As we approach another major decision by Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz on whether or not to extend the stay-at-home order, some local government officials are lobbying to let most businesses open up. On Monday, the cities of Wood Lake and Cottonwood sent letters to Walz to allow their small ...
Many people you know from history are included in the book “Posterity: Letters of Great Americans to Their Children,” c 2004. The collector of the letters was Dorie McCullough Lawson, and the foreword is by her father, well-known historian David McCullough. Paula Nemes at the Marshall-Lyon ...
“It’s a death march,” was the quote from Joe Enriques Henry of the League of United Latin American Citizens in a Minneapolis Star Tribune article on meatpacking plants. The Sunday edition article claims that thousands of workers are still not being tested for COVID-19. If that claim is ...
Spring brings with it the first trips out into a greening countryside. Whether sneaking off to a favorite shore fishing spot or hanging up some trail cameras to catch the first glimpses of a buck caught on a memory card, spring adventures often set anglers and hunters up against flora and fauna ...
To the Editor: If you’ve ever voted by mail in an election, you know how easy and safe it is. I have since 1990. Every year, thousands of Minnesotans securely cast their ballots from wherever they are. Fact:130,000 Minnesotans (in 78 of 87 counties) already live in communities with no ...
World War II and 9/11 both changed the way Americans thought about and understood their country. We may be going there again in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. The rush to aid the victims of the pandemic by the health care system, nonprofits, business and, yes, the government, has been ...
There are times when I think the historical hermits had it right. All of us know what our lives are like today. We are concerned, at times overwhelmed, too many irons in the fire, the kids to attend to, and then there is the drain that comes with physical/mental and the current social ...
We are at that in-between time of year when the furnace runs in the morning and the air conditioning kicks in during the afternoon. We are paying to heat and cool the same air each day. I’m not complaining, though. We have finally thrown off the icy shackles of winter, clearing the way for ...
Three months ago I met up with Jeff Chandler and his son, Troy, on their Triple C Feeders farm outside Balaton to write about their beef operation for the Independent’s Ag2 special section that published on March 5. During the Feb. 6 interview, I remembered Jeff talking about outside ...
Timing is bad for pay raises THUMBS DOWN: Timing is everything, especially when it comes to COVID-19. Unfortunately, the timing is bad for pay raises that were negotiated for tens of thousands of state workers. On Tuesday, we learned that the COVID-19 pandemic will be taking a $4 billion ...
It was widely assumed that the COVID-19 pandemic and the measures being taken to contain it would impact the state’s economy. Just how much was announced on Tuesday in the latest financial projection from the Minnesota Budget and Management office. In its February projection, the office ...
House Speaker Kurt Daudt stated over the weekend that it is appropriate for legislators to join in the decision making with Gov. Tim Walz over how to keep Minnesotans safe during the coronavirus pandemic. And therefore, the GOP members of the House won’t be voting on a bonding bill until the ...
Like everything else these days, wearing face masks in public has become controversial and divisive. An unscientific poll conducted on marshallindependent.com highlights this division among our readers. The question: Do you wear a mask when you go to the grocery store? As of Monday, 52% ...
This week marks an important point of return. I don’t know if that’s a real term, but it’s far less ominous than “the point of no return,” which has had its share of dramas, dark songs and thriller type novels written about it. The point of return, however, is that point in time where ...
In times such as these we turn to things that are familiar and comforting. We long for things that seem permanent and unchangeable, such as the faces on Mount Rushmore or Cher. I am fortunate to have a familiar face that has been there for me across the decades, through rain and shine, in ...
Depending on the source, the coronavirus pandemic and its devastating human and economic consequences are the fault of the Chinese, the Trump administration, impeachment-obsessed Democrats, governors who either moved too quickly or too slowly to shut down their states, and profit-hungry ...
Evening stargazing has lost its chill, but honestly, also a little of its thrill. The bright winter constellations continue their gradual exit out of the evening sky, not to be seen again in the evening until next autumn. Until about mid-June, the evening sky is in a bit of an intermission ...
Dairy farmer gives back THUMBS UP: There is a military principle that is taught to leaders to inspire their soldiers: Lead from the front. As in the Army, or in the community, that often means leading by example. In one case of leading by example occurred Tuesday when Balaton dairy farmer ...
President Trump has figured out a way to deal with those pesky reporters who keep asking questions about his dangerous proposals on fighting the coronavirus and to cope with those medical experts who contradict him on his ridiculous remedies. He has simply stymied their role at the televised ...
“No one should lose their life because they can’t afford the insulin they need to survive.” — DFL state Rep. Mike Howard, (District 50A) Enough House members agreed with Howard to participate in a long-drawn out process involving disputes and bi-partisan negotiations that stretched ...