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Letters to the Editor

Feeling the consequences of election

To the editor: Trump is refusing to use emergency funds for food stamps even though the courts are ordering him to fund them. Instead of helping people that are starving, many of them children, he is appealing the court order to use the emergency funds, and that is after he and Republicans already cut food stamps by $187 billion dollars in the big dumb bill. They also cut the USAID program that gave food and medicine to the poorest people in the world, which has already resulted in 600,000 deaths of which 2/3 of them are children. What happened to all the pro-life people? Don’t ...

Tribute to Bill Holm most deserved

To the editor: Imagine my surprise to open my on-line edition of the Independent today to see my old friend and colleague Bill Holm featured on the front page. Bill was one of the smartest and most colorful men I have ever known. His knowledge of literature and music (and many other areas of expertise) was amazing. He was also extremely generous with his time and help and usually read the works of other writers he admired during his own public readings, such as the poetry of Leo Dangel and Phil Dacey. He was a great teacher, performer, raconteur and friend. The tribute to Bill ...

It’s open enrollment season – here’s what to know

Fall brings cooler weather and football games, and it’s also the annual time to ensure you have the health insurance coverage you need for 2026. Open enrollment on the federal Marketplace at healthcare.gov — as well as Minnesota’s marketplace MNsure at mnsure.org — runs through Dec. 15 for first-of-the-year coverage. Jan. 15 is the final date to make changes or to set up coverage that begins Feb. 1. Employers have their own open enrollment season for signing up for health insurance at work, but commonly this happens in the fall as well. Health insurance is an investment ...

Rooftops of memory

To the editor: I remember Katrina. I remember families waving shirts from rooftops, praying for helicopters that never came. I remember looters—not for greed, but for bread. For baby formula. For dignity. And I remember how the government that delayed rescue rushed prosecution. Today, in 2025, we are back on the rooftops. For the first time in American history, a president’s administration attempted to allow food stamps to lapse during a government shutdown. Over 42 million Americans — children, seniors, working families — stood to lose access to SNAP benefits. Not ...

Let’s quit rewarding ‘bad behavior’

To the editor: Back in 2023, the “historic” DFL Minnesota Legislature enacted a K-12 education bill that included a $2.2 billion hike in spending on schools. Currently, the district already spends approximately $16,538 per pupil. The bill that passed the Legislature indexed the per pupil formula to the rate of inflation in future years-capped at 3% —with a boost of 4% the following fiscal year and 2% after that. Rep. Cheryl Youakim touted that the DFL was able to deliver on its campaign promise of “fully funding education”. But, even with the claim that education was ...

Students encouraged to be actively involved in activities

The following letter to the editor is the response from Marshall Public Schools Superintendent Jeremy Williams to the writer’s letter that published on Oct. 30. To the editor: Thank you for reaching out and sharing your thoughts. We appreciate your interest in our students and school programs. At Marshall Public Schools, we encourage all students to be actively involved in school and extracurricular activities. The photo you are referring to includes all our students in a football program in grades 9-12 with their coaches, not just our varsity team. Research consistently shows ...