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SEE.SAFE.SMART: We cross here; watch for us

Columns

Throughout New Ulm, the Heart of New Ulm and the Safe Routes to School Action Team are working hard to promote walking and biking as a form of transportation and recreation. There are so many benefits associated with walking and bicycling that it seems like a no-brainer. However, if people don’t feel safe doing either, they most likely won’t do it. Whether walking or driving, we all need to be good role models to ensure safety for everyone — and especially our children who are walking to school. In surveys conducted by the Safe Routes to School Action Team, New Ulm parents have ...

Hell hath no fury like MAGA scorn

Letters

To the editor: If a picture is worth a thousand words, what is the array of Epstein/Trump scrapbook photos worth? The words coming from the President’s Democratic critics are plentiful enough. But the questions emanating from the president’s usually sycophantic MAGA acolytes are especially angry and positively scathing. Hell hath no fury like MAGA scorned. (Remember their reaction on Jan. 6?) MAGA has embraced and cheered the president’s countless lies that demean his adversaries. However, when he’s lied to them about releasing the Epstein files, his staunchest supporters ...

The truth on crime in D.C.

Letters

To the editor: Trump is deploying National Guard troops to D.C. and West Virginia (red) and South Carolina (red) have announced they are sending National Guard troops to D.C. as well. Trump has singled out Chicago, Los Angeles, and other cities in blue states ignoring the crime rates in red states as justification for this action. Here’s the facts. Nine of the top 15 cities for violent crime are in red states. Memphis, St. Louis, Birmingham, Kansas City, Cleveland, Little Rock, New Orleans, Toledo, and Dayton all make this list. New Mexico (blue) has the highest violent crime rate ...

Parental panic

Columns

Dear Annie: My father has always been a deeply anxious man. If there is nothing to worry about, he invents something. Growing up, this often meant high-stress evenings when my siblings or I were out with friends or running late. I still remember one night when my dad woke my mother in a panic, convinced my brother had been in an accident. She calmly asked what time he was due home. “Midnight,” he said. It was only 10:30 p.m. My mother, now gone, had a gift for staying calm. But at 93 years old, my father is still ruled by his worst-case-scenario thinking. And now, that constant ...

Prioritize your well-being

Columns

August is National Wellness Month, a time to focus on self-care, stress management, and building healthy habits that support overall well-being. In our busy lives, it’s easy to put ourselves last, but caring for our physical, mental, and emotional health is essential—not a luxury. Even small, intentional steps toward wellness can boost energy, improve resilience, and help us show up as our best selves for the people and commitments that matter most. This month invites us to pause, reflect, and invest in ourselves. Neglecting self-care impacts both mind and body. Chronic stress, ...

An airhead at an air show

Columns

The blue Helldiver — a WW II single-engine dive bomber — was taxiing placidly down the runway when its wing abruptly dipped. The airplane came to a halt at an unsettling angle. Its right wheel had strayed off the paved runway and onto its border, which had been turned into mush by a lengthy spate of monsoon-like rains. “This is wonderful!” I thought. “That’s exactly the kind of thing that might have happened in real life. This is so authentic!” Thus began the Victory at Sea airshow, held recently at the Fagen Fighters WW II Museum located near Granite Falls. The ...