Opinions

by Reed Anfinson, Editor & Publisher

Western Minnesota was once a destination for hunters each fall as they set out to hunt ring-necked pheasants. Hotel and motel rooms would fill up on the weekends, restaurants were full each early morning as hunters prepared for the day’s hunt, and bars and restaurants saw good business each evening as they returned after a long, rewarding day in the fields.
Many other businesses from gas stations, to hardware stores, to clothing stores also saw good business from the visiting hunters. But those days are long gone as Minnesota’s pheasant population has seen a steady decline as farmland has displaced grasslands on the state’s landscape.
It hasn’t helped that it is getting harder to find a place to hunt. Public land gets hit pretty hard and fewer farmers are just letting hunters just walk into their fields and onto their Conservation Reserve Acres (CRP).

by Reed Anfinson, Editor, Publisher

A Drop of Ink

When it comes to the nation’s security more than one third of America’s citizens believe the government should have greater control over what the press is allowed to publish and air. Thirty-seven percent of those responding in a recent poll said reporters should have to get government approval before certain sensitive stories could run.

By Reed Anfinson, Editor, Publisher

After the second or third polar vortex, I am getting tired of being inside, at home. But then I start thinking, that I must be grateful I have a home. There are, after all, many people, including families that are homeless.
When we were in Washington, school and offices closed due to a big winter storm. In the paper, we read about the homeless; families with children who lined up to get help in the cold only to find out the office for helping the homeless was closed due to the snow.  Some of them ended up sleeping on the floor in churches.
Duluth has more than 900 homeless people and was the first city in the US to pass a homeless bill of rights, although many states do have such a bill. This bill of rights is meant to draw attention to the plight of the homeless. The plan is to have the Human Rights Commission of the city take an in-depth look at the problem of homelessness and to find solutions. There is talk of having homeless people on the commission.

by Reed Anfinson, Editor-Publisher

Kathy A. Weckwerth

by Reed Anfinson, Editor - Publisher

by Hege Herfindahl

I would like to acknowledge all of the hard work that has been done so far in clearing the debris left in the wake of the Thursday and Friday storms. We have a long way to go but so much has been done in three days!
I have seen and heard countless instances of people helping people who had neither the tools or the ability to clear their own lawns. I admire the personal pride and initiative individuals used in clearing their property. It reaffirms what I already knew; we have  a wonderful caring community. Our community extends across city limits and we had many people from the surrounding area volunteering to help their city neighbors.