Opinions

    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

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