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We need time to be thankful

What a year in which to have an opportunity to purposefully gather our thoughts and be thankful. We need Thanksgiving 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 untouched by the wrath of a deadly virus, economic setbacks, political turmoil and so much else that has made this a year to remember (or, for some, to forget). Those fortunate few can, indeed, be thankful. But for the vast majority of Americans, this Thanksgiving day will bring reminders — ...

Boosters for all won’t help unvaccinated

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention agreed with the U.S. government in approving COVID vaccine boosters for all adults last week, and urged all adults over 50 to get them. This approval recognizes the data that has been developing, showing that the vaccines’ effectiveness begins to wane after time. It also recognizes that the vaccine remains the best protection against the COVID-19 virus. Boosters are a great idea for those who have been vaccinated. What is an even better idea is if people who have not been vaccinated would roll up their sleeves and get their initial ...

Juries decide verdicts, not public opinion

On Friday, the jury in the trial of Kyle Rittenhouse delivered a verdict of not guilty on all five counts in the killing of two men and the wounding of another during the protests following the shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black man, by a white Kenosha, Wis. police officer. This was a case fraught with the strong racial and emotional elements of the George Floyd murder. This case also included arguments over vigilantism and gun control. There are strong opinions on both sides, those who say Rittenhouse was a vigilante who went to Kenosha from out of state looking for trouble, and ...

Thumbs Up/Down

Community dinner THUMBS UP: Thanksgiving is just around the corner, and the New Ulm Community Friends are getting ready to feed hundreds of members of the community, many of whom have become their friends over the pst three decades. The Community Thanksgiving Dinner is just that, a turkey and trimmings dinner for anyone who wants to share some time with others on the holiday. In a way it harkens back to the first Thanksgiving when the Pilgrims gathered together as a community, with their Native American friends, and celebrated surviving their first year in the new world. This is a ...

Concord Singers Day

We’ve often wondered why government officials will sign proclamations naming such and such a day as (Your Group’s Name Here) Day, and then not present the proclamation until the day is almost over. Seems the day should be proclaimed well in advance so everyone can prepare to enjoy it. That’s not the case with New Ulm’s Ambassadors of Good Will, the Concord Singers. The group is celebrating its 90th birthday with a free concert on Saturday and the proclamations have been proclaimed well in advance. In fact, there are duelling proclamations. The Brown County Commissioners ...

Calling in medical reinforcements

Governor Tim Walz is calling in reinforcements from the Department of Defense. Because the surge in COVID cases is overwhelming the staff at some hospitals, the department of Defense is sending in emergency medical workers for the Hennepin County Medical Center and Centra Care, which runs the St. Cloud Hospital. We are sure there are doctors and nurses in hospitals throughout the state who are feeling overwhelmed as well, who could use some reinforcement. Perhaps the DOD can’t provide enough emergency medical workers to give all of them a break. But we can all do something for ...