When you truly know someone, you can generally tell when they are lying or not telling the entire truth. It’s more difficult when you don’t know someone, and harder still if you admire them and often agree with their point of view. It’s easy to let our guard down, because let’s be honest, trust isn’t a bad thing. That doesn’t mean too much trust can’t get us into trouble, … [Read more...]

Soil compaction is an annual spring time concern for farmers, gardeners and anyone else working on wet soils. But what is compaction and why is it such a concern? First, think about what a healthy soil looks like. If you could dig up a column of healthy soil without disturbing it, you would find a balance between solids and pore space. The pore space would be partially full … [Read more...]

“Change is often desirable, frequently  necessary, and always inevitable.”  While much that happens is not in our control, some events evolve from choices we have made.  Sometimes  these choices are driven by love and hope.  Regrettably, some are the result of fear and hate.  Ideally, our emotions should be modified by reason.  I remember putting on eye glasses for the first … [Read more...]

I became active in politics in the late 1950s, got elected to Congress in 1964, and have remained engaged in one way or another every year since then. I’ve had a ringside seat for a long time. So I suppose I should not be surprised that I get asked a lot these days how American politics have changed over the last six decades. A few things stand out. When I first arrived in … [Read more...]

By Donna Buckbee Rushford, MN One of the habits I learned from my mother: special newspaper articles are to be clipped and filed.  This past winter I went through 50 years of those special clippings — reviewing, sorting and tossing. One of the few I held back from the burn pile was a book review from February 27, 2004, written by David E. Hoffman appearing in the St. … [Read more...]

Fishing is a huge outdoor activity for many Minnesotans. Unfortunately, our native fish are being harmed by some unwelcome invasive species. One such fish is the Silver carp. The Silver carp, Hypophthalmichtyhs molitrix, is a species of fish that is native to eastern Asia and was imported from China to the United States during the early 1970s to help fish aquaculture operations … [Read more...]

By Drew Hatzenbihler Solid Waste Administrator As the weather has gotten nicer this spring, we have noticed an increased number of people dropping off materials from their spring cleaning efforts. As you are cleaning out your homes, basements and garages this year, start planning ahead and boxing up your hazardous materials to drop off on May 7 for Fillmore County’s … [Read more...]