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Plastic pollution: how we contribute

It is estimated that 8 million tons of plastic waste flows into the world s ocean each year. Some of it is in pieces large enough to entangle fish and other creatures. Some of it is broken down into beads small enough to be consumed by fish and whales that feed on plankton. A global study is being organized to study where this all comes from. And it might just come from right here. Waste plastic, be it straws or cup lids or discarded plastic bags, can be washed down our gutters, into our storm sewers, into our rivers and down to the Gulf of Mexico. The study will include cities along ...

Ceylon auction coming up in April

CEYLON — Ceylon City Council will meet 6 p.m. Tuesday at the Ceylon City Hall. All members are urged to attend. There is time for public comments/questions at the beginning of each meeting. If the comment will take more than five minutes or you want to be on the regular agenda, please contact the city clerk at (507) 632-4653 prior to the meeting. Tuesday is also the date scheduled for the March meeting of the Ceylon Legion and Sons of the Legion. All members are urged to attend the 7 p.m. meeting at the Legends II building. Some of the agenda includes Memorial Day preparations. ...

Et Cetera

Theobald-Schlaphoff’s Congratulations to the Theobald-Schlaphoff family of Sherburn on recently winning the Family Heritage Award from the National Weather Service in the Twin Cities. The family has taken daily weather measurements for the National Weather Service as a Cooperative Weather Observer on their farm for two generations. Beginning in 1966, the family provides daily measurements of temperatures, precipitation, snowfall, and snow depth as well as monthly updates of hourly precipitation data, which are a treasured part of Minnesota's climate record. The Theobald-Schlaphoff ...

Abbott’s decision: only time will tell

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott did Wednesday what many people would like other governors to do. He threw the state wide open by repealing most of the state’s COVID-19 restrictions. He said “100% of businesses are open “100 %,” and dropped the requirement for wearing masks. Did he do it on the recommendation of scientists and health experts? No. Health experts are still saying that wearing face masks is one of the most effective ways to stop the spread of the virus. Schools are still requiring students to wear masks, and many retail businesses are requiring their customers to wear ...

Fair, free elections must be the goal

In states across the country, conservative groups and legislators are pushing legislation they say will make elections more secure. They worry that potential voters don’t trust the process, a worry that should be put to rest by the record-setting voter turnout in the last election. Voters don’t seem to have a problem with the voting system, it is party officials who don’t like the outcome who worry. Some of the proposals would make it harder to vote — requiring people to show a picture ID, for instance (not hard for people who have an ID, but difficult for those who don’t, ...

No easy path through Congress

President Joe Biden’s first big legislative goal is to get a $1.9 trillion COVID-19 aid bill through Congress. But even though Democrats have control (barely) of House and Senate, they are proving that their majority is not enough to ram a Democrat agenda through. One issue of contention in the bill is the wish of a large number of Democrats to attach a $15 national minimum wage to the bill. First, the Senate parliamentarian ruled that the Senate can’t include a straight-out $15 wage in the bill. So, they’ve been trying to find ways around and through the loopholes, like ...