By Rande Gustafson Eitzen, MN Banning books is big news right now. Some people deem certain books damaging for children – at least for some children, so let’s be politically correct for all Americans, right? The books making this list might hurt the feelings of certain people; they may inform about racism; they may talk about non-traditional women’s rights, or identify … [Read more...]

Letter about accepting election results... To the Editor, Since the day after the election on November 4, 2020, we keep hearing on the national and local news, and from regular Americans who identify as Democrats that President Donald Trump and many of his supporters refuse to accept the results of that election. That is true! But is it fair? Republicans are called poor … [Read more...]

A few weeks ago, New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman made a startling suggestion. He proposed a cross-party 2024 presidential ticket: Joe Biden and Liz Cheney, perhaps, or Kamala Harris and Mitt Romney, or another combination of a leading Democrat and an anti-Trump Republican. Friedman’s reasoning is that the U.S. is at a crossroads, and he contends that the main body of … [Read more...]

To the Editor, If there was “massive fraud” in the last election as Trump endlessly claims then isn’t it odd that nothing has been discovered by the many state Republican investigations? If there was massive fraud does that mean that Republicans in general are inept and stupid? Or, of course, it could mean that the Big Lie is just that: a lie. And what should we think of the … [Read more...]

It’s been about a year since Joe Biden took office as President, and though it’s still too early to draw firm conclusions about his performance, it’s not too early to discern some trends. Especially in light of how Biden positioned himself in the 2020 campaign and, I believe, how he still sees himself: as a centrist and a moderate who can unite the country by bringing … [Read more...]

President/CEO Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation It is no secret that our child care system is strained. Even before the pandemic, rural Minnesota was struggling with a child care shortage. For parents, this has made it challenging to enter or stay in the workforce. For communities, the challenge is attracting and retaining residents if they do not have enough care … [Read more...]

Publisher Fillmore County Journal jason@fillmorecountyjournal.com I know many of our readers have heard me talking about buying local.  “Shop local!”  You’ve heard it from me plenty of times. But, there’s something more to consider when shopping local for products and services. I have had some conversations with many business owners over the years, and a common theme … [Read more...]

To the Editor, We’ve got the Democrats, who are saying you’re just going to have to suffer because you should have recognized that they were right and done whatever they say; and you have the Republicans, who are saying you should suffer because you deserve to because if you didn’t deserve to suffer you wouldn’t be suffering, you dumb cluck. How did we get here? You see, … [Read more...]

In a recent article Lee Hamilton asked, “Can we find our way to the common good?” The short answer is YES if we follow the road map in the Constitution. But first, we’d better define what is meant by “common good.”  It involves the facilities or institutions that benefit all members of a given community. Examples are basic rights and freedoms, national defense, including … [Read more...]