To the Editor, Jason Sethre’s recent commentary is a textbook case on how to take facts and use them to reach misleading and false conclusions. It also can and does trivialize an important subject. Mr. Sethre leads us to believe that video games and lax parenting have led to a recent decline in worker participation of younger men as shown by U.S. Bureau of Labor statistics. … [Read more...]

The weather is not quite in the spring spirit yet, but it’s time to start thinking spring! Spring is a critical time to prepare pastures for the summer grazing season. Did you miss your chance to seed pastures in the fall?  Don’t worry, you can still do it in spring.  A recommendation from the University of Minnesota is to spring seed between April 1 and May 15.  Since the … [Read more...]

By Dr. Bryan Van Gorp Rushford, MN Our country is more divided than any time since 1968 when progressive leaders like Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. were assassinated and there were riots in the streets. Citizens are rarely uniformly conservative or progressive on all issues. People may be fiscally conservative and socially progressive. They may be conservative on … [Read more...]

To the Editor, We care about ducks. They often fly in flocks, and from a duck’s perspective, this might be a curse, or a blessing. A curse because a fast-shooting hunter might be quick enough to take more than one duck from a passing flight. A blessing, because the sheer density of prospective targets may render the shooter incapable of concentrating sufficiently on an … [Read more...]

To the Editor, I have sent emails to the Kingsland School about this. I asked why the buses have no cameras on them that work or even there. They told me once we had them but I guess that is wrong. Don’t we need this to help the drivers and keep our kids safe plus then we know for sure what the trouble was. I’m sure we can get cameras for a lot less than what it will take to … [Read more...]

Giving back to our communities is infused in American culture, whether through donating to charity, serving in the military, or volunteering. At Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation (SMIF) we are proud to be placing people in service roles across the region through the national AmeriCorps program. AmeriCorps, established in 1993, engages more than 80,000 Americans each … [Read more...]

To the Editor, I share the pastor’s frustration about the inability of Congress to make any progress in combating gun violence. The ability of the gun lobby to neutralize legislators’ efforts simply defies logic. As an example, I note on the next page of the Journal, an ad for Representative Greg Davids. He is soliciting his constituents’ opinions and concerns from a list of … [Read more...]

By Eric Lee Harmony, MN As we reel from the shootings at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., one thing is becoming clear. It appears we will return to our tribal corners, and I don’t know what to do about that. I will start by saying that I am a gun control advocate, and I am not in favor of taking away the guns of responsible, law-abiding citizens. I … [Read more...]

By Pastor Norm Omodt, Retired Chatfield, MN That’s what we hear from many politicians in Washington.  Now is not the time to debate the issue of gun violence!  Just wait until other concerns overwhelm our life....and people try to forget the problem!  Just wait maybe for several  years then politicians may care enough to act.  NOW we have only a few that care that much … [Read more...]

By Aaron Swartzentruber Greenleafton, MN So here’s the question, “Where are you going when you die?” Another question is, “Can you know where you’ll go?” The answer is, yes, you can know. In this article I’m mostly talking to people who believe that Jesus paid for their sin but they’re still working to gain favor with God and to have a “chance” of getting into Heaven. If … [Read more...]