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Two weeks to go for Legislature

The Minnesota Legislature has about two weeks left in its current session. The DFL-controlled House and Republican-controlled Senate have been looking for compromises to reconcile their budget proposals. Will they be able to bridge the gap in time? If recent history is any indication, no, they won’t and we’ll be heading for a special session. The difference is about a billion dollars between Gov. Tim Walz’s $53 billion revised budget proposal and the Senate Republicans’ counter proposal at $51.9 billion. That’s not a lot in the grand scheme of things, but there is a lot of ...

Afghanistan had better be ready to stand alone

In October 2001, following the horrific 9/11 terrorist attack on the U.S., American military forces invade Afghanistan to overthrow the Taliban regime that had harbored the Al-Qaida organization responsible for the attack. Our goal was not just to punish the Taliban, but to establish a free, self-sustaining government in that country. Now, nearly 20 years later, President Joe Biden, the fourth president to serve during this war, is pulling all American troops out, ending our longest war. The question remains, is the Afghan government ready to stand alone? Is its military ready to ...

Nothing that more money can’t fix

President Joe Biden presented to a joint session of Congress Wednesday his “Blueprint to Rebuild America.” Biden’s natural optimism came to the fore as he talked about the crises we are emerging from, and the opportunity we have to transform America and the role the government plays. Optimism is the right word for Biden. He believes there’s nothing wrong with this country that spending a few more trillions of dollars won’t fix. Biden called for, and got, a $1.9 trillion COVID relief bill in his first days in office. He has proposed another couple of trillion for investment ...

Et Cetera…

Sale of Senior Center It was good to see the Fairmont City Council move forward with the sale of the former Senior Center Building. The new Senior Place located in the SMEC building is set to open soon and the old location is ready to be used for a brand new brewery. This is a great way for existing buildings to be put to use while growing our community at the same time. PUC The Public Utilities Commission recently discussed getting back to disconnections on delinquent accounts. While disconnections haven’t happened for a few years before the pandemic, there is no reason to ...

A very close shave

Every vote counts in political elections, and every person counted matters when it comes to the U.S.Census. That was shown this week when Minnesota kept its 8th seat in the House of Representatives by just 89 people counted in the Census, putting us ahead of New York State. On Tuesday, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said his office is examining whether there are legal options for challenging the census count and the loss of one representative in Congress. We would imagine New York state would be able to come up with a great number of people who did not respond to the census, maybe ...

Easing up on mask wearing outside

The CDC issued some welcome news for people trying to live with the COVID-19 pandemic. People who are fully vaccinated don’t have to wear face masks outside, unless they are in a big crowd of strangers. People, vaccinated or not, do not have to wear masks outdoors if you are walking, biking or running, alone or with a member of your household. Small outdoor gatherings with other people who are vaccinated can also be mask free. Unvaccinated people are still encouraged to wear masks outside at small gatherings that include other unvaccinated people. Everyone, vaccinated or not, ...