Clearly, officials in some Central and South American countries are capitalizing on U.S. domestic policies to handle some of their own problems. The fact they get to embarrass President Donald Trump’s administration seems to be a bonus for some of them. Rampant violence and poor economies ...
Our mainstream media remain consumed with the grisly killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, and how President Donald Trump will deal with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Understandably so, for this is the most riveting murder story since ...
Don’t starve the IRS A decade of cuts has led to critical deficits in the agency’s core functions and may be jeopardizing Americans’ data privacy. There is a silent crisis brewing at the Internal Revenue Service, with Republicans looking at another round of cuts for the embattled ...
Take the time to thank a firefighter THUMBS UP: The Independent front pages this past week took on a common theme: First responders in action. Everybody in Marshall is grateful to the city’s firefighters for responding to every call in such a swift manner. It started out with a fire in one ...
Back in June, newly appointed Russell-Tyler-Ruthton School District Superintendent Dave Marlette stood in front of small crowd inside the Russell school gymnasium. The area residents sat in the stands as Marlette told them it's time for the district to “pull together.” Marlette was asking ...
We already have ample evidence that the world of internet commerce has shaken the “bricks and mortar” businesses. Now, the nation is witnessing the Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing for Sears, Roebuck and Co., at one time the biggest retailer in the world. Sears got its start in Minneapolis ...
Jamal Khashoggi, a journalist with the Washington Post who has written critically of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, walked into the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, Turkey on Oct. 2, and disappeared. Turkish officials believe he was tortured and killed by a Saudi assassination squad. The ...
The U.S. economy added 134,000 jobs outside of the farming sector last month, coming 51,000 short of projections, but that might have been the only bit of bad news in the monthly jobs report. In short, the economy remains robust. The U.S. unemployment rate fell two-tenths of a percent to 3.7 ...
Earth is rapidly headed for a place of no return, where climate change will leave the planet a more hostile place for people, plants and animals. The impacts and costs are greater and coming faster than expected, according to a comprehensive new assessment by the Intergovernmental Panel on ...
There are a some things you just know you shouldn’t do, like joke about a bomb in your carry-on luggage at the airport. A Rosemount teacher learned the hard way this week that you also shouldn’t twitter about assassinating the newest Supreme Court justice on Twitter. The special ...
On Oct. 1, the U.S. Department of Education announced the 2018 Blue Ribbon Schools. The National Blue Ribbon Schools Program recognizes public and private elementary, middle, and high schools based on their overall academic excellence or their progress in closing achievement gaps among student ...
We’re sure that those who advocate for victims of crime in our society would say that these fellow citizens deserve sympathy and understanding. Some, including those who are victims of sexual assault, may also feel ashamed or embarrassed, although, of course, they have done nothing wrong. ...
Lyon County does it part to fight chemical dependency THUMBS UP: Chemical dependency is wrecking lives across the nation and right here in southwest Minnesota. Western Mental Health Center in Marshall is stepping up to the plate to help those in the fight for their lives. The center applied ...
Murray County Government Operations consultant Mark Nipp proposed a good solution to the turmoil that has developed between commissioners and the sheriff’s office. Back in May, the board of commissioners voted to demand Sheriff Steven Telkamp’s immediate resignation after discussing the ...
Jim Allison lost his mother, a brother, two uncles and a cousin to cancer, but he says he never set out to find a cure for the disease. Like many great scientists, he was driven by “the selfish desire to be the first person on the planet to know something,” as he explained to Houston ...
Once every five years, Congress is called upon to pass a Farm Bill, one that sets government policy on a wide variety of agriculture programs, from commodity trade programs, to conservation programs, to organic agriculture, to support for beginning farmers and ranchers, to loans and subsidies ...
"Mexican drug cartel “flooded our market” with meth.” That was a headline on a story that appeared in the Independent last June. Jody Gladis, the former commander of the Brown-Lyon-Redwood-Renville Drug Task Force was quoted in that article on his talk to the Noon Rotary Club. He stated ...
Black, Hispanic employment rates still have room to improve. You can say it’s a sign of good times. The 2.9 percent unemployment rate registered in Minnesota in August is the lowest since December 1999 and is getting close to the all-time low, 2.5 percent, recorded almost 20 years ...
Minnesota motorists and auto owners who have been dealing with the new Minnesota Licensing and Registration System (MnLARS) have some idea how the poor folks in North Carolina feel in the wake of Hurricane Florence. With slow-motion flooding following the turbulent hurricane itself, Florence is ...
For more than a year, the battle over the release of the Jacob Wetterling investigation files has been a huge point of contention in Minnesota. Compassion-through-privacy for Jacob's family was pitted against state law and the public's right to know why it took more than a quarter century to ...