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Drug price deal important for seniors

As the Democrats in Congress worked on the final draft of the $1.75 trillion domestic policy bill, one of the parts that fell by the wayside was legislation to lower the cost of prescription drugs. Fortunately, a deal announced Tuesday brings it back into the bill, smaller perhaps than before, but still an important win for the nation’s seniors . According to Sen. Chuck Schumer, for the first time Medicare will be able to negotiate prescription drug prices in its Part B and Part D programs. There is also a $2,000 cap on out-of-pocket costs for those older Americans with the Part D ...

Please vote in ISD 88 election

We know it doesn’t feel like an election year, and most eyes in Minnesota are going to be trained on the results from the Minneapolis city elections, and their question on whether to replace the Minneapolis Police Department with a nebulous Department of Public Safety. But there is an election in New Ulm and the area for two District 88 questions. One would provide for the long term financial stability in the district by replacing two about-to-expire tax levies with one ten-year levy that would collect the same amount as the other two. Approving this question would mean the school ...

Another ‘Last, best hope’ for climate

The U.N. climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland, opened Sunday, billed as a “last, best hope” for putting a dint in the climate change that is happening around the globe. For the next two weeks, representatives from 200 countries around the world will try to hammer out agreements and goals for reducing the amount of greenhouse gases the world is producing. Countries will be laying out their plans for reducing the burning of coal, gas and oil, and dealing with the impact of climate change. Unfortunately, some of the major producers of greenhouse gases are not planning to fully ...

Thumbs Up/Down

Grand Opening THUMBS UP: The New Ulm Rec Center had its official grand opening Friday, only a few days later than planned. It was a brilliant day, and the ceremony was a fitting one for the $15 million expansion. New Ulm should be proud of the expansion at the Rec Center, and we hope everyone gets a chance to tour, and perhaps even try out the facilities. The aqua facilities are especially worth seeing. A good scare is fun THUMBS UP: People seem to get a thrill out of being scared, especially the harmless fright of a spooky “haunted house” that comes around on Halloween. New ...

Whittling away at the plan

President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better plan is being whittled away. Biden announced a breakthrough agreement on Thursday before heading off to summits in Europe, but there are still a lot of details to be worked out and deals to be made before a vote is taken. The former $3.5 trillion plan is now down to $1.75 trillion — turning it into perhaps a Build Back Better than Nothing bill. Progressive members of the House are upset at the loss of some of their top priorities — paid family leave and efforts to lower prescription drug prices, for example, are gone from the bill. But ...

Minneapolis asked to approve public safety pie in the sky

Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo said it quite clearly and accurately on Wednesday, talking about the Minneapolis ballot question to replace the Minneapolis Police Department with some ill-defined Department of Public Safety. “To vote on a measure of reimagining public safety without a solid plan and an implementation or direction of work — this is too critical of a time to wish and hope for that help that we need so desperately right now,” he told reporters. “I was not expecting some sort of robust, detailed word-for-word plan, but at this point, quite frankly, I ...