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Jeff Ettinger will keep his oath

To the editor: On January 6, 2021 I settled down to watch the peaceful transfer of power following the election. Instead I was confronted by live pictures of an angry mob attacking my nation’s capitol along with shouts to “Hang Mike Pence” the Vice President of the United States. On Monday, Oct. 17, I watched the debate between incumbent, Brad Finstad and Jeff Ettinger. Finstad, an incumbent who had taken an oath to “support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic” when asked for his impression of the January 6th Committee ...

Zins for Nicollet County Commissioner

To the editor: Kurt Zins would be a great county commissioner representing District #5. I’ve know Kurt for more than 45 years and know him to be reliable, conscientious, and dedicated to his values. He’s always been a conservationist of land and wildlife. Kurt even worked for our company for a time and excelled at being a team player interacting with our employees immediately. The job required him to travel a multi-state area learning different markets, products and different customer bases that helped him be successful. As a business owner Kurt is used to dealing with many ...

Let Willkommen truly be welcomed

To the editor: One of the central values within our community is “Willkommen,” which even appears on the sign as one enters town. My concern is that many of our LGBTQIA+ neighbors feel quite the opposite, not only unwelcome, but also unsafe in our midst. I understand the opposing viewpoints regarding homosexuality well, as I grew up with one firm perspective within my Christian family. Through the authentic faith expression of LGBTQIA+ people I have known, however, I firmly believe that working toward welcome and understanding is the more grace-full Christian path. I grew up in ...

Too many letters from cranks

To the editor: Thirty years ago, Carl Pfluger wrote a great essay, “On Cranks.” If one submits more than four letters per year to the editor of one’s local newspaper, chances are, one is a crank. Here are a few takes from Pfluger’s essay: “A crank is a man possessed by a rampant idea… Anyone may have ideas, but a crank’s idea has him… We recognize a crank not by the content of his thought but by its style… I suspect that most people, on hearing a man described as a crank, cannot help making some association with the ubiquitous machine of the same name. We have, ...

Data — let’s check the sources

To the editor: I saw the letter to the editor by Ms. Jan Platz today (10/25/2022) I would like to know where Ms. Platz got the information — 50% increase in crime. I checked the FBI web page which has not released the 2021 or 2022 data (I only saw 2019 data there). USAFACT.ORG doesn’t have that data either. The BBC (British Broadcast Corporation)’s article “US crime: Is America seeing a surge in violence?” - https://www.bbc.com/news/57581270, doesn’t show the numbers remotely close to what Ms. Plaz mentioned. (Yes, I read news web sites of different countries.) Ms. ...

Elect challengers

To the editor: As the General Election comes nearer, it’s time to endorse candidates. ISD 88 is front and center in my mind. The ISD 88 website lists current MCA scores at: Science 50%, Math 50%, Reading 51%. I would say those are dismal scores by any measure, and would have earned me an “F” with an exclamation point in 1979. The website also lists goals for the district. 1.) Increase growth in state/national assessments by 3% each year. (Again, a dismal failure as scores have declined by 3-6% overall over the last 4 years. 2.) Advance Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity (DIE). ...