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Opioid pushers deserve lawsuits

It seems difficult sometimes to keep up with all the lawsuits against drug companies without a scorecard. But the more we learn about the truly evil practices in which some engaged, the more it seems the punishment cannot be too harsh. A bipartisan congressional report issued last week explains that some companies selling addictive opioid painkillers spent as much as $65 million funding allegedly nonprofit groups that promoted use of such drugs to ease pain. The practice continued until 2019, long after the hazards of opioids were known widely. Responsible pharmaceutical firms backed ...

Make Christmas plans with care

We urge area residents thinking of going over the river and through the woods to grandma’s house this Christmas to bear one thing in mind: We are not out of the woods yet. In many ways, COVID-19 is more dangerous than ever in most states. In Minnesota, 406 people died from COVID-19 in the past week, from Dec. 13 to 20. Hospitalizations have been climbing. Public health officials cautioned us all about large family gatherings for Thanksgiving. The surge of COVID-19 cases since then is evidence many people paid no heed to the warnings. They went ahead with festivities of the type ...

Minnesota election process in good shape

Minnesotans hold dear their right to vote and this year was no different. Nearly 80% of eligible voters participated in the November election, making us No. 1 in the nation in turnout. As in the Mankato region, the election was carried out smoothly all across the state. And yet, a state Senate elections committee last week called by a former secretary of state clearly attempts to find something suspicious that’s not there. Republican Sen. Mary Kiffmeyer, the committee chair, insists that the public has a right to inquire about the election system without having their motives ...

Short Takes

Folks depending on Congress to act THUMBS DOWN: Folks are hurting. Evidence of that could be seen Thursday on Lyon and Fifth streets as vehicles lined up to enter the Holy Redeemer School, parking lot. It was there that workers with the Lutheran Social Service handed out packaged free meals to go. Lisa Gillund, assistant director of operations for LSS meals, said meals and snacks for 300 people would be distributed. Gillund also said food insecurity is a real problem right now as the pandemic rages out of control in Minnesota, so more food giveaways are planned this month. ...

COVID relief bill should include families

A bipartisan coalition of U.S. senators and representatives is pushing for enactment of a new COVID-19 relief bill, priced at about $900 billion. Both Democrats and Republicans involved in the effort say that in the spirit of compromise, some provisions they wanted were left out of the measure. One needs to be inserted, as two members of the House of Representatives — one Democrat and one Republican — recognize. It is another round of direct cash help to American families. U.S. Reps. David McKinley, R-W.Va., and Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester, D-Del., have introduced legislation to ...

It’s official

The U.S. electoral college convened on Monday and, as expected, cast the votes that officially declare former Vice President Joe Biden to be the president-elect of the United States. It’s official, and all the tweeting and public declarations from President Donald Trump about how his victory was stolen from him won’t change the outcome. Thanks to Trump’s pre-election declarations that the only way he could lose is if the election was rigged, this has probably been the most closely watched election in U.S. history. Republican election watchers were standing by in polling places ...