To the Editor, It’s election season (again) and we’re hearing (again), “...this one really matters...your vote is important!” This time it really does. People in Lanesboro (as in neighboring towns) are facing challenging times. Locally the looming Highway 250 project threatens to add as much as $7 million to our local taxes (not to mention the financial stability of local … [Read more...]
Letter about water…
To the Editor, We have had a couple of 5-plus inches of rain this summer and we have seen the results which have not been good: trees down, high and overflowing rivers and creeks, and disaster wherever we look. It is not what we want, but much could be prevented. The good folks who own my farm have my give given up row crops and after even a 5-inch rain there is no run … [Read more...]
Legislative Report
By Jeff Erding Wykoff, Minn. One party has won every statewide election in Minnesota since 2006. This seems like a good time to determine the trajectory of our state by examining a timeline of some key economic and educational indicators. State spending starting in 2010, three categories. 2010 total budget 43 bil. Welfare spending 9.5 Bil. K-12 education 9.9 Bil. 2018 … [Read more...]
One Moment, Please… 9/11: 25 Years Later
By Jason Sethre As we approach the 25 year anniversary of September 11, 2001 (9/11), it’s still fresh in my memory. And, I’m sure I’m not alone. On that Tuesday morning, while working for The Daily Journal newspaper south of Chicago, I was traveling from our office in Bourbonnais to the main newspaper headquarters in Kankakee. I was listening to the radio when I heard an … [Read more...]
Letter about standing with the Jewish community…
To the Editor, I am a life-long progressive democrat. I believe in things like health care for all, taxing the rich, LGBTQ rights, racial justice, environmental protections, etc. I have voted in every election since 1968 but I don’t know if I will vote this November. Why? I am angry about the rise of antisemitism in this country and the world. Though the democratic and … [Read more...]
Bike Trail Invasive Species
By Gary Wilson Houston, MN An article in the July 27 edition of the Fillmore County Journal described efforts to build a bike trail from Preston to Forestville State Park. As a long time user of the Houston extension to the Root River State Trail, I support efforts to create new trails. As a landowner adjacent to the RRST, I offer the following suggestions to landowners … [Read more...]
Belonging and Ownership
By Benya Kraus President and CEO, SMIF July 23, 2026 - Who gets to own a piece of the future? Ownership – of land, of livelihood, of voice – was central to the American experiment. In southern Minnesota, it remains central to the work of building vibrant, resilient communities. And for many people, belonging begins with having the opportunity to shape what comes … [Read more...]
Letter about preparing for the next bad air alert …
To the Editor, A scratchy throat and itchy eyes aren’t the only results of wildfire smoke. Invisible 2.5 micron particles are so tiny they penetrate lungs and enter the bloodstream to organs, including the brain. Effects include inflammation, heart disease, lung cancer, COPD, and respiratory infections. Even on clear days, 2.5 PM levels can be dangerous (airnow.gov). Little … [Read more...]
Community Foundations
By Benya Kraus President and CEO, SMIF June 25, 2026 - In a world that often asks us to be in a hurry, Wendell Berry – a Kentuckian farmer poet – asks us to slow down and to pay attention. “We have the world to live in on the condition that we will take good care of it,” he writes in one of his essays. “But to take good care of it, we have to know it. And to know it and to … [Read more...]
We The People
To me, this country is ours because of the service men and women who fought for it, whom all gave some, and some gave all for what they believed in and willing to protect that right even if it meant dying for it, and they still did it! When we were young, like the history our our country, we learned right from wrong, we put our trust in the Lord, we were respectful of others, … [Read more...]