Farm bill may pass soon

There may be some movement on a federal farm bill. That is good news for producers in southern Minnesota and northern Iowa, as well as the ag businesses that work with them.

Republicans in the U.S. House had wanted work requirements for those obtaining food stamps but faced Senate opposition. Now, with the pending Democratic takeover of the House, Republicans are looking to get the best bill they can, before it’s too late.

In order to plan, farmers need to know what the farm bill will include. The sooner it passes, the sooner they can look ahead.

Hopeful on new policy

The city of Fairmont listened to residents and studied options in coming up with a new snow emergency plan. The city continues to do a good job getting the word out about its plan, and how residents can make snow removal go smoothly.

Fairmont faced a huge snowstorm last January that put a huge burden on snow removal crews. The new policy, in part, stems from that event. But we believe Fairmont had a longer-running problem with snow removal. That isn’t to blame anyone, but just to note that snow removal here lagged behind other communities. We are hopeful the new policy will bring needed change.

Thank you, educators

Today wraps up American Education Week, and we would like to extend thanks to all of those who work at the schools in the Fairmont area.

While education today has its problems and issues, we believe that the many individuals involved in it are caring people who are dedicated to a demanding profession. They are up against the big questions about the best ways to fund education and instruct kids, as well as the day-to-day challenges in the classrooms and dealing with unhappy parents. Yet they go on, knowing they are doing needed work. Thank goodness.

Probe still drags on

Each week, it seems, there is a fresh round of hyperventilating about the possibility that President Trump will kill off the Mueller probe into Russian interference in the 2016 election. The latest batch of worry began when Trump appointed Matt Whitaker, a past critic of the probe, as acting attorney general. The attorney general oversees the Mueller investigation.

Then came news Thursday that Whitaker has said the Mueller probe will proceed.

Duh. It would be far more damaging to the administration at this point to try to end the investigation. That said, it would be nice if Mueller could get on with it. How long is he going to take?