List shaping up in First District

March 9, 2022

There is a week left in the filing period for candidates to run in the special election to replace the Rep. Jim Hagedorn. So far, the list of candidates is leaning far to the right. Four Republicans have filed to run to fill out the rest of Hagedorn’s term. The one DFLer is Richard W. Painter, a University of Minnesota law professor who converted to the Democratic Party a few years ago after serving as the chief White House ethics lawyer in the Bush Administration from 2005 to 2007. He unsuccessfully challenged Sen. Tina Smith in the 2018 DFL U.S. Senate primary. We suppose it is ...

Putin blames the wrong people

March 8, 2022

Russian President Vladimir Putin warned Saturday that the Ukrainian state was in jeopardy, and he knew just who to blame — the Ukrainians themselves, or at least the democratically elected Ukrainian leaders who have pushed poor Vlad into sending his troops into their country, and refuse to accept their presence by defending their country. Putin has been spreading lies and manufacturing offenses to give him an excuse to invade Ukraine. Now that the Ukrainian resistance is slowing him down while the world unites against him, Putin continues his lies by blaming his victims. Meanwhile, ...

Racism needs to be defeated in New Prague

March 7, 2022

If you still need convincing that education about equity, racism and social justice have no place in our schools or in our communities, then take a look at what’s happening in New Prague. As a result of racist taunting reported at two school sporting events in New Prague this month, other schools are refusing to subject their students to the mistreatment of their athletes and are canceling future games with the district. In a letter, St. Louis Park High School’s athletic director, Andrew Ewald, wrote: “I will not stand for your community and students to have teachable moments at ...

Et. Cetera

March 5, 2022

Books help people plan for their future Brittany Anderson and Bryan Sweet of Sweet Financial are coming out with their fourth co-written book. “Dream Architecture” will help readers determine their “why” in retirement and how they can safeguard their future. It sounds like the book will send a great message on getting in the right mindset and staying positive when it comes to planning for your future. We look forward to checking the book out when it comes out in May. Group sees success in community events Last Saturday the Kids Just Want to Have Fun committee held its annual ...

Baseball strikes out

March 4, 2022

If anyone thought baseball owners and players would gain some wisdom this week and come to an agreement that would allow the season to start on time, they don’t understand the history of sports labor negotiations. Talks broke off on Tuesday, the owners’ deadline for ending their player lockout in time to start the season on time. Commissioner Rob Manfred announced the opening day and the first two series for each team were canceled. It’s all about the money. The owners, who have it, want to keep as much as they can. The players, who get paid plenty, want to get paid more. They ...

Law provides tools to help prevent opioid deaths

March 3, 2022

Opioid addiction has devastated huge swaths of the United States in the last two decades. Overdose deaths have quadrupled since 1999, with about 70% of those overdoses attributed to opioids. Put more directly, almost 500,000 Americans died because of opioid drugs — street drugs and prescribed alike — from 1999 to 2019. That’s almost as many victims as the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S. Half a million people. Researchers link the roots of the epidemic to the increased prescribing of pharmaceutical opioids in the 1990s. Billed as safe, new formulations for ...