According to polls, the vast majority of Americans recognize the need for: aggressive action on anthropogenic climate change, everyone to be treated equal under the law, minimum wage of $15 per hour, medicare for all, spending on infrastructure renewal, public education that keeps up with other progressive countries, immigrants to have a path to citizenship, and wealthy donors … [Read more...]

That has become the age old question. As a board member of the Preston Area Chamber of Commerce, I recently had someone ask me what the Chamber was doing about stimulating the downtown business community. Before I tell you how I responded, I’ll give you a little background. Over the past 40 years, many downtown communities have lost something they will never regain.  … [Read more...]

By Aaron Swartzentruber Greenleafton, MN I would like to put a good word in for our police officers. Too often our whole police force is portrayed as brutal, oppressive, and murderous because of either a few rogue officers, a few bad actions by good officers, or a few perceived bad actions by good officers. If you consider all the good that locally controlled police forces … [Read more...]

I’m sure you’ve witnessed millennials walking around in leggings, hipsters burning incense, and ads targeting women to “zen out.” What do these things have in common? Likely, you’ve associated these things with the practice of yoga. But chances are you don’t have a full understanding, or perhaps even have a misunderstanding, of yoga and the ideals behind this sacred practice. … [Read more...]

For over 100 years, University of Minnesota Extension has brought educational programing to greater Minnesota. The success of Extension’s educational programing – both in the past and present – is heavily dependent upon understanding the needs of the people of Minnesota. To understand what Minnesotans need, the University must maintain continuous and open dialog with Minnesota … [Read more...]

One of the gifts of living in a representative democracy is that voting is only one of the rights it confers. For ordinary people who want to make change — who in some way want to alter their neighborhood or town or state or even the nation — the promise exists that by dint of their own efforts they can do so. This is a precious gift. But it is not an easy one to enjoy. Even … [Read more...]

Minnesota has gone “blue” in every Presidential election since 1976. Three times since, it has been the only state out of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa and both Dakotas to vote Democratic. In 1984, as quipped by Homer Simpson, Minnesota was the only state won by Walter Mondale, not counting the District of Columbia. In 2010, when the rest of the country went under a red tide … [Read more...]