The Minnesota Legislature opened its session this week, and one of the big questions is what should the state do with the $1.3 billion surplus the state is expecting. We have an answer for at least some of it. It would cost about $90 million to complete the expansion of Highway 14 to four ...
To the editor: President Donald Trump has been saying for the last three years or more, “a witch hunt,” sometimes he said it was a “hoax.” He was right on both accounts, there is a witch and there was a hoax. Anybody who watched President Trump’s State of the Union Address Feb. 4, ...
To the editor: On Jan. 3 of this year, the US Armed Forces launched a drone attack that killed a member of the Iranian military. The attack was carried out by our forces on Iraqi soil without requesting permission or even notifying our erstwhile ally. The target, Major General Soleimani, was ...
Some other governments spare no effort to gain advantage over U.S. businesses and consumers. Trade barriers such as tariffs and unreasonable restrictions in the name of product safety are examples. But some — including China — are involved in all-out assaults on Americans. Theft of U.S. ...
I like to run a couple times a week, usually on Sleepy Eye’s lake trail or a gravel road. This time of year, when the great outdoors isn’t so great, I sometimes use the track at Vogel Arena. I was there, pushing one foot ahead of the other. A ten minute-a-mile pace is a fading memory. But I ...
These days, it seems as if there is an “app” for everything. But the fiasco last week with the Iowa Democratic Party’s presidential nominating caucuses is a reminder that the appeal of new technology needs to be tempered by concern over reliability. Iowa’s caucus process is the first ...
To the editor: As I rolled the garbage container to the end of the driveway, I was overtaken by the beauty of the early hour. Every single branch and twig was individually wrapped in frosty cellophane. As the sun’s rays peeked over the horizon, the tops of the trees appeared as halos, and I ...
To the editor: President Trump delivered a very powerful State of the Union address on Feb. 4. He stated the many accomplishments that are being implemented for the country in the past three years, one of them being more women in the workforce than ever before. The women in the Democratic ...
So ... getting more worried by the day about the coronavirus epidemic center in China? Officials report more than 722 deaths among the approximately35,000 patients with the disease, which has spread to 25 countries. Indeed, a few cases of panic have been reported. In one case, a man ...
Hopes for Hwy. 14 THUMBS UP: The Minnesota Department of Transportation is seeking funding this year for expanding Highway 14 from two to four lanes all the way to New Ulm, MnDOT announced on Thursday. If MnDOT can get the $50 million Infrastucture for Rebuilding America grant it is ...
It may be impossible to devise a foolproof safeguard against bias on the part of jurors in criminal trials. Last month, Keith Tharpe reminded us why we need to keep trying. Tharpe, 61, died Jan. 24 in a Georgia prison — still under a death sentence dating back to 1991. He was convicted of ...
On Dec. 17, 2019 the City Council approved the final budget for 2020. The process that goes into creating a city budget is a long, complicated and challenging process that starts in May each year. Staff starts by estimating all the expenses each department will have in the coming year. Once the ...
The impeachment of Donald John Trump ended Wednesday just as the most casual political observer knew it would. The Republicans in control of the Senate held firm (except for Sen. Mitt Romney) and voted to aquit the president on the two articles of impeachment that the Democrats in control of ...
The Iowa Democratic Caucuses on Monday seem to have run into Murphy’s Law, which states, “If anything can go wrong, it will — and at the worst possible time.” Iowa Democratic party leaders apparently decided to hire a developer to create a new mobile app for reporting unofficial ...
Get ready to vote in the 2020 presidential nomination primary. Voters who meet the Feb. 11 pre-registration deadline will save time at the polls on Election Day — March 3, or if you are in a mail ballot precinct you can be assured of having a ballot mailed to you. Voters must update their ...
Gov. Tim Walz renewed his party’s push to pass Alec’s Bill, a bill introduced in the past legislative session, passed by the Democratic House but not the Republican Senate, to provide asssistance to diabetics who can’t afford the high cost of the insulin they need to stay alive. The ...
To the editor: The Journal of Jan. 28th had an editorial on the Holocaust (“Keep history of Holocaust alive”), and the Journal of Jan. 29 had a long article on it, also on the editorial page (“The human face of the Holocaust”). It does seem a little odd that the figure of six ...
Creative thinking to save school Thumbs up to the Fairfax City Council for offering the GFW (Gibbon Fairfax Winthrop) Board of Education no-charge utilities for the Fairfax school if the board decides not to close it this fall. In addition, the city council approved a resolution to assist ...
There is no doubt that the U.S. Senate will vote against impeaching President Donald Trump. That has been clear from the beginning of the impeachment process last fall. But the Senate is duty bound to conduct the trial of the president, based on the articles of impeachment passed by the ...
To the editor: There’s an old adage that says adversity doesn’t build character, it reveals it. Unfortunately, the recent tragic fatal accidents on Hwy 14 have revealed Dan Feehan’s character. I am appalled that anyone would be so desperate to achieve elected office that he/she would ...