There’s continued hysteria coming from various groups in our nation to abandon those who protect all the people of this nation. One must ask…and replace them with what?

How can someone accused of murder be smiling?
That’s what many people were asking themselves after they saw last week’s newspaper offering the most recent booking photo of Lois Riess from the Steele County Detention Center. I know I was one of them a little taken back by her smug smile. Though she is behind bars and we know she isn’t going anywhere, it still was an eerie and unsettling feeling.

Our nation watched in horror, via television, as a Minneapolis man was allegedly killed by a Minneapolis police officer. Riots broke out. Stores and homes were looted and burned. Police were forced to abandon the Minneapolis Police Department’s third precinct because of George Floyd’s death had been caused by police.

David Allen Noble, age 86 of Blooming Prairie, passed away Tuesday, July 21, 2020 at Timberdale Trace Assisted Living in Owatonna.
David was born Feb. 1, 1934 to Albert and Ludmilla (Kvasnicka) Noble. He graduated from Blooming Prairie High School. He married Shirley Brudwick and together had four children. They later divorced.

Jerry Gail Struthers, 77, of Kasson, passed away on Monday, July 20, 2020 at Mayo Clinic Hospital Saint Mary's Campus in Rochester.
Jerry was born on Oct. 18, 1942 in Cyrus, MN to Bernard and Florence (Mathison) Struthers. He worked at NRI, formerly named the Waters Instruments of Rochester for over 35 years. 
He enjoyed woodworking and the metal arts. 

Lowell Claire Johnson, 81, of Dodge Center, died on Sunday, July 19, 2020, at Mayo Clinic Hospital Saint Mary’s Campus in Rochester. 
Lowell was born on April 25, 1939 to Oscar and Norma (Lienau) Johnson in Sioux Falls, where his father worked for Oliver Tractor Company. 

Joan Marjorie (Thompson) Vanden Heuvel, 86, went home to Jesus on July 20, 2020, at her home in Geneva, Minn., following a short battle with acute myeloid leukemia.
Joan was born on Sept. 12, 1933, on the family farm outside of Ellendale, to Anna Julia (Thompson) and Ole O. Thompson, the youngest of three children. She graduated from Ellendale High School at the age of 16 as class valedictorian.

Lucille J. Althoff, 104, of Dodge Center, died July 13, 2020 at Field Crest Care Center in Hayfield. Lucille was born Sept. 18, 1915 in Grenville, SD to Kazmir and Josephine (Koslowski) Wirkus. 
Lou married Frank E. Althoff Sept. 2, 1941 in Detroit Lakes. They lived in various cities in Minnesota before settling in Dodge Center in 1950 to raise their children. They moved to Zumbrota in 1970 and returned to Dodge Center in 1982.

Floris Juanita Holderness, formerly Floris Henslin, passed away peacefully in her Hayfield home on July 12, 2020 at the age of 92.  
Floris (Flo) Voorhees was born on March 22, 1928 in Clayton Township. She was welcomed by her parents, Florence and Edward Voorhees, and her grandmother Ida Peterson, who, as a trained midwife, had the honor of delivering her first grandchild.