Get ready for I-90 work

Things are about to get busy — busier — on Interstate 90 near Fairmont. Nearly $40 million in road work is scheduled over the next two summers on the 20-mile stretch from Fairmont to Blue Earth.

The Minnesota Department of Transportation held a public meeting on the topic in Fairmont this week. While the interstate will remain open, traffic will be reduced to single lane in each direction over the course of the project.

We advise drivers to be ready, for the sake of safety and so they remember to add extra time to their trips.

Nothing but politics

Republican lawmakers in Iowa have passed a bill limiting the power of the state’s attorney general. The lawmakers are frustrated that a Democratic attorney general in an otherwise Republican-led state is taking action to oppose some initiatives of President Trump. The bill would require the AG to get the permission of the governor, executive council or Legislature to pursue out-of-state lawsuits.

Let’s be honest here. This is all about politics. As are the attorney general’s attemps to thwart President Trump. It’s difficult to see any integrity by either side.

Why schedule them?

Not to get too snarky or to beat a dead horse, but if Fairmont Area Schools can so easily “forgive” nine snow days for students, why schedule them in the first place? Don’t those days hold educational value beyond the state’s minimal required hours of instruction?

The school board forgave the snow days this week, taking up the state on its one-time offer to do so without penalty. Staff will have to make up four days.

We cannot help but wonder if students aren’t the ones being shortchanged, even if they appreciate the board’s decision.

Art all around us, always

We extend our congratulations to those students who participated in and earned honors in the annual student art show held at Red Rock Center for the Arts in Fairmont. (The show continues through May 1.) Kudos also to Red Rock for offering this great opportunity to area students.

People may think of art as esoteric, but it is literally everywhere, across a broad range of mediums. It adds color, meaning and information to our lives. And whether we are talking something hanging in your home, appearing on a billboard or popping up on a phone, someone has to create it. So perhaps Red Rock is helping to create careers. We’d like to think so.