By David Webb, MD Lanesboro, MN In response to the June 4 commentary by Peggy Hanson, while I am in basic agreement with her thesis, I believe she picked the wrong example to make her case. There were important factual omissions and errors in her brief description of a particular Lanesboro infrastructure project. I should like to present a more complete accounting of it … [Read more...]
Clean streams and well water threatened by factory farm proposal
By Barton Seebach Canton, MN The Catalpa LLC factory hog farm proposal that is being considered for a permit by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency has residents, including me, worried about pollution of our streams and our well water. The nearly 5,000 sow farrowing operation proposed by an Iowa factory farm operator, Brad Herman, will produce more than seven million … [Read more...]
Politics: We need it
Every so often, I jot down a list of the things that discourage me about our country. There’s the widespread disregard for our core values of tolerance and mutual respect, for instance. Our declining national optimism. Our relaxed attitude toward fixing our election machinery, overseeing financial institutions, and making sure that our key democratic institutions and processes … [Read more...]
Concerning education
Education is the engine that will take us into the future. It is the journey of discovery of the world around us and our own inner world where we explore our own creative impulses. Education is the venue where we pursue truth and facts and attempt to balance reason and passion. It is the cradle of Democracy. If we hope to confront the problems of our time we need to make it … [Read more...]
Open letter to taxpayers and citizens of Lanesboro about important current issues relating to city infrastructure and finances
By Peggy Hanson Lanesboro, MN (Note – although this letter is specific to Lanesboro, it is fair to say that most if not all the small towns in our area are struggling with the issue of aging infrastructure. Financial assistance from the state has been declining and there is continuing inaction at the federal level. Are we adequately preparing for the future?) I write … [Read more...]
Common good vs. Self interest
By Dr. Bryan Van Gorp Rushford, MN Citizenship requires commitment to the common good. People we honor, further the common good. President Kennedy said, “Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.” Jesus directed people to feed the hungry, take in the stranger, cloth the poor, care for the sick and visit those in prison. Jesus said, … [Read more...]
Addressing the child care shortage
In 2016 Minnesotans were alerted to the fact that there is a serious lack of child care slots in our state leading to a “quiet crisis,” according to a report that year from the Center for Rural Policy and Development. It is clear two years later this crisis is no longer so quiet. A recent article from Minnesota Public Radio highlighted real stories from providers who are … [Read more...]
Who is your leader?
By Aaron Swartzentruber Greenleafton, MN “For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers; all things were created by him, and for him.” (Colossians 1:16) If you go back to verse 13, you’ll find that the “him” in this verse is Jesus Christ. All things … [Read more...]
Democrat desperation
Recent events are creating a tough situation for Democrats. Robert Mueller’s Russian Investigative team suffered two stinging rebukes from federal judges last week. One judge accused Mueller prosecutors of wasting his time by being unprepared for trial. The other judge accused Mueller’s team of exceeding the parameters of their mandate by looking for ways to “take down” … [Read more...]
Massive hog feedlot proposed in Fillmore County
Catalpa LLC proposes to build the largest hog confinement operation in FIllmore County to house 4,980 sows. The partnership includes an Iowa agribusiness and a Newburg Township farmer. Because an adult swine produces ten times as much fecal waste as a human, this single operation would produce more waste than twice the entire 20,000 population of Fillmore County—like adding a … [Read more...]