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The COVID solution is sitting unused

Human Services of Martin County issues a weekly report of new COVID-19 cases and deaths in the county. When they have come out lately, the reports are not encouraging. Martin County has passed the 3,000 COVID cases mark. We sit at 3,218 total cases with 112 new cases recorded last week. The total number of COVID-19 confirmed related deaths is 35 since the pandemic began. It is discouraging that in the second year of the COVID pandemic, we are dealing with numbers of cases that rival the height of last year, and this at a time when we have the means to protect ourselves. ...

‘Inflation tax’ prediction proving true

Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., has been stalwart in his concerns over inflation and Democrats’ desire to spend trillions to fund new social programs: “An overheating economy has imposed a costly ‘inflation tax’ on every middle- and working-class American. At $28.7 trillion and growing, the nation’s debt has reached record levels,” Manchin wrote in a commentary published in the Wall Street Journal. “Over the past 18 months, we’ve spent more than $5 trillion responding to the coronavirus pandemic. Now Democratic congressional leaders propose to pass the largest single ...

Why aren’t drivers license exam station all open

The Minnesota Senate Transportation Committee is held a hearing Friday with a very interesting question for the Department of Public Safety. When the COVID-19 pandemic started, the state shut down a lot of businesses, of course, and it also closed down some government offices, including the Department of Vehicle Services 93 stations across the state, where drivers license driving tests are given. A few centers in regional hubs reopened in May 2020, but more than 70 remain shuttered, especially those in rural MInnesota. In this area, teens who want to take a driving test to get their ...

Et. Cetera

FACT presents comedy The Fairmont Opera House is putting on a comedy, ‘Drinking Habits’, which shows tonight and Sunday. The cast is made up of local talent, many of whom have done several shows with the Opera House in the past. We thank the Opera House for continuing to put on shows for the community and for utilizing area talent. FHS ground breaking This week Fairmont High School broke ground on its new vocational center. This expansion will be a great addition for all area kids. Like Superintendent Andy Traetow, we’re glad the community has recognized the need to grow ...

Lesser of two evils

The Food and Drug Administration has given its authorization to an electronic cigarette, the Vuse Solo, saying that the tobacco-flavored product can help adult smokers reduce their exposure to the harmful chemicals in regular cigarettes. It is far from a full-fledged endorsement of electronic cigarettes as safe. The FDA stressed they are neither safe nor “FDA approved,” and that people who don’t smoke shouldn’t use them. So, the FDA is just saying that for smokers, the e-cigarette is better than firing up a regular, tobacco-burning cigarette. It is the lesser of two evils, ...

Art: Dakota sculpture helps heal Scaffold pain

The Dakota people offer forgiveness and redemption as part of their peace-embracing culture, and a new sculpture by a Dakota artist brings that healing to Minnesota. The Walker Art Center and the Dakota community unveiled Saturday a new sculpture in the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden that celebrates Dakota culture and language and offers healing from the cultural tone deafness the institute displayed a few years ago when it allowed the gallows exhibit “Scaffold”. Scaffold was a replica of the one used to hang 38 Dakota in Mankato at the end of the U.S.-Dakota War on Dec. 26, 1862, ...