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Stop politicizing child care The word “fraud” has been thrown around lately, especially in connection with child care in Minnesota. It’s important to remember, this is an old and familiar tactic. Cry fraud, then use the cry of fraud to discredit a program. The goal being to defund the program. With the current target being Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP), the perpetuating of this “fraud” letter/rumor is with no care to if the fraud is real or not. The claim is that because a child care center has licensing violations and is receiving CCAP payments, it is somehow ...

Readers' Views

Letters to the Editor

Resist MAGA’s actions To the editor: On Feb. 18, 2025, in Huntington Beach, Calif., a former NFL player was arrested at a city council meeting for protesting against the current federal administration’s actions. His name is Chris Kluwe. Mr. Kluwe was protesting against the library in Huntington Beach, Calif., installing a plaque that had the words written “in the form of an acrostic, the plaque featured the stacked words: Magical, Alluring, Galvanizing, Adventurous — MAGA. The design was approved last week by a city commission who confirmed that the acronym was deliberately ...

Is it time for a new jail yet?

Local Editorials

During a recent work session to discuss the proposed Martin County Justice Center, Chief Deputy Corey Klanderud said he believed that the conversation of a new jail dates back to at least 2003. With a little bit of searching through the Sentinel’s digital archives through the Martin County Historical Society, a Sentinel article from Nov. 1, 2003 came up which was headlined “Despite positives, county jail still faces issues.” The article starts with, “For several years, the Martin County Jail has faced problems of being overcrowded and in violation of regulations passed in the ...

Proper communication could improve morale

Local Editorials

Former Fairmont city employee, Peter Bode, is the most recent in a string of city employees over the last few years to have resigned citing issues with the council and/or public. Bode, who just resigned on Feb. 7, shared a message with the council during its meeting on Monday night. He said that city staff has often been the target for personal attacks and campaigns to demean and discredit and told the council that administration does not do enough to protect city staff from people on the internet or interference of individual city councilors. He suggested the council develop a policy ...

Et. Cetera

Local Editorials

Habitat for Humanity and schools partner Fairmont Area Schools and Martin County West have each received $100,000 in grants to partner with Habitat for Humanity on some building projects. This is a win all around as the students will get experience in not only hands-on education, but on the importance of pitching in and giving back. It’s also a win for the community as it will provide some additional housing. Thank you to all involved in putting in the work to secure the grants. We look forward to watching these projects progress. MCKAH prepares for 16th pack day Today is the 16th ...

Readers' Views

Letters to the Editor

Disrespect for the law To the editor: Did you know that during the Jan. 6, 2021, siege of the U.S. Capitol, over 80 U.S. Capitol Police Officers were assaulted, as well as over 60 officers from the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Police Department? Did you know that about 19 police officers serve the Fairmont community (Fairmont police website (1/29/25)? Over seven times that number of Fairmont police officers were assaulted on the day of Jan. 6, 2021, during that violent assault on Congress. That assault was urged on by the then President of the United States. On Jan. 20, 2025, 1,500 ...