Opinions

By Reed Anfinson
Publisher
Swift County Monitor-News

When we look at the now vacant lot where the Benson Power electric generation facility once sat, it’s easy to think about the loss. A 12-year-old $230 million energy facility employing more than 45 people and paying $832,000 in real estate taxes to local governments has been dismantled.

But there is encouragement future in the words of the state’s leaders who came to Benson 12 years ago to celebrate the grand opening of what was then known as Fibrominn.

“There is a long tradition in this part of the world of progressive politics and progressive leaders. It is appropriate that this would be the place where we would have this kind of revolution,” U.S. Rep. Collin Peterson said at the grand opening.

 “Benson is a pretty remarkable town,” then U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman said. “Here in the heartland of western Minnesota, you are at the forefront of energy innovation.”

By Reed Anfinson
Publisher
Swift County Monitor-News

Our 7th Congressional District made the national news frequently this past week. As our readers are well aware, that attention was brought from the halls of the U.S. House in Washington, D.C., to the small towns and rural reaches of our district due to a couple votes of Rep. Collin Peterson. 

He was one of only two Democrats in the House to vote against impeaching President Donald Trump on the charge of abuse of power and one of only three to vote no on the charge of obstruction of justice. With the Democrats’ majority in the House, both motions passed, the president was impeached, and now we wait for the U.S. Senate to act.

Because of the historic nature of the House vote and Peterson’s role, we would be remiss not to comment on it. But first, let’s hear from Peterson in his own words.

By Reed Anfinson
Publisher
Swift County Monitor-News

Our divided nation stands even more at odds in these days following the Democratic Party controlled U.S. House Judiciary Committee voting to send articles of impeachment for a full House vote. That vote is scheduled to take place this week with a Senate trial to follow.

There are two realities in America today.

One among supporters who believe that their president can do no wrong and that the Democrats are out of control in their pursuit to undo the 2016 election through impeachment.

The other reality exits for Americans who believe our country is led by a would-be dictator who believes he is above the law and has committed impeachable offenses in pressuring Ukraine to falsely accuse a political opponent of wrongdoing.

By Reed Anfinson
Publisher
Swift County Monitor-News

It’s long past time when the District 777 Board of Education make a decision on a future home for the Benson-Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg (BKMS) gymnastics program. The decision that makes the most sense is going to the voters to approve a levy in the neighborhood of $1.2 to $1.5 million.

Before addressing the issue of financing, there are two questions to answer. The first is, does the gymnastics program need a new home? There is no doubt to the answer – definitely. Once that question is answered the next is, how quickly should the school board act? Again, the answer to that question can be answered without hesitation – immediately.

For more than two decades the school’s gymnastics program has operated out of a substandard, unsafe building.

By Reed Anfinson
Publisher
Swift County Monitor-News

Last flu season in America was particularly deadly. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) estimates that 61,000 people died from flu related symptoms with 810,000 hospitalized.

As we enter the heart of this flu season, the Minnesota Department of Health, Horizon Public Health, our local medical staffs, and our pharmacies will be reminding us to get vaccinated – and you should follow their advice. Doing so not only protects you but safeguards the lives of infants whose immune systems aren’t fully developed and are too young for vaccines, those who have comprised immune systems due to cancer treatments, and those who are allergic to vaccines.

By Reed Anfinson
Publisher
Swift County Monitor-News

A recent University of North Carolina study found that since 2004 1,800 newspapers had disappeared in America – 1,700 of the community weekly newspapers.

In the metropolitan areas of America, there is a relatively rich media culture with commercial television stations, public radio and television stations, internet web sites devoted to covering the both the urban region and communities within it, and daily newspapers.

However, many of these dailies have seen their newsrooms gutted with the savings on reporter salaries going to pay investors of their hedge fund owners.

In many rural communities, the only source of the news is the local newspaper. The information we provide reaches deeply into the fabric of what makes a community connected, successful, inclusive and forward looking. When it disappears, the community’s health is threatened

In Healthy communities

By Reed Anfinson
Publisher
Swift County Monitor-News

Good government depends on a system of checks and balances. Those who govern and those who administer the government know they are answerable to the citizenry of the community. Citizens hold government accountable through the information they are provided by the watchdogs who make up the Fourth Estate – the press.

Often in our small communities we elect good people who then hire competent and good-intentioned civil servants. Our governments run smoothly, taxes are reasonable, and services are provided cost-effectively. However, too frequently we hear the stories of trust abused and violated.  That is why we need a strong, attentive and respected press that provides a common source of trusted information to citizens.

By Reed Anfinson
Publisher
Swift County Monitor-News

“Democracy requires citizens see things from one another’s point of view, but instead we’re more and more enclosed in our own bubbles. Democracy requires a reliance on shared fact; instead, we’re being offered parallel but separate universes.”
 
Eli Pariser, The Filter Bubble
 
We are now less than a year away from the presidential election of 2020. That it will be contentious and fraught with partisan anger is a given. That we will be inundated with misleading, demeaning, and outright false political advertising an unfortunate reality.

Candidates will have their own ads for which they take responsibility; these may be on the edge of truth and civility. A larger share of the ads will come from political action committees (PACs.) These ads will make no pretense of fairness, honesty, or civility. They will deceive and villainize.

By Reed Anfinson
Publisher
Swift County Monitor-News

A pitched battle is underway between America’s Red and Blue states. It’s a battle that in many cases is fought behind the scenes through outlandish schemes that would cost taxpayers billions of dollars. It’s a battle over climate change and the depletion of America’s precious resources.

It’s not the political and ideological battle you suspect between conservatives and liberals.

In this fight, the red states are those in the American Southwest burning up as rising temperatures and extended droughts make their unchecked growth unsustainable. The blue states are those with plentiful water reserves the red states jealously covet and desperately eye to for their sustainability and future growth.

These developing water wars are just starting with one such red states’ scouting mission exploring possibilities in Minnesota.

By Reed Anfinson
Publisher
Swift County Monitor-News

Some childhood memories are etched deeply into our psyche with their vivid recall, including sight, sound, and smell. For us, leaf piles burning in the fall is one such indelible memory. Today there are no leaf piles burning. It is illegal in most cities.

 “There are sound reasons for not burning leaves,” the late Hal Borland writes in his book Twelve Moons of the Year. “Their smoke adds to the urban smog, their smoldering flames create a fire hazard, and unburned leaves make good mulch and compost.