COVID challenges keep changing

July 27, 2021

One of the criticisms used by coronavirus skeptics is that the advice from the government keeps changing. They quote what Dr. Anthony Fauci and other experts said in March 2020 and note how different their advice is today. “First they said masks won’t protect you. Then they said everyone should wear masks. Then they said everyone should be double-masked. Why should we believe anything they say?” Yes, the advice from the experts keeps changing as they learn more about COVID-19 and see how the vaccines are working and how the disease is progressing. It should change. We’d be more ...

Jan. 6 investigation must be held

July 26, 2021

The events of Jan. 6, 2021, at the U.S. Capitol are unprecedented. Never before has a mob broken into the nation’s capitol to disrupt Congress in the midst of its duties — the certification of the election of a U.S. president. This was an appalling event, one that is being described differently by different parties. Was it a mob of insurrectionists, or a group of patriotic citizens who got carried away? Were they trying to reverse the election or simply voice their opinion? Was it a attempt to keep power fomented by then President Donald Trump? These are the kinds of questions ...

Et Cetera

July 24, 2021

Truman Healthcare The Truman City Council heard from Jeff Mengenhausen, CEO of Madelia Health, at their recent meeting. Mengenhausen expressed interest in renting the facility attached to Truman Senior Living and provide primary healthcare five days a week. When it comes to rural communities, having access to a consistent healthcare provider seems like a good move. This is especially true if more people are already heading to Madelia anyway, as Mengenhausen stated. By comparison, the Mayo mobile unit would only be able to come on an intermittent basis. We think the council made a ...

Weather doesn’t respect borders

July 23, 2021

Perhaps you noticed the moon the last couple of nights with a reddish tint as it crept across the sky. No doubt you saw the haze in the morning air as you looked down the street, or across the valley. Meteorologists tell us the haze is being caused by wildfires burning in the West, affecting our air quality. The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency has been issuing air quality alerts the last couple of days as the haze descends. We are used to weather from Canada blowing across the border with no regard for the customs officials. Alberta Clippers have been whipping up snowstorms and ...

County fairs brighten up summer

July 22, 2021

The COVID-19 restrictions last year forced us to give up a lot of things that we take for granted — packing into a ballpark to watch a town team baseball game, for instance, or going to the movies or out for dinner. One thing that hurt a lot of small Minnesota communities was the shutdown of the county fairs. All the kids working on their 4-H and FFA projects and preparing their animals for showing thought they had nowhere to show them. However, thanks to Steve Pomerenke and Kent Thiesse, The Minnesota Youth Livestock Expo provided an outlet. However, adults working on their art, ...

The odd Olympics

July 21, 2021

This week the Olympic Summer Games will begin in Tokyo, already a year late and one of the oddest ever to be held. Thanks to COVID-19, the International Olympics Committee and the Japanese government have banned foreign spectators. The athletes marching in for the opening ceremony will have no one to wave to. No chants or cheers from home nation fans as they compete. The streets of Tokyo will be empty, without the tourists that are usually expected to boost the local economy and provide a return for the massive investment in facilities that Japan has made. A vast percentage of a ...