The battle over voting rights

March 23, 2021

The battle over who gets to vote and how they get to vote is turning nasty. In a recent invitation-only call to Republican state lawmakers, the Associated Press reports, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) urged them to resist Democratic efforts to pass H.R. 1 and expand voting rights “to illegal aliens and child molesters.” “H.R. 1′s only objective is to ensure that Democrats can never again lose another election, that they will win and maintain control of the House of Representatives and the Senate and of the state legislatures for the next century,” Cruz is said to have told the group ...

COVID-19’s origin no excuse for racism

March 22, 2021

OK, we know that the COVID-19 virus originated in Wuhan, China. We know that it spread from there around the world, causing this terrible pandemic we are battling. But the idea that people of Chinese or Asian descent, some of whom have lived in this country for generations, are responsible for the virus, and for spreading it, is absurd. But some people — the same people, no doubt, who thought you could get the so-called swine flu from eating pork chops or bacon, or the avian flu from eating chicken — have put two and two together and come up with five, assisted by the former ...

Et Cetera

March 20, 2021

FEDA Loans Kudos to the Fairmont Economic Development Authority for their approval of three loan requests at a recent meeting. One of those loans was for a new business in the form of a brewery. The other loans were CARES Act relief loans to two area businesses. Local businesses need support, and it’s good to see that they’re getting it. It’s also nice to see new businesses attempting to come to our city. That’s what will drive further economic growth and keep our city going. Industrial Hemp Speaking of economic growth, congratulations to Brady Ekstrom for tackling the ...

Atlanta shooting shows violence is now routine

March 19, 2021

It will be a while before we get a full picture of the motives behind the shootings at three spas in the Atlanta area late Tuesday afternoon, which police allege were committed by a 21-year-old white man. But the contours of the violence make one explanation plausible. Among the eight dead were six women of Asian descent, leading the Stop AAPI Hate advocacy group to describe the killings as an “unspeakable tragedy — for the families of the victims first and foremost, but also for the AAPI community — which has been reeling from high levels of racial discrimination.” Police on ...

Mpls settlement comes at funny time

March 17, 2021

Last Friday, Minneapolis city leaders approved a mammoth $27 million settlement in a civil suit brought by the family of George Floyd. It is the largest pre-trial settlement of its kind anywhere in the nation. It’s a huge amount of money, far surpassing the $20 million settlement the city approved for the family of Justine Ruszczyk Damond, killed by former Minneapolis police officer Mohamed Noor when she approached his police car in the dark after calling 911 to report a possible sexual assault in progress. In that case, like the Floyd case, the officer accused of the killing was ...

We are winning, thanks to COVID soldiers

March 16, 2021

On Friday, when Gov. Tim Walz announced the relaxation of COVID-19 restrictions, he was enthusiastic and optimistic. “I'm here to tell you that we're winning. We're winning, and this thing is coming to an end," Walz said at his livestreamed announcement. He’s right. The number of COVID-19 vaccinations is going up and the number of new cases and deaths each day is declining. While we have a long way to go before saying “We Won!”, it feels good to be able to say we have the upper hand. And the reason we are winning is all the COVID-19 “soldiers” who have been fighting the ...