With the coronavirus coming back strong, a number of governors have already ordered new — or rather, renewed — steps to combat the disease. Most are reluctant to mandate widespread business closings, however. There are very good reasons for that. Our economy may not be able to withstand ...
Good opportunity The COVID-19 virus is real. Governor Walz has shut down bars, restaurants and fitness centers. He is pausing social gatherings and organized amateur sports. The Minnesota State High School League revamped the sectional football playoffs for one more round of games played ...
American presidents need to hit the ground running, especially when it comes to national security. We have too many enemies in the world to let our guard down for even a few hours. President Donald Trump continues to challenge results of the Nov. 3 election through court challenges. That is ...
Thankfully, we have learned — at the cost of tens of thousands of possibly preventable deaths — that COVID-19 finds nursing homes to be good hunting grounds. At one time earlier in the epidemic, more than half the nation’s deaths from the disease in many state were among residents of ...
More than a few people who voted for Joe Biden as our next president were not unhappy with one aspect of incumbent President Donald Trump, we suspect. It was his pledge to battle the federal bureaucracy on behalf of the American people. Trump calls it “the swamp” — and there is ample ...
Joe Biden is not yet president-elect officially, but it seems clear he will be the nation’s next chief executive. The sooner he clarifies his agenda — especially regarding energy — the better. It is probably no coincidence that within days of the election, some energy companies began ...
Fifty years ago this last Saturday, Americans were united in the worst possible way — grief over what had happened near the airport near Huntington, West Virginia. An airliner carrying nearly all members of the Marshall University football team crashed. All 75 people aboard ...
FHS Trades Building The Fairmont School Board is seeking positive reviews and comments from the Minnesota Department of Education so they can present a $6.7 million bonding bill for the building of a 13,860 sq. foot construction trades building at the Fairmont High School. This is another ...
Animal Shelter update To the Editor: It’s time for a fall update on what has been happening at the Carl Nettifee Memorial Animal Shelter, operated by the Martin County Humane Society (MCHS). This year has definitely been challenging for everyone. We closed the shelter to the public for ...
The biggest loser in last week’s election wasn’t any of the candidates for president — not even entertainer Kanye West, who collected little more than 60,000 votes, which was less than one-tenth of 1% of ballots cast. Nor was it Donald Trump, who lost the White House to challenger Joe ...
Christmas letter To the Editor: I grew up in Fairmont and my parents still live there. My father, Dan Kehrberg, has been writing Christmas letters for over 50 years, but this year’s letter is a little different but extremely thought-provoking in my opinion. I hope you find it timely and ...
For yet another month, Gov. Tim Walz is calling a special session of the Minnesota Legislature to extend his peacetime emergency powers to help deal with the COVID-19 pandemic. The record surge of cases and deaths, and the doubling of the seven-day rolling average of the positivity The ...
Walz harming Minnesota To the Editor: Congressman Jim Hagedorn (MN-01) today issued the following statement in response to Governor Tim Walz unilaterally extending his emergency powers and imposing further harmful restrictions on Minnesota small businesses. “More over-the-top, arbitrary ...
We call them “citizen soldiers” because for most of the year, they are not in uniform but instead, among us at our workplaces, schools and elsewhere in our society. But this year, many are on the front lines of a war being fought not with firearms and other implements of combat, but with ...
Interagency Coat Drive To the Editor: Oct. 24, was a brisk fall day, yet a lot of people braved the cold to check out Martin/Faribault County Interagency’s annual coat drive in front of Twelve Baskets in Fairmont. It was heartwarming to see one individual that had no coat, and was in a ...
How fortuitous it is that this week, while the attention of millions of Americans seems focused on controversy, we take time out to honor those about whom we are in complete agreement: veterans of military service. No matter how we view politics, we are united in revering the men and women ...
Census Bureau officials’ claim the agency was able to collect information from 99.9% of the households in America strains credibility. It would during normal times, not to mention the middle of a deadly epidemic. If officials in several states, cities and organizations are right, the bureau ...
Fairmont tackles nitrates Kudos to Troy Nemmers, Fairmont city engineer/public works director. He has been working on a project for years that will remove nitrates from the watershed into Fairmont’s lakes while preserving the wetlands and wildlife. Nemmers has partnered with a number of ...
At least the Russian and Iranian operatives attempting to influence public opinion in advance of the election have ideological goals. Not so with a more dangerous class of hackers — freelancers willing to kill for money. Federal officials warned last week of a new wave of online extortion ...
COVID-19 testing is more than a matter of individuals safeguarding their own health and that of their families. It has become an important tool in limiting the disease’s spread. Recognizing that, members of Congress included an important testing provision in the CARES Act approved earlier ...