By Pastor Kevin Barnhart Spring Grove Evangelical Free It’s 7 p.m. The chores are done,  our baby is tucked in for the night, and our dogs lounge about snoring softly.  Gathering up a few toys and clearing off a chair, my wife and I sit down at the small round table in our home. We light a candle and begin to read scripture.  We are reading the Bible in a year.  It can be … [Read more...]

Letter about January 22, 2021, nukes outlawed... To the Editor, On January 22, 2021, the Treaty on the Prohibition of “Nuclear Weapons” entered into force and became international law.  They are now prohibited weapons of mass destruction, along with chemical weapons and biological weapons. The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), which received the … [Read more...]

By Stan Gudmundson Peterson, MN The 1964 march from Selma to Montgomery, Ala., was tremendously important in the crusade to end racial discrimination was it not?  There have been many rough spots since, but that march was imperative.  Furthermore, a special day should be set aside to memorialize that struggle.  Martin Luther King deserves the honor of being named for it.  … [Read more...]

For more than 12 months, we’ve been navigating a pandemic.  A major hurdle that caught us off-guard was how to keep our children moving forward with an education system administered via distance learning or hybrid scenarios. It’s been difficult for students, parents, and teachers alike -- and that’s putting it lightly. None of us signed up for this. If we have learned … [Read more...]

After years of helping move the project forward, State Representative Greg Davids (R-Preston) said he was pleased to learn that federal funding is now in place to construct a veterans home in Fillmore County, Montevideo, and Bemidji, the final hurdle that needed to be overcome to make this dream a reality. “These homes will serve those who served us, and I’d like to thank … [Read more...]

There’s not much question where the Biden administration’s domestic priorities lie. Getting the pandemic health crisis under control and moving past its attendant economic crisis were always going to be the first order of business for the new White House.  It’s what comes afterward — where the administration wants to head, how the American people respond, and what Capitol Hill … [Read more...]

President/CEO Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation This past year has shown all of us what it means to serve others. Southern Minnesotans have stepped up to stock food shelves, provide support for children during distance learning and find creative ways to support businesses and nonprofits that are struggling. At Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation (SMIF) we work … [Read more...]

We often think of foreign and domestic policy as two separate and distinct fields. But for an American president, they are inextricably tied together. And as the Biden administration moves forward on its priorities, this is likely to become clear. The reason is that what we do in one area has an impact on what we can do in the other. If we are not strong economically and … [Read more...]

Letter about fair and equitable... To the Editor, Fair and equitable, interesting words with a lot of different meanings when it comes politics it seems.  I had a conversation with the county tax assessor a while back and he left me with those words (plus a few others).  They have stuck with me ever since.  Taxes and assessments should be fair and equitable to the … [Read more...]