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Redistricting ma changes first, second districts

Local Editorials

Minnesota’s new congressional district maps were released Tuesday, and Minnesota’s First and Second Congressional Districts are trading some territory. According to the maps drawn by a five-judge panel appointed by the Minnesota Supreme Court, the Second District, represented now by Rep. Angie Craig, will cede Goodhue and Wabasha counties on the east to the First District, while the First District, represented by Rep. Jim Hagedorn, will give LeSueur County to the second. The change will add more population to the First District, which has seen rural population declining. The two ...

War of nerves

Local Editorials

Every other day, it seems, the Biden administration issues a warning that a Russian invasion of the Ukraine could happen at any time. They are not exactly being untruthful — Russia does have about 130,000 troops massed along the Ukraine border, and we doubt they are there for R&R. Every time the warning is issued, the Kremlin repeats that it has no intention of invading, that it is willing to talk. It seeks to get some more security promises from the West about not letting former socialist republics into NATO, limiting missile placements in Europe and stepping down the military ...

Readers' Views

Letters to the Editor

Community Center input To the Editor: Don’t build it. It will be a belly flop like the Aquatic Park. Ask yourself, do you really want to waste your money on something that only certain people will use or benefit from? If so, then those people should pay for it and all the money needed for future maintenance and all expenditures. The people of the community deserve better treatment. As a taxpayer, I do not want extra sales tax, real estate tax and public utility bill increases to fund your projects. I’m sure other taxpayers feel the same way. The people of the community didn’t ...

Readers' Views

Letters to the Editor

Is there public support for proposed community center? To the Editor: We understand that the proposed community center is expected to cost over $30 million. How are we going to pay such a sum? Who is going to use it? How will the Center be utilized during the day while most adults work and the kids are in school? In addition, the committee talks about hiring an architect when they do not yet know what they really want to build. Nor do they know the true level of public support for the project. All of the thoughts about public support have been derived from indirect data. Our ...

Canada protests send clear message

Local Editorials

Canadian truckers had tied up traffic on the Ambassador Bridge connecting Ontario and Detroit all last week. In protest of Canada’s COVID-19 vaccination mandates, Canadian truckers blocked the busiest international border crossing in North America, tying up millions of dollars in goods being shipped between the U.S. and Canada. On Sunday, after a Canadian judge had ordered the protests to end, police arrested those who remained on the bridge. But their protest continues in the Canadian capital, and their message remains clear. They don’t want government intruding in their lives ...

McConnel’s back

Local Editorials

After denouncing the Republican National Committee this week for their censure of two Republican House members participating in the Jan. 6 investigation, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell appeared to be pulling back from rampant partisanship. It didn’t take long for him to embrace partisanship again. McConnell on Wednesday blocked the appointment of Andrew Luger as the U.S. Attorney for Minnesota. Why? Because Montez Lee Jr., convicted of murder by arson in the aftermath of the George Floyd murder received a sentence ten years below the legal maximum. Now, Luger had nothing ...