At times it seems few in the federal government worry much about enforcing the law. Millions of illegal immigrants are evidence of that.Then, out of the blue, a few bureaucrats decide to show just how heavy Uncle Sam's hand can be.It happened at the Social Security Administration, which used ...

With last week's one-year anniversary of the Boston Marathon bombing comes the realization that it might not have occurred had U.S. intelligence agencies merely heeded warnings from Russia.Months before the bombing killed four people and injured hundreds, Russia's intelligence agency alerted ...

Sales tax figuresTHUMBS UP: Some good news about New Ulm's economy emerged this week. The New Ulm Park & Rec advisory board heard that revenue from the New Ulm municipal sales tax hit a record high in 2013, with $1,283,483 taken in. The city collects a half percent sales tax to pay off ...

Minnesota State University-Mankato football coach Todd Hoffner might have expected some rough spots in his return to the program this week. We doubt he was expecting the entire team to boycott the first practice on his return.That's what happened on Wednesday. Hoffner, who was wrongfully ...

Former Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice is scheduled to speak today at the University of Minnesota as part of the Humphrey School of Public Affairs' Distinguished Carlson lecture series, which this year is focusing on civil rights.We would imagine that a black woman who was born in the mid ...

On Tuesday Boston marked the anniversary of last year's Boston Marathon bombing, the most serious terrorist attack on U.S. soil since the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.Three people were killed in the explosion of homemade bombs that were designed to maim and ...

Sometimes it must seem to the public that the more researchers learn about homicidal teenagers, the less we really know.For example, we suspect many people understand that quite a few violent rampages by teenagers and pre-teens involve "loners" - youngsters with few or no friends, who just ...

Gov.?Mark Dayton is set to sign the Minimum Wage bill passed by the Democrats in the Legislature. The bill will take the state's minimum wage from among the lowest in the nation to among the highest. On paper, anyway. We don't know how many people are actually paid the state's minimum wage. ...

Tuesday, April 15, is the deadline for filing income tax returns. But Tax Freedom Day for Americans, on average, is April 21 this year. That is the day on which, according to The Tax Foundation, we as a nation will have earned enough money to pay our local, state and federal tax bills.Since ...

Town hall meetingTHUMBS UP: District 88 held its first "town hall" meeting this week, a chance for members of the public to get together with school board members and administrators to ask questions, get answers and offer opinions on what's going on in the district.About 40 people showed up for ...

Disappointed and confused. That's how I feel about the lack of focus on transportation this legislative session.The case has been made that there needs to be an investment in our state's transportation system. This is demonstrated in MnDOT's 20-year plan, which barely has the resources to ...

Integrator. Increasingly at New Ulm Medical Center (NUMC) we see that a key role for us is to be the integrator of health services for the region we serve. Each year nearly 25,000 people trust us with their primary health care and make over 100,000 visits to our medical center for a broad range ...

Minnesota has a new anti-bullying law, the Safe and Supportive Minnesota Schools Act, passed over the objections of the Legisalture's Republican caucus and signed by Gov. Mark Dayton.It's going to do terrible things to schools, say its critics. It will force schools to follow one policy ...

The DFLers on the Minnesota Senate Rules Committee have passed - on a strictly partisan vote - a lower cost plan to build a new Senate office building near the state Capitol.The plan has a reduced price tag from the original $94 million plan that included a senate fitness center and a ...

Programs to help U.S. servicemen and women suffering from mental challenges, including post-traumatic stress disorder, have been around for decades. Clearly, more effort needs to be put into them.After Army Spc. Ivan Lopez shot and killed three people and wounded 16 others before killing ...

Last week I took part in the Red Cross Blood Drive at St. Mary's School. Giving blood is quite relaxing. The staff is exceedingly friendly. First, they screen you for a few things. Bubonic plague, Ebola virus, sex with strange people in strange countries? No, no, and nope, you're good to ...

Adults have every right to take risks, as long as they understand that if taxpayers have to foot the bills to get them out of jams, they will be liable for part or all of the cost.But putting children in jeopardy through bad judgment is something else again.In March, Californians Eric and ...

The First District Republican endorsing convention was quite a contrast this year to the 2012 marathon that resulted in no endorsement, and is blamed by many Republicans for the Republicans' loss to U.S. Rep. Tim Walz in the general election.In 2012, after 14 hours and 23 ballots, delegates ran ...

Snow could be worseTHUMBS UP: When you get a big snowfall in April, it's very helpful to look on the bright side. We'll give it a try:First, it could have been a lot worse. With some weather forecasters predicting New Ulm was going to be among the hardest hit areas, with up to 12 inches ...

We have commented in the past on the folly of legislators using state constitutional amendments to turn their partisan agendas into state law when they lack the votes to get it done by regular means. Republicans in recent years tried to use amendments to make marriage between a man and a woman ...