Nearly two years ago, voters elected Donald J. Trump as the 45th president of the United States. Using electoral votes as a barometer, he was elected by a fairly large margin despite assertions he was too impulsive, amoral, divisive, and not truly representative of Republican values. Since ...
It’s kind of become a tradition of sorts to visit a state park on Labor Day. Ross and I were with my family in Wisconsin this past weekend, and there’s a Minnesota state park only a half-hour from my parents’ house, William O’Brien State Park. William O’Brien is located near Marine ...
The social news or gossip columns in the old newspapers are always fascinating to read. A special section in the newspaper was devoted to the social media of the day. The whereabouts of local people and events were often featured in these columns. Here are a few from the Marshall News-Messenger ...
Welcome back students THUMBS UP: Schools throughout southwest Minnesota are starting the new school year this week. It’s amazing what teachers are doing to welcome students back into the classrooms — especially the preschoolers and kindergartners. Attending school for the first time can ...
History is usually airbrushed to remove a figure who has fallen out of favor with a dictatorship, or to hide away an episode of national shame. Leave it to Hollywood to erase from a national triumph its most iconic moment. The new movie “First Man,” a biopic about the Apollo 11 astronaut ...
Question: If I sell my vehicle to a private party, what do you recommend I do to protect myself in the event the new owner gets into a crash or is arrested prior to them transferring the title into their name? Answer: If the vehicle you sold is involved in a hit-and-run or pursuit and the ...
These past few months, I was able to work with Southwest Minnesota State University (SMSU) student Loic Dah as city administrator intern. The following is a perspective of his time with the city: My name is Loic Dah and I was born and raised in Ivory Coast, a country of more 20 million ...
Creating a smart budget means spending where it counts — and saving where it doesn’t. “It’s not about being cheap. What we talk about is choice,” said Michael Gardon, contributor at the Simple Dollar, a personal finance blog with a focus on frugal living. Try these spending ...
Rising student enrollment in the Marshall Public School District is the big elephant in the room for Marshall voters. Tuesday night the theme of rising student enrollment took center stage during the district board meeting and a familiar topic popped up as the new school year starts this ...
I have attended the South Dakota State Fair nearly every year since approximately the end of the Jurassic Era. My first Fair experience happened when I was a tyke. Dad and Mom piled all eight of their children into our 1959 Ford station wagon and pointed it toward Huron, an hour from our ...
We hear a lot about unemployment rates, the gross domestic product, business inventories and a variety of other economic indicators. But among the most interesting are productivity reports from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In essence, productivity data compares the value of goods and ...
It’s September — a new school year with new routines. September is also National Family Meals Month, which has as an aim to inspire families to eat at home together more often. Numerous studies underscore the long-term health, academic and societal benefits of consistently eating together ...
When’s the last time you showed some appreciation? If you’re like most of us, you’ll shake your head at that question because, and don’t we think like this, our answer to the question would be ... “I show appreciation all the time!” Hmm, are you certain? I’ll go out on a limb ...
The Lake Benton School District and Holy Redeemer School are recent examples of communities working together to give students much needed facility improvements. A renovation project at Holy Redeemer has forced school officials to delay school, but it’s a small price to pay for improved ...
Americans aren’t complaining that their 401K balances are decidedly to the positive in the last nine years. Nor should they. We all deserve a little good news. But headlines that by the end of the day today, without a calamity, the stock market will set a record for the longest bull market ...
For sure the days are numbered, but it’s still summer and there are still plenty of summer constellations dancing across the night sky. What’s really nice is that your stargazing adventures can start earlier in the evening now as daylight hours are dwindling. As soon as it gets dark, ...
Since Ross’ annual state park pass expired in July and we hadn’t hit a state park in more than a month, we figured it was time to find one that was new to us. We have pretty much exhausted the ones in this part of the state, so we decided to venture a little bit north. I suggested ...
Lyon County hunters express concerns THUMBS DOWN: There appears to be a disconnect somewhere between those who are responsible for forming the deer harvesting plan for the state of Minnesota and the actual hunters. Well, at least the hunters in Lyon County. The Department of Natural ...
If you’re a single woman, most of your financial challenges and aspirations may resemble those of single men. Men and women face the same economic stress factors of modern life, and both groups have similar financial goals, such as the ability to retire comfortably. But women still face ...
Business matters recently found my wife and me in central Minnesota. I’m a big believer in mixing business with pleasure, so we took the opportunity to see Alec. No, I don’t mean Alec Baldwin, although the silvery star might well benefit from a visit to the Gopher State. We spent a day in ...