is proud of you.