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Keep rail companies honest

Preliminary reports from the National Transportation Safety Board indicate that automated alerts triggered by track monitoring devices may have been ignored just prior to the train derailments in Sandusky (Ohio) in October and in East Palestine, Ohio, earlier this month. In other words, human error. According to news reports it happened both here and there and the outcome in both instances could have been avoided if the alerts had been observed and the trains stopped for correction. Heat detecting devices along the tracks found train wheels overheating just prior to the ...

Maintaining legitimacy of Supreme Court

The U.S. Supreme Court is the pinnacle of the American judicial system, so one might assume that justices on the highest court in the land would be held to the highest possible ethical standards. In fact, they are exempt from a code of conduct that applies to other federal judges, though Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. has said that they consult that code in assessing their ethical obligations. That’s not good enough at a time when the court is facing a crisis of public confidence, with trust falling to a 50-year low even before justices overturned Roe vs. Wade in June. If the ...

When dealing with China, trust and verify

In the closing years of the cold war, as relations between the Soviet Union and U.S. thawed, Ronald Reagan adopted a Russian proverb: trust, but verify. These days, with Sino-U.S. relations chilling rather than warming, there is precious little trust, and limited ability to read the other’s intentions accurately. Relations were deteriorating long before the Chinese balloon floated into U.S. airspace and the military shot it down. Everyone knows that the U.S. spies on China and vice versa; it is also obvious, despite Beijing’s feigned outrage, that it would take swift action ...

Haley in race first could be advantage

Former S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley made it official this past week: She is seeking the GOP nomination for president. The announcement, not surprisingly, met with enthusiasm in her hometown (Bamberg, S.C.), where Mayor Nancy Foster said, “We think it’s wonderful. She’s a native of Bamberg and we’re just excited that she’s thinking about running.” First and foremost, Haley is stepping out front to challenge former President Donald Trump, for whom she served as United Nations ambassador. Trump has made it clear he is running and the real drama is waiting to see how many ...

What’s the right age for marijuana bill?

Medical advocates say 25 is the best minimum, but it will likely be 21 if cannabis is legalized in Minnesota this session. Ask Minnesota’s medical community what the minimum legal age for recreational marijuana use should be — if state lawmakers approve it — and the response is generally some version of this: “Ideally it would be 25, but that’s not happening.” Their resignation reflects reality on several fronts. There is serious momentum at the Legislature to allow adults age 21 and up to use cannabis for nonmedical reasons. If passed, the measure would expand action taken ...

Thumbs Up/Down

Snow Week survival THUMBS UP: The “snownami” that was predicted for Minnesota this week came along right on schedule, but it was not quite as dire as predicted. We don’t think anyone will complain about the fact that we didn’t get 20 to 24 inches of snow, as some computerized weather models predicted. Fourteen inches is plenty, if you ask us. We are thankful for the advances in weather forecasting and technology that allows meteorologists to be able to predict, days in advance, when we can expect an unusual and potentially dangerous weather event. It is always better to be safe ...