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An example of love and acceptance on a global scale

South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who died Sunday at the age of 90, was a remarkable man who lived in remarkable times. The first Black Bishop of Johannesburg and later Anglican Archbishop of Capetown, he used his influence to rally public opinion — in South Africa and around the world — against the evils of the South African Apartheid form of government. He had a remarkable ability to advocate for human rights, not only in his own country but around the world. Along with Nelson Mandela, the political leader who emerged from decades of being a political prisoner of the ...

Be ready for carbon monoxide dangers

Two weeks ago, seven members of a family in the Moorhead area were found dead in their home. While police wouldn’t immediately say what had killed the Hernandez family, they did say there was no sign of obvious trauma. Last Wednesday, with blood toxicity results in, the authorities announced the family had died from carbon monoxide toxicity. While they don’t know how the CO got into the family’s home, the blood tests left no doubt. What they do know is that the carbon monoxide detector in the family’s home was disconnected, and its battery was missing. Most of the family ...

COVID’s rebound

A year ago COVID-19 was hammering health care workers, closing schools, stopping sporting events and other large group gatherings. Six months ago, thanks largely to the vaccines that were becoming increasingly available, COVID numbers were dropping and people were looking at leaving masks at home and getting out and around other people. But now, thanks to the delta variant and the more recent omicron variant, COVID has staged a big comeback. Hospitals are full of infected patients, the NFL, NBA and NHL are postponing games as players and coaches test positive, and it is expected ...

Tailpipe standards

President Joe Biden announced a stricter set of mileage and emission standards for U.S. automakers on Monday, perhaps in response to Sen. Joe Manchin sticking a potato in the tailpipe of the Build Back Better Act on Sunday. The bill that Manchin said he couldn’t support contains $555 billion for renewable energy and clean transportation over the next ten years, including tax credits for installing solar panels and buying electric cars. It was meant to be the backbone of Biden’s plans to lower the U.S.’s production of greenhouse gases. By setting new mileage standards for ...

Manchin holds the power in Senate

Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin, (W-Va) holds the power in the U.S. Senate in regard to the $2 trillion Build Back Better bill that President Joe Biden is hoping to get passed. To get it through the Senate, which is equally divided between Republicans and Democrats, Biden needs all 50 Democrats to vote “yea”. On Sunday Manchin said that he won’t be doing that for a bill he feels is too expensive and too sweeping. The White House shot back, with Press Secretary Jen Psaki called Manchin’s statement a “sudden and inexplicable reversal of his position,” and said Manchin had given ...

The Minnesota difference

There is one thing that makes Minnesota different from every other state in the union. We are the only state with a divided Legislature — Democrats hold the majority in the House of Representatives, and the Republicans control the Senate. This may create some problems, like the inability to pass a two-year budget without going to special sessions, but it also produces one advantage. Since the House and Senate will never agree on a redistricting map every 10 yeas, it falls to a panel of impartial judges. So instead of one party drawing up districts designed to add to their majority, ...