For decades, America has been battling the outsourcing of manufacturing and services to countries like Mexico, China, Philippines, and India. The United States has lost so many jobs to other countries for a variety of reasons, including labor costs, environmental restrictions, and tax incentives. Most people would be surprised to hear that some newspapers have fallen into … [Read more...]
Still hopeful
It’s amazing how creative and resilient humans can be. Here, in the midst of fear and tragedy, good arises. It was an odd Easter at home. But churches live streamed services. I heard the pastor play his trumpet and it was the most uplifting and triumphant sound coming right into my home. My parents, who are in their 90s and homebound pandemic or not, were able to attend church … [Read more...]
Journal Writing Project: 2020 seniors, it sucks right?
By Corinna Wiemerslage I know, it sucks. We got the last few months of our high school career taken from us. This is when we were supposed to have our class trip, senior prank, senior prom and our graduations. It’s not fair. We worked so hard for these moments, and for them to be taken from us it almost just doesn’t feel fair. For any grade level, students are missing out on … [Read more...]
Journal Writing Project: History of the English language
By Bethany Schneekloth English in a whole is a rather interesting language, it is used across the globe by many different cultures as a primary or as a secondary language. It is so wide spread that its origin in the fifth century AD in a small section of what is known as Britain is even more incredible. Crossing the sea from Denmark and Northern Germany in the fifth century … [Read more...]
Words from the Bible
By Paul Bouska Canton, Minn. “Sweeter than honey, more precious than gold” are words from the Bible, or so I’ve been told. Words from the Bible make me feel fine. Yes, words from the Bible are sweeter than wine. Whenever I need a new goal, words from the Bible bring peace to my soul. What have you done for your brothers and sisters today? What can I say? I was so busy I … [Read more...]
Fact checking the haters
On April 13, 2020, we were “treated” to a trio of articles in FCJ by leftist writers. These folks may not be infected by CV19, but they all share a serious case of “Trump Derangement Syndrome.” Since they are birds of a feather, let’s list their statements and run a fact check. S] “Trump fired the Pandemic Response Team.” [Van Gorp] A] Such a nasty lie. John Bolton had … [Read more...]
Letter to the Editor Together stronger
As a farmer and community organizer in rural Minnesota (Fillmore County), I am worried about some of the reports I have read about anti-Asian racism playing out in our small towns. We know racism exists for all of us in the U.S., and the work of confronting it can seem overwhelming. But now is not the time to let our weaknesses rule. In this crisis, we have a unique … [Read more...]
Letter to the Editor Time marches on
“Time marches on,” was the first thing that came to mind when I found out that Dave Phillips had sold Bluff Country Newspapers to Jason Sethre. Thinking about the eight community newspapers that had served Harmony, Lanesboro, Preston, Mabel, Spring Valley, Chatfield, Rushford and Spring Grove for all those years now just a distant memory, really pulled on my heartstrings. In … [Read more...]
One Moment, Please… CEOs have nothing on small business owners
I recently read an article about a CEO of a large corporate chain restaurant, publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange. He gave up his annual bonus plus base salary this year to pay his chain’s workers during the coronavirus pandemic. The total amount donated to employees from the CEO amounted to about $1 million. This has been shared all over the national media. Some … [Read more...]
The Working Mom
Pre and postCOVID – being thoughtful Do you ever get stuck on a phrase that you can’t shake? Well, I know I have…. and some of you who know me may agree that I have been using and probably overusing the word Awesome for 30+ years. My prediction is there are a couple of phrases that will be used for a very long time are “preCOVID” and “postCOVID.” Anyone taking inventory of … [Read more...]