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Another ‘Last, best hope’ for climate

The U.N. climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland, opened Sunday, billed as a “last, best hope” for putting a dint in the climate change that is happening around the globe. For the next two weeks, representatives from 200 countries around the world will try to hammer out agreements and goals for reducing the amount of greenhouse gases the world is producing. Countries will be laying out their plans for reducing the burning of coal, gas and oil, and dealing with the impact of climate change. Unfortunately, some of the major producers of greenhouse gases are not planning to fully ...

Whittling away at the plan

President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better plan is being whittled away. Biden announced a breakthrough agreement on Thursday before heading off to summits in Europe, but there are still a lot of details to be worked out and deals to be made before a vote is taken. The former $3.5 trillion plan is now down to $1.75 trillion — turning it into perhaps a Build Back Better than Nothing bill. Progressive members of the House are upset at the loss of some of their top priorities — paid family leave and efforts to lower prescription drug prices, for example, are gone from the bill. But ...

Et. Cetra

New Mural promotes downtown A new mural in the first block of Downtown Plaza was completed last weekend and it looks great. The interactive mural is a nice addition to the appearance of downtown and even features over 20 local businesses. We hope to see more of this in the downtown area. Rental Ordinance This week the Fairmont City Council looked at the rental housing ordinance again. We’re glad that the council is taking the thoughts of local landlords into consideration. We agree with council member Michele Miller questioning whether the current ordinance is being enforced. A new ...

Minneapolis asked to approve public safety pie in the sky

Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo said it quite clearly and accurately on Wednesday, talking about the Minneapolis ballot question to replace the Minneapolis Police Department with some ill-defined Department of Public Safety. “To vote on a measure of reimagining public safety without a solid plan and an implementation or direction of work — this is too critical of a time to wish and hope for that help that we need so desperately right now,” he told reporters. “I was not expecting some sort of robust, detailed word-for-word plan, but at this point, quite frankly, I ...

Bipartisan support for Prince

Prince Rogers Nelson stood just over 5 feet tall but left a giant footprint in the music industry and American pop culture. Now, five years after his death at 57, the nation may be on the verge of bestowing one of its highest civilian honors to him posthumously — the Congressional Gold Medal. Minnesota’s congressional delegation, closely divided among Democrats and Republicans and often at odds with one another, has come together to unanimously offer a resolution that would award that honor. “The world is a whole lot cooler because Prince was in it,” said U.S. Sen. Amy ...

Facebook Papers and what they reveal

Since former Facebook employee Frances Haugen blew the whistle on practices at the social media giant earlier this month, news organizations have been combing through the company emails and documents she has provided. The results, now beginning to be reported, show a picture of a company that paid more attention to its profits than to the effect its practices were having on society. Haugen has testified before Congress and before the UK’s Parliament how Facebook Groups amplify online hate, that its algorithms take people with mainstream interests and push them to the extreme content. ...