IRS is in desperate need of money and staff

April 22, 2022

This is not a normal tax year for the Internal Revenue Service. As millions of American households scramble to meet the April 18 filing deadline, it’s easy to view this as just another tax season that causes temporary annoyance and then fades in the headlines and minds of most people. But there’s a lot more at stake. The IRS is currently limping along without enough staff or funding. Congress, especially Republicans, needs to face up to reality. The IRS still manually enters the information on paper tax returns into its computing system because its technology is so outdated. ...

Paddling sports wonderful, but training necessary

April 21, 2022

One of the silver linings of the pandemic was that more people connected or reconnected with the outdoors. Bicycling, simple walks, gardening, visits to parks, bird watching and other outdoor pursuits surged. Paddlesports was no exception. A record 38 million people took to lakes and rivers to kayak, canoe and use stand-up paddleboards in 2020, according to the latest data from the Outdoor Foundation. The number includes 2.5 million paddlers who were new to the sports. But the increase also brought a surge in accidents. There were 331 accidents and 202 fatalities, also a record. ...

Passing computer-chip aid legislation shouldn’t be this hard

April 20, 2022

Even during a time of intense political division, the global computer-chip shortage should be something both Republicans and Democrats be in total agreement that something needs to be done. Try buying a new car. Need a new home appliance — you may have to wait weeks. Even smartphones are more expensive. Members of Congress say they want to do something to help businesses and consumers. Both the House and the Senate have passed major computer chip aid legislation in what is one of the final opportunities before the November elections to show voters they are addressing the nation’s ...

Crunch time for Minnesota Legislature

April 19, 2022

Rep. Chris Swedzinski, R-Ghent, called it the homestretch in his weekly legislative newsletter that he emailed out before the Easter break. There’s about five weeks left in 2022 session for the Minnesota Legislature. And like sessions of the past, members of the House and Senate are leaving all the big decisions to the bitter end. The Associated Press reported this weekend that there’s been little meeting of the minds between the House Democrats and Senate Republicans. Translation: A house divided. Here in southwest Minnesota, there are two items of interest that deserves major ...

Ukraine War dilemmas

April 18, 2022

Thousands of civilians, including many children, were waiting to be evacuated to safety in the Kramatorsk railway station in eastern Ukraine on Friday morning when two missiles, later reported to be cluster weapons that are banned under international law, exploded in their midst. At least 50 people died, and more than 100 others were injured. A message in Russian on the surviving casing of one missile read “For the children”. Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, understandably described the attack as the action of “an evil that has no limits”. Even amid so many other ...

Et. Cetera

April 16, 2022

Speech students advance to state Last week at the section 2A speech meet, the Fairmont High School Speech team advanced ten students to the state tournament which will take place on April 23. Fairmont’s speech program has had a very successful track record and we’re proud of this year’s team for continuing with tradition. Good luck and have fun at state! Council hears from Foundation, YMCA Earlier this week at the Fairmont City Council meeting, members of the YMCA presented information on the programming they could bring to Fairmont. It was great to hear from the management ...