By Sen. Jeremy Miller District 26 On August 1, more than 300 nursing homes across the state received their first payment of emergency nursing home aid. The funding was the result of a bipartisan agreement brokered by Senate Republicans at the end of this year’s legislative session to provide $300 million in emergency assistance to help nursing facilities in crisis. Nursing … [Read more...]

Letter about abortion in Minnesota... To the Editor, What has happened in our state? Our House, Senate and governor have succeeded in their stated goal to promote abortion in Minnesota. Here is what they passed. Minnesota state law now has legal abortion through all nine  months of pregnancy for any reason. Babies who survive an abortion can now be left to die without … [Read more...]

By Eric Leitzen Hokah, MN For those of you who don’t know, I was on the ballot as an independent third party for the Minnesota State Senate last year. I ran a mostly one-man campaign, took no big money, and instead hit the road and went out to the people to get the message out: for almost 50 years now you have worked harder and gotten less, while the rich are richer than … [Read more...]

Letter about why does Sen. Miller vote against our interest?... To the Editor, Once again, Sen. Miller has voted against the economic and public safety interests of our district, all while hiding behind bad faith straw man arguments. Why would Sen. Miller do this? A wide coalition of conservative and progressive groups have supported “Driver’s License for all” as a … [Read more...]

To the Editor, If I think I am old, I am old. If I think I am young, I am delusional. Someone told me today that I was not old, I was vintage. I felt better immediately. As we move through the decades, each one brings its challenges and rewards. What do we want? What do we need? These seem to change as we go from decade to decade. Wants seem to be greater in our younger … [Read more...]

Letter about questions left on the table... To the Editor, I attended the public hearing on February 16 about the proposed doubling of feedlot limits. I’m not a farmer, I’m a music therapist living in Carimona Township, so I came to learn and left with a few questions. 1. What prompted the proposal in the first place? I was hoping that question would start off the meeting … [Read more...]

Letter about  enough is enough... To the Editor, Last week I attended a meeting of the Fillmore County Planning and Zoning Commission. The public had been invited to attend and the meeting room was filled to overflowing. Prior to the meeting, I had sent a written comment to the commissioners and I was among those who made oral comments at the meeting.  Concerns of … [Read more...]

To the Editor, The old bridge at Historic Forestville will be saved. No county road is going to punch through the historic site. The bridge abutments, deck, and railings will be fixed, and the bridge reopened as a trail for horses, bikes, and pedestrians. The people in Fillmore County will not let their parks be ruined. The county engineer, who says tearing it all down is an … [Read more...]

Letter about what is Fillmore County thinking? To the Editor, What is Fillmore county thinking? Most of the wells in the county hardly pass now. This should not even be brought in our part of the county. The animal units are fair now. Don’t bring in the big corporations because that’s all you will do. Think about the younger generation for once. Bad enough they’re trying to … [Read more...]

By Norm Gross Spring Valley, MN I was surprised to hear that Fillmore County is looking to double the Animal Unit Cap (number of farm animals under one roof). With the current state of our environ-ment, our concern for water and air quality, a growing desire for cleaner healthier food, and our need to revitalize rural America, I hoped that we would be moving towards … [Read more...]

Letter about February 16 Public Hearing... To the Editor, Please be aware that the February 16, 7 p.m., Fillmore County Planning and Zoning (P&Z) public hearing proposal is a significant change to the status quo and is likely to have some profound ripple effects for all county residents. Currently, 2,000 animal units (existing county cap) allows about 2,000 cattle or … [Read more...]

Letter about please do not double maximum feedlot size in Fillmore County... To the Editor, I’m a pastured hog farmer and my farm borders the eastern edge of Fillmore County. I was shocked to read that the Fillmore County Planning Commission is considering doubling the max size of industrial feedlots when the cap — 2,000 “animal units,” or over 6,600 finishing hogs — is … [Read more...]

Letter about proposed change to maximum industrial farm size... To the Editor, It has come to my attention that our county commissioners and the Fillmore County Planning Committee will be considering doubling the maximum industrial farm size at a meeting February 16. This would mean 13,000 hogs, 2,800 dairy cows, 222,000 turkeys, and 4,000 steers. After deciding in 2018 that … [Read more...]

Letter about leaving feedlot cap alone - to protect our water... To the Editor, There is a move afoot to double the size of allowable feedlots in Fillmore County. The Fillmore County Planning Commission has taken it upon itself to propose that new feedlots could be permitted, or existing ones expanded, raising the current limit of 2,000 “animal units” to the outrageous size … [Read more...]

Letter about no need to change Animal Unit Cap... To the Editor, As a feedlot permit holder and active dairy farmer here in Fillmore County, I see no need or reason for increasing the permitted AU (animal unit) level from 2,000 to 4,000. The current level is more then adequate for 99% of our farmers. If there is a need to go above that level, talking about that need and how … [Read more...]