Opinions

By Reed Anfinson

Publisher, Swift County Monitor-News

Minnesota faces a serious prison overcrowding problem. No one argues that point. It is how that problem should be addressed that is at the root of deep emotional stands on the issue. There are three basic solutions under discussion: sentencing reform, creating more prison beds, or the combination of the two. Tangled within those three solutions are passionate feelings on sentencing fairness, racial inequity in sentencing, and the difference between being tough on crime and compassionate to our fellow human beings who have violated the law.

By Reed Anfinson
Publisher, Swift County Monitor-News
 

“We live in an era where trust has collapsed in every single institution in the country with the exception of the military and it is not without cause,” Republican Strategist Steve Schmidt said on Meet the Press Sunday morning. “An era of systemic fraud in business, in politics, in the culture, in sports, in religion, all of it accumulating to this moment in time where someone has come forward with profound communication skills offering easy answers to people who…have seen no changes.”
 

By Reed Anfinson
Publisher, Swift County Monitor-News

It is the season of political letters to the editor again. This means those who ardently support one candidate or another will be mailing out letters to area newspapers hoping to put a plug in for voters to cast a ballot for their candidate.

The Swift County Monitor-News has a few rules that we apply to letters that are submitted before deciding whether they will be published.

One of our basic rules is that letter writers should be local, preferably subscribers to the Monitor-News. We get inundated with letters from far and wide. They come from outside this region and even other states. Letters that are not local are unlikely to get printed.

By Reed Anfinson
Publisher, Swift County Monitor-News

“You’re a flip-flopper!” is considered one of the most damaging accusations to confront a challenger with in the political arena. “You were for it before you were against it!” Score another point for a candidate’s opposition.

But can we really blame politicians when they seemingly change their stands on issues? Or, should we blame ourselves for dropping out of the early stages of the electoral process letting the far right and far left dictate the debate, and thus the outcomes of primaries and caucuses?

Are candidates disingenuous flip-floppers or is he or she a political realist while the accuser is simply politically naïve? Do we blame ourselves for lacking the sense of harsh political reality that demands we accept the necessity of duplicity?

By Reed Anfinson

Publisher - Swift County Monitor-News

By Reed Anfinson

Publisher

It appears that worries about terrorists slipping into America among the Syrian refugees flooding out of the war torn country has caused some, including the leading candidates for the Republican nomination for president, to abandon the U.S. Constitution and America’s core principles.

They could learn something from a former Republican president who faced a far greater crisis following the terrorist attacks on America Sept. 11, 2001.

Let’s start with the acknowledgement that there are no easy answers to the financial crunch faced by the Benson Golf Club. We also need to acknowledge that the City of Benson, and thus the taxpayers of the community, are the owners of the golf clubhouse and course.
That ownership comes with the responsibility to maintain it so that it continues to be an attractive asset. Benson’s City Council has taken on that challenge with an understanding that not everyone will support its actions.
Benson’s Golf Club has been falling behind financially for the past several years. Its losses are due to declining membership, a series of severe weather events that reduced the number of rounds being played by those paying greens fees and renting carts, and increasing costs of operation.

Minnesota’s Legislature will face a crucial decision on the future of prison facilities in the state when it weighs whether to build a new 500-bed facility near a current prison in Rush City or take advantage of an empty 1,600-bed facility in Appleton.
Though it is more than five months before the state Legislature convenes, there is already a special Prison Population Task Force made up of legislators, state prison officials and law enforcement considering how to most cost-effectively meet the state’s need for more prison beds.
Swift County and the City of Appleton are actively putting their case before the state Legislature for using the Prairie Correctional Facility. To help it make its point with the legislators and the public, it has retained well-respected lobbying firm Goff Public of St. Paul.
We believe there are several key considerations the task force needs to weigh as it moves forward.

    Imagine: the tall  grass moving in an undulating fashion, the colors changing with the ever persisting prairie wind; yellow and blue, purple and white. The butterflies chasing each other above the many wild flowers, giving the appearance of the grass and flowers flying. And then they came, the pioneers. They came with their own histories and with their own agendas. They also came with their own prejudice born of their times and background . And they thought or were led to believe that the land was theirs if they could subdue it and make it produce wheat and oats and corn for the ever expanding markets of the cities in the east.

by Hege Herfindahl