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Minnesota thrills in the Olympic games

The 2021 Olympics ended on Sunday, with the closing ceremonies held in a nearly empty stadium, putting a strange ending on a strange 17 days of drama and competition. Minnesotans were holding their own Olympic ceremonies, hailing gold medal gymnast Sunisa Lee with a parade in her hometown. She is the perhaps the biggest, but not the only Minnesota hero of the games. She and Grace McCallum of Isanti helped pull the US women’s gymnastics team to a team silver medal after the loss of their leader, Simone Biles. Lee later won gold in the all around, and a bronze in the uneven ...

A return to concern about COVID-19

After watching COVID-19 infection numbers dwindle in June, the U.S. is seeing the rate of infection rising again in August. On Saturday, the daily count of new COVID cases exceeded 100,000 for the first time since last winter. U.S. health officials are worried that the numbers will continue to soar in the months ahead without an increase in the vaccination rate. About 50 percent of Americans have been fully vaccinated, while about 70 percent have at least one shot. There are some people who think vaccinations are unnecessary, at least for themselves. Vikings quarterback Kirk ...

We don’t need more COVID declarations

Thanks to the delta variant, the number of COVID-19 cases is creeping back up in Minnesota, as it is across the country. This comes at a time after the Minnesota emergency regulations were lifted and the governor’s emergency powers have expired. But we shouldn’t need a return to the emergency powers, mask mandates and shutdown orders that we went through last year. The situation has changed. With the rate of vaccinations we have in Minnesota, there is a level of protection we didn’t have last year. We hope the rate of vaccinations will pick up as the number of COVID cases rise. ...

Et Cetera

Truman The Truman City Council approved a five-year lease with Madelia Health at their recent meeting, in order to provide a five-day per week health facility. This is a great move. In addition, a non-compete clause was removed from the contract so there won’t be a conflict with Mayo if the mobile clinic comes to town. The council is doing a great job looking out for the health of the town’s citizens and actions like this prove it all the more. Madelia Health is also making a good decision and helping people to refrain from unnecessary travel. Kudos to everyone ...

Report on Cuomo should lead to his resignation

The New York State Attorney General’s office released the findings of its five-month investigation into sexual harassment allegations against Gov. Andrew Cuomo. The report asserts that the governor harassed at least 11 women, many of them members of his staff or connected with New York state government. The harassment included suggestive or sexual comments, groping, unwanted hugs and kisses, and so on. Cuomo denies it all, or minimizes it as misunderstandings, or cultural differences (he’s a demonstrative Italian), or politically motivated bias. There should be no room in the ...

Vaccination debate now affects football

People can be pretty unconcerned when talking about COVID-19 vaccinations. Do you worry about unvaccinated health care or nursing home workers? Perhaps. Do you worry about unvaccinated people next to you in restaurants or movie theaters? We have our shots, so we’re not worried. But now the vaccination question is affecting something really important — pro football. Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins has spent the past few days being quarantined and miss ingtraining camp, under the NFL’s COVID RULES, because he’s not vaccinated Suddenly, we’re paying attention. People care ...