Opinions
Sen. Nelson says in a column on this page, the Minnesota Legislature has gotten off to a fast start for the 2024 session. Some of the first things to be considered seem to be benefitting from at least an attempt at bipartisanship.
One of the first things legislators did was to come to an agreement...
It has been a busy couple of weeks in Saint Paul! This year looks quite different from the previous session, as our massive $19B budget surplus has been spent, and the recent announcement of a projected structural budget deficit looms for 2026-2027. Recently, the office of Minnesota Management and...
For the past five months, this newspaper has been battling a thorny issue of legal publication involving mostly a local school district and a pair of newspapers and to a lesser extent some local government entities.
We brought the issue to light last November when we exposed Triton Schools for...
Factory farm water pollution has made headlines in Minnesota for months. Unfortunately, things are moving in the wrong direction. The latest U.S. Department of Agriculture’s twice-a-decade census of agriculture, released in February, finds that Minnesota’s factory farms are raising more animals...
The 2024 Legislative Session is underway. It was great to be back in Saint Paul representing your voice at our Minnesota State Capitol.
It was a joy to be joined by my granddaughters, Winter and Piper, my son, Joshua, and his wife, Chelsea, and my husband, Terry, as we gaveled into the 93rd...
Since 1986, Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation (SMIF) has invested $56.9 million in grants in our 20-county region. While these grants support a wide range of projects — from providing books to young children to supporting small town growth — they each have had a transformative and...
Congratulations are in order this week for a number of local high school students.
The Wildcats girl’s hockey team accomplished a milestone over the weekend, winning their first ever trip to the girl’s hockey state tournament.
The Wildcats were scheduled to meet Fergus Falls at the Xcel Energy...
Imagine that your community needs funding to build a trail system which will draw tourism to the area. Or perhaps your town needs better broadband access or a housing plan. Whatever economic development initiative your city or county is working on, there is a good chance you will need to use an...
The new legislative session begins on February 12. Though we will not be crafting a new state budget this year, Minnesota faces a challenging fiscal situation that will significantly impact what we can realistically accomplish.
Last year, the state had a record $19.5 billion budget surplus. However...
I recently sent the DCI a one sentence letter to the editor stating: “I predict that Donald Trump will not run for President but will run for Russia within six months.”
Karen wrote back to say it was too short, so if this gets too long you can blame her.
My prediction is based on several things I’...