Area educators honored by state

THUMBS UP:

Two area educators were honored with statewide honors recently. Lakeview Public Schools District Superintendent Chris Fenske was named the 2019 Administrator of Excellence by the Minnesota Association of School Administration. And Marshall High School music teacher Wayne Ivers was awarded the Music Educator of the Year by the Minnesota Music Educators Association. These two awards educators in southwest Minnesota are highly respected by the rest of the state.

Backs are turned to the citizens

THUMBS DOWN:

How some area governing boards are conducting business is not public friendly. A number of school boards and councils conduct their public meetings with members sitting in a U-shape format, or worse yet, around a conference table. These formats make it difficult for citizens who show up for meetings to follow along on which board members are speaking. In fact, the conference table format really shows a complete disregard for the public. Many meetings are also conducted without a sound system, which allows board members who wish to speak softly not to be heard by the audience.

Working to keep roads safe, power on

THUMBS UP:

Lots of credit goes out to the men and women who plow the streets and highways. Another April blizzard presented major challenges to keep roadways cleared. This blizzard was particularly destructive in knocking down a lot of power lines which caused power outages in the southwestern Minnesota. Hats off to the power crews who raced into horrible winter conditions to restore power.