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Letters

Another side of protesting

To the editor: Dissenting in Kleindienst v. Mandel (1972), U.S. Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall observed that “the freedom to speak and the freedom to hear are inseparable; they are two sides of the same coin.” A word to protesters: If someone is speaking and you interrupt them so they cannot be heard, you are taking away their Constitutional right to speak. If you are blowing a whistle in someone’s face while they are trying to speak, you are interfering with their right to speak. The right to free speech includes the right to be heard. People who show up at protest ...

Work together rather than spreading hate

To the editor: Beware of what you say. It can cause extremists to attempt assassinations. Let’s start with Elon Musk. He did no damage to our government. His job was to point out waste and fraud and he did. Brad Finstad is doing a great job in Washington D. C. that he was elected to do as our 1st District Representative. Brad has worked hard to promote a farm funding bill that will help the farm economy now and for the future. He has held meetings within the district to inform the public of this program. Addressing wealthy people...wealthy people own companies that help the ...

Keep shotgun regulations in place

I live down on the Minnesota River between Judson and Courtland. Lot of deer, hunters and homes with kids. Up and down the road my neighbors and I agree on on thing: No rifles. Lets think about this. Trespassing, shooting from the road right-of-way, shooting too close to buildings, road hunting and shooting across public roads are just a few of the violations that occur during deer season. Now add high powered rifles. I attended both public meeting on this. Deer hunters wanted rifles. For everyone else, safety was the main concern. If you combined attendance, the slight majority was ...

Let the people decide fate of MN flag

To the editor: I write in response to Anita Gaul’s article May 13 on the opinion page. As Vice Chair of the State Emblems Redesign Commission Anita voices her opinion that the new flag design was completed under completely open and fair circumstances. Apparently Anita is also chair of the Lyon County DFL Party, and I find that fact to be very telling. Anita says the new flag was created by members representing “diverse constituencies” (Democrat DEI language). Most of us had no idea this was even happening. Anita takes to task Paul Torkelson’s comments that not all ...

Losing two tourism attractions

To the editor: I want to thank The Journal for a very informative article on what tourism means to the New Ulm area. Unfortunately, we have lost two historic sites that at one time brought many visitors to New Ulm from all over the world. Namely, the Harkin Store and Fort Ridgley, both owned by the Minnesota Historical Society. Harkin Store was an 1870 general store; original building with some of the artifacts still left when it closed. The site told the story of riverboat traffic, the riverboat town of West Newton, pioneer life and shopping the general store (the Walmart of its ...

Telling the story of an American hero

To the editor: On Saturday, May 2, New Ulm hosted a Memorial Tribute Program honoring New Ulm native and Medal of Honor winner Captain Willibald Bianchi.  Over 500 people were in attendance at the new National Guard Readiness Center.   As most of you know, the remains of Capt. Bianchi were identified in 2025 through advanced DNA testing and recently returned to New Ulm 85 years after he left for World War II.    The memorial was made especially meaningful by remarks from Chaplain (Lt. Col.) Timothy Usset, VFW Commander Tom Roesch, Mayor Kathleen Backer, US Senator ...