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Local Editorials

Pond Hockey makes successful return Last weekend the southern Minnesota pond hockey championship took place on Sisseton Lake in Fairmont. We’re glad the event made a comeback after a two year hiatus due to Covid. The pond hockey tournament is a great event that brings people to town and provides a fun weekend for entertainment for the community. County awarded watershed grant Congrats to Martin County on receiving a grant over $800,000 from the Minnesota Board of Soil and Water Resources. The money can be used to reduce pollutant leading into Amber Lake and will thus improve the ...

COVID roller coaster?

Local Editorials

Minnesota is experiencing a steep rise in COVID-19 cases, due most likely to the omicron variant of the disease. The number of cases, the percentage of positive test results, the number of hospitalizations all indicate that we are in a peak period for the disease. While hospitalizations are rising, the good news is that the number of intensive care cases is starting to drop More good news comes from the Mayo Clinic, which has developed a model tracking the omicron variant, using data from other states which experienced steep climbs earlier than Minnesota. Those states saw a sharp ...

Readers' Views

Letters to the Editor

Life is a valuable gift To the Editor: Martin Luther High School in Northrop has a Y4Life chapter, the youth branch of Lutherans for Life. In this group, we strive to learn about different life issues and how we can address them. Life issues extend beyond the infamous issue of abortion. They also include homelessness, human trafficking, marriage, abstinence, self-harm, suicide, pornography, family, contraception, end-of-life care, homosexuality, transgender, and so much more. A recent project that our group took part in was packing about 70 kits for the homeless, which we gave to the ...

Money and spending

Local Editorials

Gov. Tim Walz announced his plan for a $2.7 billion bonding bill, which would be a new record for the state. The governor said more than a billion is for asset preservation — maintenance and preservation of existing public buildings. “These are assets that belong to the people of Minnesota.” There’s more for bridge replacement and road improvements, $450 million for housing, including homelessness projects, and money for the environment. In addition to general obligation bonds, Walz would finance this collection with $276 million from the state’s record surplus fund. ...

Readers' Views

Letters to the Editor

Appreciate support for CREST To the Editor: On behalf of the CREST Board of Directors and staff, we would like to express our sincere gratitude and appreciation to all those who financially supported CREST throughout 2021 and during the Annual Appeal. Because of your generosity we will be able to continue to reach out to those in need in Martin County with transportation, telephone reassurance, caregiver support services, and volunteer opportunities. We are so thankful that you believe in our organization and support us with your monetary gifts. We look forward to another year of ...

Small businesses in need of help

Local Editorials

Most economists will agree that small businesses are the backbone of the nation’s economy. They create more news jobs, provide goods and services that bigger businesses may see as not worth their while, and support their local communities. But small businesses have been struggling since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, especially when the government mandated lockdowns and shutdowns, limited their capacity for service and created more regulations for them to deal with. Now small businesses are being hit by another factor. Economic inflation is driving up the cost of doing ...