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Letters to the Editor

Schools forcing religion on students

To the editor: The May 3, 2023 ‘Let’s keep religion out of public schools’ stated: “we are a nation in which people enjoy freedom of religion — any religion — as well as freedom from religion.” (quote from San Antonio Express-News) Actually, public schools have been forcing religion on kids for decades. Having looked over Minnesota K-12 Academic Standards in Science, I was wondering what they presented as proof for evolution in benchmark 9L.4.1.1.3; specifically item 2 which says changes in environmental conditions may result in: “the emergence of new species over ...

Unblock access to Alzheimer’s treatment

To the editor: As a volunteer for the Alzheimer’s Association, I advocate for all people with dementia, but especially for my mom, Barb Bruns, who was diagnosed with Early On-Set Alzheimer at the age of 57. Thanks to our bipartisan champions in Congress, we’ve made great progress advancing research on Alzheimer’s and dementia, providing hope to families with this terrible disease. And now with FDA approval of Alzheimer’s treatments which slow its progression at an early stage, our hopes have been lifted even higher. However, CMS, the agency that runs Medicare, has a policy ...

Take back ownership of government

To the editor: Can anyone point to the date and time when we the people turned all of our personal responsibilities and moral standards over to the few that occupy the seats in our once great capital in St Paul? Are we expected to just succumb to the standards, rules and regulations set by legislated laws and dictates? How did we get so disconnected from a government by the people for the people into becoming mere subjects of the government? Weren’t our elected Legislators and Senators supposed to “represent” the people and protect our “individual” God given Constitutional ...

President Biden should be judged by his policies and not his age

To the editor: I am in agreement with Jim Muchlinski’s thinking in his April 29 column. President Biden must be judged by his policies, and not his age. Here are a smattering of Biden’s decisions and policies during his first 28 months in office. 1.) On his first day as president, by his words and policies, Biden opened our southern border for 5.5 million immigrants to come here illegally. Fentanyal, brought to America illegally, has been responsible for 245,000 deaths during Biden’s first 2 years in office. Biden still refuses to close our border. 2.) It was President ...

Peace in the midst of global warming

To the editor: On March 21 the Independent published the story “World on thin ice” as UN climate report gives stark warning, by Seth Borenstein and Frank Jordans which gave us a gloom and doom report from the United Nations. These reports have negative effects on humans. A Stanford study by economist Marshall Burke and published in Nature Climate Change (3/29/2019), said that up to 21,000 suicides by 2050 in the U.S. and Mexico would occur if the temperature continues to rise at the current rates. In fact, a man who was eco-anxious recently committed suicide in Belgium as reported ...

Maybe Sen. Klobuchar can convince Democrats to address nursing home crisis

To the Editor: Recently, Sen. Amy Klobuchar visited the Oak Hills Living Center in New Ulm and told reporters that she wants to do something to help nursing homes in this state. To that news, I have a simple response: thank you. More than 1.3 million Minnesotans are aged 65 or older, and as they age, their need for care grows. Unfortunately, the State of Minnesota is not keeping up with these needs. In the month of October, 11,000 people were turned away from nursing homes, mainly due to lack of staff. The inability to fully staff our nursing homes then creates unwanted stress ...