Technical trades education is valuable

March 1, 2021

Education in the trades has become a growing trend in schools around the country. There is a desperate need for skilled tradespeople — carpenters, electricians, plumbers, welders, and masons — as the older generations of workers retire out of the building trades. For a long time, schools had focused on preparing students for four-year colleges, but for a lot of students, college may not be the best option. There’s nothing wrong with pursuing a career in woodworking or electrical work. If they like what they are doing, students in the trades often find they can make a good living ...

Doing away with capital punishment

February 25, 2021

Virginia state legislators on Monday approved legislation to end the death penalty in that state, making it the 23rd state in the U.S. to do away with the practice. It is notable, because Virginia, over the years, has executed more people than any other state. Virginia has come to the realization that the death penalty disproportionately punishes minorities, the mentally ill and the indigent. There is also that nagging issue that many people sitting on death row across the country have been exonerated, proven innocent by new DNA evidence. Far too many have been railroaded by ...

Taking a look at natural gas prices

February 23, 2021

The U.S. is suffering from an unnatural cold weather storm that has swept into the South, bringing bone-chilling temperatures and causing utility failures that have kept millions in Texas without power and heat. In the midst of all this, natural gas prices have skyrocketed. In Oklahoma, the cost of a million BTUs has hit $600. Similar reports of rising gas prices have come in from several other states. Obviously, the law of supply and demand is at work here, but how much of that is truly economic pressures at play and how much is out-and-out profiteering? Sen. Tina Smith of ...

Immigration overhaul due for rocky debate

February 22, 2021

President Joe Biden said, after being sworn in, that one of his priorities would be immigration reform that would offer a pathway to citizenship for the estimated 11 million people living in the United States illegally. On Thursday, Biden and congressional Democrats proposed a plan to do that. The plan gives green cards to farm workers, immigrants with temporary protected status and the "Dreamers," young people brought illegally into the country as children. It would give them a five-year plan to reach temporary legal status, then pursue citizenship after three years if they pass ...

Et Cetera…

February 20, 2021

Justice Center Earlier this week, Martin County Commissioners approved 2021 representation on Capitol Bonding as they seek further funding for a new justice center. We’re glad the commissioners are continuing with this much-needed project. While some may question further spending after voting for a new addition to the high school and a new public works facility, the current justice center is woefully out of date. Former commissioners were good about restraining their spending and keeping taxes low but the justice center can has been kicked down the road far enough, and now it’s ...

A storm for the record book

February 18, 2021

Minnesotans tend to be rather blasé about winter storms in other parts of the country. We are used to dealing with snow, ice and cold and figure people in the South, for instance, where an inch of snow can absolutely paralyze a city, are over-reacting. But the massive winter storm that swept the country this week is something else again. Millions of people are without power. Texas is especially hard hit, where two million homes and businesses are powerless as record cold hammers them. About 20 people have died as a result of the storms. Three died in a sudden tornado in North ...