Nursing homes must maintain their vigilance

August 3, 2020

About 40% of the Americans killed by COVID-19 have been residents of nursing homes. Many of the deaths occurred during the early weeks of the epidemic, before the need for extraordinary long-term care safeguards was apparent. Many others were the result of wrongheaded action by public officials. In some states, new cases are popping up in nursing homes. More of the very people who should have been able to rely in an additional layer of protection will die. As the coronavirus remains a threat, it creates a larger community pool of infected people, from which the virus can be ...

Et Cetera …

August 1, 2020

Not the right place One Fairmont City Council member announced her re-election campaign at the group’s meeting this week. Called out on this inappropriate self-promotion, she subsequently apologized. Which is good. Another council member, Tom Hawkins, seemed to think the situation was funny, hinting at his own re-election effort. He said he would apologize later if the mayor could show it is not normal to campaign at council meetings. That’s an easy chore in the realm of ethics, so city residents will be awaiting Hawkins’ apology at the next council meeting. An opportunity to ...

Walz plan leaves many questions remaining

July 31, 2020

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz on Thursday announced a school reopening plan that really settles nothing. Instead, state experts at the departments of health and education will work with districts across Minnesota to help determine what plan is best for them: in-person, distance learning or a hybrid. We are not sure this is the kind of solution Minnesotans were looking for. We believe the overwhelming majority want the kids back in school. The governor balked, though. We understand that Walz is acting out of an abundance of caution. The true nature of his plan will be revealed in coming weeks ...

Fairmont looking for ways to pay for streets

July 30, 2020

The city of Fairmont has embarked upon a good mission: it is considering ways to move away from assessing property owners when the street in front of their home or business is improved. Such assessments can amount to thousands of dollars that are suddenly owed. The worthy goal is to spread out the burden — because everyone uses the streets. This is especially true of main thoroughfares, as well as busy side streets. All the wear and tear is not caused by the people living on the street, as residents such as those along Fourth Street in Fairmont can attest. (The street was just ...

Restrictions at colleges must be strictly enforced

July 29, 2020

Many U.S. colleges and universities are preparing to reopen for the fall semester, with in-person classes scheduled widely. It is understandable that many students, parents and college officials are on edge. Science is on their side, in a way. COVID-19 seems to be most dangerous for older people with pre-existing medical conditions. Younger people can contract the virus, but many demonstrate few, if any, symptoms. A wakeup call may be necessary for many younger people, however. They are not safe. Well over 10% of the more than 146,000 Americans killed by COVID-19 were in the 15-24 ...

Resource officers are valuable to schools

July 28, 2020

Calls for change in law enforcement range from those demanding that police departments be virtually disbanded to others insisting on better training for officers and more accountability for the few rogues among them. Common to most reform proposals is that law enforcement personnel be more engaged in constructive relationships with their communities. But many police officers and sheriffs’ deputies have been doing just that for many years — and, incredibly, some are calling for those initiatives to be abandoned. Such involvement goes by various names. Perhaps the most ...